Preseason Interview with Ali Hinze
Ali Hinze has battled to enter the 2024 season 10th all-time for kills in NDSU history. Before even coming to NDSU, she had to have spinal surgeries.
Ready to battle: Ali Hinze is Ready for 2024
Ali Hinze has battled to enter the 2024 season 10th all-time for kills in NDSU history. Before even coming to NDSU, she had to have spinal surgeries. This season, she is facing a new set of challenges, but is tough as nails and is ready to take them on.
How was your summer?
It was good. I interned at Vogel Law Firm on the marketing side of things. They are going to keep me hired until January 2025, so that’s exciting.
Are you wanting to work in marketing then?
I really don’t know, but what I was doing didn’t seem like a job to me. It was event planning and other things I enjoy. I would like to go into medical sales. But with that, you need a sales internship to really start up.
It also might be fun to go into marketing, but Kris [Grunwald] is trying to get me to go play pro after this season.
So, I don’t know. I have all of these options.
What does that process look like for going pro in volleyball?
I can’t sign an agent on a scholarship. Kris is figuring it out for me right now. I honestly don’t know the process of everything. They would start in December, which is right after the season and I need two surgeries after the season. So, I don’t know how that works, but I would enjoy it. The biggest thing would just be being away from home and my family.
Do you ever think about the fact that you’re closing in on some records within the program and climbing the top 10 list for kills?
I try not to let it get in my head too much, I know it’s there in the back of my head and I’m working every single day to get to that because, obviously, I would like to be up there and break some of those records.
What type of surgeries do you need after this season?
I have a 10-centimeter cyst on my adrenal gland… It might have been cancer so NDSU helped me get doctor’s appointments and we figured out it wasn’t cancer. So, I’ll do surgery for that right after the season and they’ll biopsy it just to make sure.
I also have three torn ligaments in my foot, and then a bone is shifted in the wrong position so I’ll need foot surgery after the season.
So, how are you feeling with all of that going on?
I would say my cyst was tough. I mean, I got good news. But knowing my mom has breast cancer, and just hearing the word cancer, it’s like, ‘No, this can’t be real.’ But NDSU helped me through that, and the coaches especially. They don’t have to be involved in that stuff, and they choose to be. They even came to some of my doctor’s appointments and whatnot. So, I feel pretty good about it now. Obviously, it can rupture and I can have internal bleeding but I’ve had it since last November. So, I’m sure I’ll be fine.
I’m sure you had options to transfer. Why did you stay with NDSU?
This is my second family. I would never change a thing about everything that NDSU has to offer. My teammates are my best friends. My coaches support me like no other, and especially with my mom’s health, I don’t want to be far from home. And my coaches are so good knowing like, you need to go home, go home, and they like that has just been such a big part of like, nobody’s gonna support me like they do here.
