Askim. That took quite a commitment on her part. "There were about 75 of us who lived in a dorm and played volleyball 24/7,'' she said. Mikaelsen was there for two years and never wavered once; never questioned whether all the time and the sacrifices were worth it. "In sports, I've never asked myself that question,'' she said. "It's just my thing. It's what I love to do. It's my passion.''
Mikaelsen has used volleyball as a vehicle to travel around the world with her country's nation-
al teams.That included trips to Japan and Austra- lia, where she took part in the 2008 Youth Olym- pic Festival in beach volleyball. She's also quite accomplished in team handball. Everything was seemingly falling into place for Mikaelson until she got to Madison in 2009. "I was here for 48 hours or something like that and Pete told me there was something up with the NCAA,'' she said. "I really don't understand the NCAA be- cause there are so many rules.'' Join the crowd. Nonetheless, Waite had the
