Honoring Her Father's Memory
Nov 15, 2017 | Volleyball
The Texas A&M volleyball team spends the night before road games in the hotel, sharing their innermost thoughts in a game called "The 4H's." A player on the hot seat shares with teammates her hero, her heartache, her highlight and her honey.
When it came Amy Nettles' turn, the Aggies brought a box of Kleenex. Nettles made it through hero, talking about her mother, Liz.
"She got to heartache, and she broke down," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. "She just said, 'I'm ok crying in front of y'all, but I don't want y'all to start crying.'"
Nettles' father, Tripp Nettles, died this summer after a six-month battle with acute myeloid leukemia.
For fear of wearing her emotions on her sleeve -- and on her face -- Amy Nettles hasn't taken any reminders of her father on the court with her this season. Nettles figured the best way to honor her father's memory was to give her best in every match her senior season.
Memory accomplished.
"I was nervous I would start tearing up [on the court]. It happens often," Nettles said. "I wipe it really quickly and say, 'Amy, you have to focus. Come on.'
"I think about him all the time, especially on road trips. When we're on the bus, the album I listen to before we play is the Eagles. That was something that we shared. We both loved the Eagles. I just listen to it and think about him and think about what my dad would tell me right now to motivate me. That's what I need to go do."
A&M will honor Nettles, a libero, along with defensive specialist Gabby Litwin, outside hitter Kiara McGee and opposite hitter Ashlie Reasor during Senior Day on Nov. 19 against South Carolina. Nettles, the youngest of four children and the first member of her family to attend A&M, McGee and Reasor all played high school volleyball in San Antonio, and all three receive their Aggie Ring on Friday.
Unlike her hometown teammates, though, Nettles arrived in College Station without a scholarship.
Not many 5-foot-4 volleyball players receive college scholarships. Even fewer 5-foot-4 volleyball players leave with a place in the record book.
Nettles, an anchor in the back row nearly her entire four-year career, ranks fourth in school history for career digs with more than 1,400. She has appeared in a school-record 355 consecutive sets, with the streak beginning on Oct. 15, 2014, when she came off the bench for the final three sets against Arkansas.
In her career, she has played through a back injury, a hip injury, a nasty cut in her right eyebrow that required stitches and a wrist injury. This season, the resilient Nettles has remained on the court despite a torn labrum and rotator cuff that will require surgery after she plays her final point.
"She's a tough kid," said Liz Nettles, Amy's mother. "She loves to play, and she loves to be on the court. The most important thing to her is being in the game. I don't think she worries very much about anything else."
Nettles walked on at A&M, which already had a libero on scholarship, but the team's fun-loving energizer earned a scholarship during her freshman season. The Aggies didn't have a scholarship available for her last season. Nettles, though, convinced Corbelli to award her a scholarship again her senior season.
Nettles not only earned the scholarship, but the respect of Corbelli, who said Nettles "never let down; she never backed off" during their "difficult discussions."
"I didn't think I was God's gift to volleyball, but I knew I was a good player," Nettles said. "I knew I deserved it. I worked hard every day, and I earned a starting spot. I was playing consistently and contributing to the team. I told Laurie, 'I have done everything you have asked me to do, and I'm giving everything I have, and I would love to be able to experience being on scholarship.' The opportunity opened, and she rewarded me with it.
"It felt great for me, but it wasn't about me. It was about my parents, and the years they invested in me playing club volleyball. It really meant the most to them."
Tripp Nettles served as a second coach to Nettles. They shared not only a love of the Eagles and competing in sports – he was a former football player -- but a love of the San Antonio Spurs. In fact, the two of them once got chastised by hospital staff for yelling during a game.
Doctors diagnosed Tripp on Jan. 12. He began a clinical trial, with the family hopeful it would not only help find a cure for the disease but prolong his life. But Tripp, a superintendent for a general contractor, died July 6 with his family at his bedside, Amy holding his hand. He was 66.
"He was so hard on us growing up, but he was never too hard," Amy said, trying to hold back tears. "I didn't have one coach. I always had two. He was always coaching me, watching me. He always just held me to a super-high standard, which has turned out to be a blessing because I hold myself to a high standard, and he has so much to do with that.
"He was so loving, and I don't know. . . . He was a great dad. I miss being able to call him."
Nettles admits this season has proved the hardest of her career and not only because of the Aggies' losing record. Some days she doesn't want to get out of bed.
On the 6th of every month, Nettles relives her father's death again. She has gone through "four sixes" so far. Every month that has passed has not made it any easier.
Typical Nettles, though, she always puts others ahead of herself. During her father's battle, Nettles worried about her mother, offering her a sounding board. Now, it's her teammates and her "commitment to the team" that keeps Nettles going . . . and wearing a smile, whether she feels like it or not.
"We obviously appreciate her so much and how she's handling this," said Litwin, Nettles' roommate, best friend and team co-captain. "We know that it's hard. It just shows how she is just so selfless, because she doesn't bring it onto the court or use it as an excuse. I think it's motivating her. She wants to make her dad proud.
"I know it's hard, but every day she tries to be the best self that she can be and be present for us and be 100 percent in with whatever she's doing and just not let what happened slow her down."
Litwin leaves Nettles encouraging notes on her door. She brings flowers. She cracks jokes. Nettles' family travels to every match – home and away – to provide support.
"I take every day as a blessing," said Nettles, who graduates in May. "When times get hard, I think about what my dad would say to me. Sometimes it's hard because little things show up like when other people talk about their dads.
"It has not been easy. I really haven't gotten a chance to grieve, to be honest. It comes out every now and then, but I try not to because I know I make people uncomfortable, and I don't want to make excuses for a performance or anything. Whenever times get hard, I pray for strength and pray for God to get me through it."
Nettles takes it one dig at a time, one step at a time, one day at a time as she searches for that Peaceful Easy Feelin' that is a familiar refrain of one of the Eagles' greatest hits.
When it came Amy Nettles' turn, the Aggies brought a box of Kleenex. Nettles made it through hero, talking about her mother, Liz.
"She got to heartache, and she broke down," A&M coach Laurie Corbelli said. "She just said, 'I'm ok crying in front of y'all, but I don't want y'all to start crying.'"
Nettles' father, Tripp Nettles, died this summer after a six-month battle with acute myeloid leukemia.
For fear of wearing her emotions on her sleeve -- and on her face -- Amy Nettles hasn't taken any reminders of her father on the court with her this season. Nettles figured the best way to honor her father's memory was to give her best in every match her senior season.
Memory accomplished.
"I was nervous I would start tearing up [on the court]. It happens often," Nettles said. "I wipe it really quickly and say, 'Amy, you have to focus. Come on.'
"I think about him all the time, especially on road trips. When we're on the bus, the album I listen to before we play is the Eagles. That was something that we shared. We both loved the Eagles. I just listen to it and think about him and think about what my dad would tell me right now to motivate me. That's what I need to go do."
A&M will honor Nettles, a libero, along with defensive specialist Gabby Litwin, outside hitter Kiara McGee and opposite hitter Ashlie Reasor during Senior Day on Nov. 19 against South Carolina. Nettles, the youngest of four children and the first member of her family to attend A&M, McGee and Reasor all played high school volleyball in San Antonio, and all three receive their Aggie Ring on Friday.
Unlike her hometown teammates, though, Nettles arrived in College Station without a scholarship.
Not many 5-foot-4 volleyball players receive college scholarships. Even fewer 5-foot-4 volleyball players leave with a place in the record book.
Nettles, an anchor in the back row nearly her entire four-year career, ranks fourth in school history for career digs with more than 1,400. She has appeared in a school-record 355 consecutive sets, with the streak beginning on Oct. 15, 2014, when she came off the bench for the final three sets against Arkansas.
In her career, she has played through a back injury, a hip injury, a nasty cut in her right eyebrow that required stitches and a wrist injury. This season, the resilient Nettles has remained on the court despite a torn labrum and rotator cuff that will require surgery after she plays her final point.
"She's a tough kid," said Liz Nettles, Amy's mother. "She loves to play, and she loves to be on the court. The most important thing to her is being in the game. I don't think she worries very much about anything else."
Nettles walked on at A&M, which already had a libero on scholarship, but the team's fun-loving energizer earned a scholarship during her freshman season. The Aggies didn't have a scholarship available for her last season. Nettles, though, convinced Corbelli to award her a scholarship again her senior season.
Nettles not only earned the scholarship, but the respect of Corbelli, who said Nettles "never let down; she never backed off" during their "difficult discussions."
"I didn't think I was God's gift to volleyball, but I knew I was a good player," Nettles said. "I knew I deserved it. I worked hard every day, and I earned a starting spot. I was playing consistently and contributing to the team. I told Laurie, 'I have done everything you have asked me to do, and I'm giving everything I have, and I would love to be able to experience being on scholarship.' The opportunity opened, and she rewarded me with it.
"It felt great for me, but it wasn't about me. It was about my parents, and the years they invested in me playing club volleyball. It really meant the most to them."
Tripp Nettles served as a second coach to Nettles. They shared not only a love of the Eagles and competing in sports – he was a former football player -- but a love of the San Antonio Spurs. In fact, the two of them once got chastised by hospital staff for yelling during a game.
Doctors diagnosed Tripp on Jan. 12. He began a clinical trial, with the family hopeful it would not only help find a cure for the disease but prolong his life. But Tripp, a superintendent for a general contractor, died July 6 with his family at his bedside, Amy holding his hand. He was 66.
"He was so hard on us growing up, but he was never too hard," Amy said, trying to hold back tears. "I didn't have one coach. I always had two. He was always coaching me, watching me. He always just held me to a super-high standard, which has turned out to be a blessing because I hold myself to a high standard, and he has so much to do with that.
"He was so loving, and I don't know. . . . He was a great dad. I miss being able to call him."
Nettles admits this season has proved the hardest of her career and not only because of the Aggies' losing record. Some days she doesn't want to get out of bed.
On the 6th of every month, Nettles relives her father's death again. She has gone through "four sixes" so far. Every month that has passed has not made it any easier.
Typical Nettles, though, she always puts others ahead of herself. During her father's battle, Nettles worried about her mother, offering her a sounding board. Now, it's her teammates and her "commitment to the team" that keeps Nettles going . . . and wearing a smile, whether she feels like it or not.
"We obviously appreciate her so much and how she's handling this," said Litwin, Nettles' roommate, best friend and team co-captain. "We know that it's hard. It just shows how she is just so selfless, because she doesn't bring it onto the court or use it as an excuse. I think it's motivating her. She wants to make her dad proud.
"I know it's hard, but every day she tries to be the best self that she can be and be present for us and be 100 percent in with whatever she's doing and just not let what happened slow her down."
Litwin leaves Nettles encouraging notes on her door. She brings flowers. She cracks jokes. Nettles' family travels to every match – home and away – to provide support.
"I take every day as a blessing," said Nettles, who graduates in May. "When times get hard, I think about what my dad would say to me. Sometimes it's hard because little things show up like when other people talk about their dads.
"It has not been easy. I really haven't gotten a chance to grieve, to be honest. It comes out every now and then, but I try not to because I know I make people uncomfortable, and I don't want to make excuses for a performance or anything. Whenever times get hard, I pray for strength and pray for God to get me through it."
Nettles takes it one dig at a time, one step at a time, one day at a time as she searches for that Peaceful Easy Feelin' that is a familiar refrain of one of the Eagles' greatest hits.
Players Mentioned
DS
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
L/DS
/ Volleyball
OPP
/ VolleyballMedia Availability: Jamie Morrison
Monday, December 22
Media Availability: Logan Lednicky
Monday, December 22
Media Availability: Ifenna Cos-Okpalla
Monday, December 22
NCAA Championship Postgame: Morrison, Cos-Okpalla, Lednicky, Stowers
Sunday, December 21
