In the age of transfer portals and NIL deals, it was refreshing this past weekend at LSU Beach Volleyball’s “Battle on the Bayou” to see Madison Cassidy still wearing a Southern Miss uniform.
The senior from Baton Rouge, who was a two-time All-State player at Parkview Baptist and the Division IV Player of the Year in indoor volleyball has been through a lot in her four years with the Golden Eagles beach volleyball team. It has been an eventful journey from only playing in exhibition matches her freshman season, to playing on Net 1 for USM as a senior.
“Honestly this ride has been a mix of emotions,” said Cassidy. “It’s been love and heartbreak and blood sweat and tears all throughout the four years. I honestly couldn’t ask for a better team this year. They have been my rock. They pushed me through to make me the best that I can. I love and appreciate everyone who has been through this program.”
Cassidy was part of an over-flowing freshman class of eight players for Southern Miss in the 2022 season. While five of those players have moved on, Cassidy, Wiio Meinheit, and Dylan Russell are closing out their careers with the Golden Eagles.
“I think staying for all four of my years paid off just because I wanted to show people like, yeah your freshman and sophomore year is hard but you keep working,” said Cassidy. “Keep going to class. Keep going through all the hard practices early morning late night like it’s all going to pay off in the end and it definitely did for me.”
“We have several seniors that would have been seniors for us that have moved on, but we had several that stuck it out,” said USM coach Shawn Taylor. “It’s not always easy. If you’re looking for a good coach they’re not always your favorite person in the world, but hopefully they’re pushing you and helping you. I think for our girls to stick it out, we’ve had several for four or five years, it says a lot about them and their commitment to the program and to the University of Southern Miss.”
Cassidy not only returned to her hometown this weekend playing on Net 1 for USM but she’s been winning. After a pair of wins Saturday (2-0 vs UNO and 2-1 vs SFA) Cassidy and partner Zuzanna Michalska improved their overall record to 15-14, playing against some of the top competition in the nation.
“Playing on the ones it’s been honestly super fun,” said Cassidy. “You have a ton of All-Americans, so it’s kind of an honor and knowing that I can hang with them has made it even better.”
Making the jump all the way to top of USM’s beach volleyball lineup came down to one thing for Cassidy.
“Honestly, I think it’s your attitude,” said Cassidy. “You come in freshman year and it’s like ‘I’m gonna do this, that, and I’m all that’, and then you come in and kind of get your dreams crushed for a little bit. And then you get to your senior year and now you get to show like hey, I worked super hard to get to where I am and you still got that kick-ass attitude, but it’s a lot better. And now you get to teach the underclassmen to have that fight, have that grit, but also be respectful in the process of it.”
“I think the big thing is (Cassidy) really let go and doesn’t overthink things or worry too much,” said Taylor. “Her partner Zuzanna Michalska is from Poland. She’s relatively new to the beach game and kind of mirrors Madison like athletic with a big arm. So we felt they compliment each other pretty well and both are pretty high energy. You name it, Florida State, LSU doesn’t matter FAU, FIU anywhere we’ve been we’ve been right there with an opportunity to beat great teams or beating great teams.
“She’s come in and really worked her way up the lineup throughout the years and the lightbulb went on somewhere towards the end of the fall and really put her game together and she’s locked down the one spot from then on.”
Many of Louisiana’s top high school indoor players during Cassidy’s prep career also chose to play beach over indoor volleyball. And like Cassidy, they’ve excelled.
Emily Meyer won four consecutive indoor Division I Volleyball State Championships while at Mt Carmel and celebrated her “Senior Day” festivities this weekend for LSU beach volleyball at “Battle on the Bayou.” Meyer has 23 wins this season for the Sandy Tigs, ranked 11th in the nation.
Olivia Stant, also an All-State Mt Carmel indoor product (Class of 2022) has become the seventh player in UAB beach volleyball history to record 50 career wins and has tied the Blazers single-season record for wins in a season with 23. And she’s doing so playing on Net 1.
Rachel Hartmann was a Louisiana Indoor Volleyball Gatorade Player of the Year finalist while helping Pope John Paul II to a state championship her senior season in 2021. She too is playing beach volleyball and is now a senior at South Carolina. Hartmann went 4-0 this weekend at “Battle on the Bayou” playing with the No.2s for the Gamecocks.
So why did Cassidy (Class of 2021) also turn to a college career in beach after an illustrious high school indoor career that included over 1,500 kills?
“It was a really big difference (from indoor)” said Cassidy. “Sometimes I do wish I would have stayed indoor but then I look back at it and say (beach) was the best opportunity, the best chance I could get playing D1 sports and I’m very proud of it.
“I started beach probably when I was around 13 or 14-years-old. I had Mikayla Boyer, shoutout to her, she (went to) Spring Hill. She was like hey come play beach and I was like all right sure it’s volleyball. I remember stepping on the sand and being like I can not do this. Then I just learned that it was fun you get to do every position and not just one. So I just kept working and we sent out some emails just seeing who would respond. Sure enough Shawn Taylor took that chance on me. I hope he’s proud of me, I hope he’s proud that he took that chance.”
Like in every sport at the time, recruiting was an incredible challenge for college coaches everywhere due to the pandemic. Taylor took that chance based on the recommendation of Cassidy’s beach coach Joey Keener and some video of Cassidy playing…indoor volleyball.
As for what Taylor saw?
“Incredibly raw athlete that had a big arm that we knew could be terminal,” said Taylor. “(Cassidy) didn’t have a whole lot of beach experience, (I) didn’t really get to see her play. Everything was based off of what Coach Keener had communicated with me and just seeing some video of her playing indoor.
“She was one of the last kids that got to make a visit of any kind before COVID shut the world down. We were able to get her and her dad Mike on campus and show them around and I can remember in my head saying goodbye to them at the bottom of our stairwell and then five days later that was it for the season and the end of recruiting for like two years,” said Taylor.
The Golden Eagles sixth-year beach volleyball head coach got a little emotional when asked if in fact Cassidy has made him proud.
“When I talked to Coach Keener a little bit ago I told him we finally got (Cassidy) to where she could be,” said Taylor. “I say ‘we,’ we have a role in the process but really it’s the athlete anytime. It’s been exciting to see it come on. You wish it would have been (her) freshman or sophomore year but we’ll take it. When her and Z are playing good volleyball there’s no better match to watch.”
And now the journey is coming to a close.
Southern Miss (12-19) will close out the regular season portion of the schedule this coming weekend in Austin, Texas where they will face three of the Top 20 teams in the country (No.3 Cal Poly, No.8 Texas (twice), and No.17 North Florida) at the Lone Star Invitational.
Following that, it’s the Sun Belt Conference Tournament April 24-26 in Foley, Alabama with an automatic bid to the NCAA’s on the line.
“I think as a team we’re just kind of trying to figure out who all can do what they need to do because everyone can play,” said Cassidy. “It’s more like who’s going to bring that grit every day all day. I think we’re super excited. We have been up and down with the games this season so we’re ready to come in fighting, swinging, and doing everything we can to go up that ladder. Personally I’m just here to have fun. This is my last tournament so I want to be able to win for not only myself but my dad, my family, and my teammates.”