Alexis Loewen is taking her volleyball career to the next level, and will be playing pro in Germany starting in the fall with TV Holz in the 2nd Bundesliga (south) League.

"It's incredibly exciting and kind of makes me nervous at the same time," explained Winkler's Garden Valley Collegiate alumni. "I've never really done anything like this before. It came on really quickly. I had been pursuing the option and it now just came up in the past two weeks. I had the option now and I said yes. It's all happening very fast."

"I don't really know what to expect," added Loewen. "One of my best friends on the BU team, she is from Germany and she has played professionally before. So, I have been trying to get a snapshot of what life is like there. I'm excited to play volleyball and then nervous because, usually I have been a student athlete, and now I'll be just an athlete. I think I'll have a lot of free time on my hands. Just trying to keep an open mind and open to the experience."

Playing pro volleyball in Germany isn't something everyone does every day or even comes across everyday. How did this happen?

"I had signed a contract with an agent that had originally approached a friend of mine that plays on the BU (University of Brandon) Bobcats. I got in contact with him through her," explained the middle. "I signed a contract with his agency and after that the recruiting usually happens in the summer time. He just emailed me with the offered when he got, and then presented me. I was kind of expecting something, but at the same time I didn't know I was going to get such a great offer like this."

After playing a number of seasons at BU Loewen didn't play volleyball this year and felt like something, volleyball for that matter, was missing.

"This year I didn't play volleyball at all," noted Loewen when asked what made her say yes signing this deal. "I was just going to school for my nursing career, and I'm almost done that. I was thinking about volleyball all year long and how much I missed it. Through talking with other people they said "you talk about playing volleyball all the time, you need to pursue this option, and if it works out you need to take it." I agreed with them. So that kind of made me say yes."

Loewen stated currently she is the only one she knows on the team, but noted the team had stated they would like to sign another north American girl before the season starts.

She noted she has to be there by August 10th to start training with the team, and it will be around a month of practicing and preparing before the season starts.

                                                                                                                                                                                            *Photo's courtesy of Alexis Loewen