Emily Stroup: Rewriting the Record Books

This feature first appeared in Rebel Gameday for the Ole Miss vs. Cal football game on September 21.

OXFORD, Miss. – When she graduates (with honors and nearly at the top of her class, mind you) in May of 2020, Ole Miss volleyball's Emily Stroup is likely to leave the program with a legacy unlike any other.

In the early stages of her final season with OMVB, Stroup's resume is unparalleled, despite a lack of national recognition. She holds the single-season record for kills, breaking it first as a sophomore with 474 and then again as a junior with 584. She owns the top three spots in program history for single-match kills, posting 30, 31, and 32 kills in three different contests a year ago. The outside hitter ranks in the top three in multiple statistical categories in the Ole Miss record book and in the top 10 in another six.

In 2017, Stroup was awarded the National Invitational Volleyball Championship MVP, helping lead the Rebels to their first-ever postseason title. But her trophy case might seem a little slim when it comes to national honors; she's claimed American Volleyball Coaches Association All-Region honors twice, but nothing beyond that and a SEC All-Conference nod in 2018. It hasn't phased Stroup.

"That's never really been a part of my goals here," she said when asked about the awards and records she has claimed. "I'm more concerned with it being my senior year, because I have a lot of 'lasts' coming up, and I want to make the most of them."

As a native of Fargo, North Dakota, the Stroup family grew up as Minnesota fans. Why wouldn't you, when father Bob played football as a running back for the Gophers, and it's a gentle three-hour commute to tailgate on fall Saturdays in Minneapolis? The family would often stay and check out the home volleyball matches on Sunday.

When Emily was younger, she wanted to go to Minnesota like her oldest sister Laura, and with her talent and skill level, the dream wasn't that far of a stretch. The Gophers showed some interest, and as a conference member of arguably the strongest volleyball league in the country, it seemed like things would fall into place.

Then the Rebels came calling.

"I got invited to Ole Miss for an elite volleyball camp, and knew the second I visited that I wanted to come here," Stroup said. "It just felt right."

Former Ole Miss assistant coach Angela Mooney, who helped guide the Rebs from 2015-2017, knew of Stroup. Before joining the Rebels, Mooney was at the helm at South Dakota State, and kept tabs on the young star after signing on in Oxford.

Back then, though, Stroup wasn't executing the offense, she was controlling it.

"When Angela got to Ole Miss, she recruited me as a setter," Stroup said. "My parents encouraged me to come to the elite camp when I started getting recruited places just so I could see what it was like, and I ended up receiving an offer and loved the school, so I stopped looking."

It was during that camp that current Rebels head coach Steven McRoberts and Mooney switched Stroup to an outside hitter, a move she hasn't regretted once.

She had also considered playing for North Dakota, following in the footsteps of her older siblings Bobby, former linebacker for the Fighting Hawks, and Amy, a middle blocker.

"The only hard part for deciding on Ole Miss was the fact it was 1,200 miles from my family, who I'm very close to," Stroup said. "But I loved the family feeling I felt from the team and coaching staff at Ole Miss, and I really liked how much support we were given."

As it turns out, that factor was irrelevant. The Stroup family, at least patriarch Bob and mother Susan, can be found at most, if not all, of the Rebels' contests. They were in New Orleans earlier this season to watch their daughter bring home the tournament MVP crown at Tulane, an early present for the 22-year-old Emily who celebrated her birthday the Monday after.

The Stroups also traveled with the squad this summer, complete with Bob's sister, brother-in-law and niece, as one of a handful of families to make the trip across the ocean as OMVB toured Europe and played in five exhibition matches.

"I took this chance—coming so far from home and my family—and it has brought me some of the best memories of my life," Stroup said.

Stroup can't stress enough how much her teammates, coaches, and Oxford have been a makeshift support system for her real one she so dearly loves all the way across the country.

"I feel like past athletes here always say it's just a 'family atmosphere', but it is the truth," Stroup said. "We have so many people here looking out for and rooting for us in so many areas, whether its other teams, professors, fans, classmates, and I'm so lucky to have been part of such a cool experience."

For as exceptional as she is on the court, the communication disorders major and psychology minor is just as terrific in the classroom. She's never once made a 'B' in her major-specific classes and serves on the Student Athlete Advisory Committee and as a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars. She's an officer of the Hand Band, a campus choral group who uses sign language to perform concerts and has a list of volunteer and service projects as long as this article.

Needless to say, the decision to come to Ole Miss looks like it paid off in more ways than one.

Does she wonder what could have been if she would have played volleyball for another program not all the way across the country? With her family's unwavering support, a team that she loves like sisters, and a standout career at a position she's only spent her college years figuring out, the answer is absolutely not.

"From this opportunity, I've been able to travel the world with my best friends and meet people that have made a huge impact on my life," Stroup said. "When I leave Oxford, I want to be remembered on the court as someone who always brought energy and passion, and truly gave my everything every match."

And off the court and around town?

"A leader. A good teammate. A friend," she said. "I want the community to see me as a strong positive role model for young girls who love the same game I do, and that they'll grow up to be strong women themselves."

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