Cactus senior volleyball star Kaycee O’Dell is going D-I.

O’Dell has verbally committed to Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana. The Montana State Bobcats are part of the Big Sky Conference, which consists of schools in the Northwest region of the country.

The 6-foot-2 middle blocker led Cactus to a 35-9 overall record, the No. 2 seed in the Class 4A playoffs, and to the semifinals of that same tournament.

O’Dell had talks with several other schools, but didn’t get any other official offers aside from Montana State. But that didn’t matter to her, because that’s where she wanted to play,

 “I chose Montana State because of how nice the coaching staff was and how near it was to family,” O’Dell said.

Proximity to family was a key factor, as the university is only five minutes from her aunt’s house. But to Kaycee, Montana State was a perfect fit.

“There wasn’t anything I didn’t like,” she said. “It’s beautiful and never hot… It seemed to good to be true if anything.”

Kaycee gives a lot of credit to all of the coaches at Cactus for shaping her not only as a player, but a person too.

“I couldn’t even serve freshman year,” O’Dell said. “… But I think what really stood out was that no one gave up on me.”

Varsity volleyball coach Anthony Puglisi had high praise for Kaycee.

“She is an outstanding player, and very coachable,” Puglisi said. “There’s a reason why she’s going D-1.”

Junior middle blocker Alexis Nichols, who will try to help and fill the void of Kaycee’s role, also spoke highly when asked about O’Dell,

“She has exceptional talent, and she’s helped me learn and get better as a player as well,” Nichols said.

Although Montana is far away, O’Dell is excited to be a Bobcat next fall and for the next chapter in her playing career.

“The thing I’m looking most forward to is just being able to compete in volleyball after high school,” she said. “I can’t wait to get started.”