Getting to know ... A&M Softball senior Rhi Kliesing

Rhiannon Kliesing: “I mean, I wouldn’t say I was a big deal. There were a lot of girls on the team who did a bunch of other extracurricular activities outside of softball, but I guess in the softball world, you could say that.”

Kliesing: “Oh yeah, there was a lot of change. Everything was really different coming here – school’s different, softball’s different. It’s just a whole new level and I expected it, but I didn’t expect the opponents to be as good as they are.”

Kliesing: “It would have to be when I was in my freshman year, I think. I came into camp and met her there. I kept coming back to camp and I guess that was it.”

Kliesing: “No, she didn’t change at all. That’s one of the things I love about her – when you meet her for the first time, what you see is what you get and that’s how she’s always been.”

Kliesing: “I played volleyball up until my junior year in high school so I could focus on softball.”

Kliesing: “I was about four years old with my very first team – the Hotshots.”

Kliesing: “I really started to pay attention to my swing and I looked at the Right-View Pro on the computer to see what my swing was looking like. Once I figured out the kinks in there, I worked really hard to fix those and make my swing better.”

Kliesing: “My biggest problem was dropping my hands from the load to the contact point. I would drop my hands and then pop everything up or foul it off.”

Kliesing: “Yeah, it definitely stayed and I’m still really aware of my swing and I always want to improve it and fix things.”

Kliesing: “Umm…I think Meagan still will (laughs). I think when she comes back and gets really comfortable at the plate, I think she’s going to be unstoppable.”

Kliesing: “Yeah, definitely. I pay close attention to Meagan’s swing because she has a great swing and I kind of try to emulate some of the things that she did with her swing and incorporate them into my swing.”

Kliesing: “I haven’t really decided yet. I know I’m going to go to grad school, most likely for sport management while I do the fifth-year coaching assistant thing. So I know that for sure.”

Kliesing: “I don’t really know yet. Probably just helping out when the coaches need me to do something and just keeping players motivated.”

Kliesing: “I learned really quickly as a freshman that you can’t blow off studying for tests, especially starting out as a biomedical science major. I made that mistake my first semester and had to turn it around really quickly. You have to study for these tests and it’s pretty hard to balance it with a sport but they give us plenty of resources to help us pass all of our classes.”

Kliesing: “In the fall - which is our offseason - we start the day off with a 7 a.m. workout. Some people go to class after that, some go to study hall then practice. After that, some of the freshmen usually have study hall, so it’s pretty much a full day. In the fall we don’t have much time for a social life - we actually have more time during the season to have a social life because our practices are shorter and we don’t have as many workouts during the week.”

Kliesing: “Freshman year you’re required to go to eight hours a week and you have set times that you go and specific learning assistants that you sign in with and they help you with all of your work and make sure you’re staying on top of things. After that if you have a good semester, your hours might get cut down to six or to four. If you have four hours, you can come and go as you want to and you don’t have a set time that you have to go.”

Kliesing: “I’d say definitely playing in the Women’s College World Series my freshman year. It was an experience I’ll never forget I just wish we could have won it.”

Kliesing: “I don’t know if I have one favorite moment. I’d just say spending time with my friends when I’m not playing softball or studying.Spending time with my friends is always one of my favorite moments.”