THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Klaire Mitchell turned out to be a pretty good fit for Grand Canyon volleyball — and vice versa

Five years ago, Klaire Mitchell took a chance coming to Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, a pretty campus in a warm climate — but without much to brag about in volleyball up to that point.

Five years later?

“I’ve loved every minute of it,” said Mitchell, a 5-foot-7 graduate student setter who shined at Lake City High School. “I can’t believe it’s almost over. It’s been my second home. I’ve loved every girl that’s come through this program. This campus has been awesome … such supportive faculty, and student body. I’m just so thankful that I kinda took a chance and came here, and it really worked out, and every year got better and better.”

This year, in Mitchell’s fifth and final season with the program (she took advantage of a “COVID year”), Grand Canyon qualified for the NCAA Division I tournament for the first time in program history — an experience she described as “surreal.”

NOT ONLY that, when the team gathered last Sunday to watch the tournament selection show, Mitchell was happy to see she was headed back close to home, as the Antelopes (23-7) were assigned to play in Pullman in the first round, facing Washington State (24-7) on Friday at 7 p.m. at Bohler Gym. 

“I’m so excited; my family is probably more excited than I am,” said Mitchell, who figures to have dozens of friends and family in the stands Friday. “I grew up going to Idaho and Washington State games, so it’s pretty surreal to make it back at the end of my career, and play on that stage.”

Jen Greeny, the WSU coach, is friends with Klaire’s mom Karla, a long-time volleyball coach. And Klaire played against WSU junior Katy Ryan, an opposite (right-side) hitter, in high school when Ryan was at Lakeland.

“Pretty cool, two North Idaho girls getting to be facing off in the tournament,” Mitchell said.

PRIOR TO Klaire Mitchell arriving at Grand Canyon, the Antelopes were coming off four straight losing seasons, and five of six since bumping up from Division II in 2013. The program, which started in 1982, had qualified for four NCAA tournaments in Division II, most recently in 2011 and ’12, just before moving up.

In her freshman year at GCU, the Antelopes lost in the finals of the Western Athletic Conference tournament and finished 24-6. In the next year, a COVID-shortened season, GCU lost in the first round of the conference tourney and finished 11-4

In 2021, GCU lost again in the WAC finals, and finished 19-7. Last year, the Antelopes were ousted in the WAC semifinals, but played two matches in something called the National Invitational Volleyball Championship, finishing 18-11.

This year, a 3-1 victory over top-seeded Stephen F. Austin in the WAC finals in Orem, Utah propelled Grand Canyon into the 64-team NCAA Division I tourney field for the first time.

Mitchell was the WAC Freshman of the Year in 2019 and a second-team all-conference selection. She was first-team all-WAC her last four seasons, and this year she was named WAC Setter of the Year for the third time.

She’s the school’s career assist leader with well over 4,000 assists.

GCU is 95-35 in Mitchell’s five seasons in the program, compared to a 32-77 record for the Antelopes in the four seasons prior to her arrival.

“Klaire is what turned this program,” eighth-year GCU coach Tim Nollan said, in a story posted recently on the school athletics website. “ … She left a really big mark on this program. The best part about her is, as we were recruiting kids to fill her spot, she said, ‘Just make sure you get somebody better.’”

THE ONLY bumps along the way for Mitchell at GCU?

She said she “tore something” in her foot as a freshman. And she had a sports hernia her junior year (2021).

A sports hernia is described as “a painful, soft tissue injury that occurs in the groin area.”

“The worst pain I’ve ever felt, by far. Nothing will compare,” Mitchell said.

Both injuries took place during the season. Naturally, Mitchell did not miss a match.

“I figured out how to play with them,” she explained. “It happened, and then I had surgery after.”

How do you play through a sports hernia? 

“A lot of Advil, and some tape jobs to help my core not move,” she said.

Same with her foot injury.

“A lot of Advil.”

MITCHELL GRADUATED from GCU last December with a degree in sports psychology. She’s on track to get her master’s in business administration in May.

Then what?

“Keeping my options open,” she said.

Her boyfriend, GCU volleyball player Camden Gianni, is a 6-5 redshirt senior and right-side (opposite) hitter. Pro volleyball is likely in his future, Klaire said, and she’ll likely follow him around while she decides if she wants to keep playing.

The videos and pictures of the Grand Canyon University campus make it look like some sort of paradise.

“It’s beautiful here,” Klaire said. “Some people explain it like it’s a summer camp. We’ve got pools, we’ve got hot tubs, all these kids running around, all these events going on … it’s been so cool to see it grow from when I first committed to now. Our campus has doubled since I’ve been here.”

And to think that, in high school, Mitchell was trying to decide between Boise State and Long Beach State to continue her volleyball career.

Grand Canyon was also recruiting her at that time, and the chance to help a program that wasn’t a “name” program do something new intrigued her. One year, the Mitchell family was in Phoenix for spring break, and her dad, Keith, had a suggestion.

“My dad was like, ‘You might want to tour the campus, see what it’s all about,’” Klaire recalled.

And …

“I just walked around campus and had that feeling … this is where I belong, I think this is meant for me,” Klaire remembered.

And perhaps Klaire Mitchell was meant for the Grand Canyon University volleyball program as well.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 208-664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @CdAPressSports.

    Photo courtesy Grand Canyon University athletics Klaire Mitchell (2), a graduate student from Lake City High, was recently named Western Athletic Conference Setter of the Year for the third time.