Aug. 13, 2009

By Bill Battle, Sports Editor - Washington Missourian

After finishing playing college volleyball at Southeast Missouri State University, Jamie Baumstark was not ready to call it a career.

Two seasons later, Baumstark is heading to Switzerland to embark upon a professional career in the sport.

Starting in October, the 2003 Hermann High School graduate will be playing for VBC Biel-Bienne.

"I had a pretty good four years and I knew I didn't want to be done," Baumstark said. "I wanted to go and pursue it even more and go and play overseas."

Baumstark played four years for the Otahkians/Redhawks, ending her collegiate run in 2006. While at Southeast, she played for Head Coaches Cindy Gannon and Renata Nowacki.

She completed her schooling in Cape Girardeau and Springfield.

"It's really hard because I've been out of volleyball for two years now," said Baumstark. "It's been pretty hard to get back into it, but I wanted to finish up school first. I wanted to get that out of the way so I could get my bachelor's degree. Who knows? If I really, really like it, I might get an offer next year, go back and play some more."

Jamie is one of four Baumstark siblings who have played college volleyball. Her sisters Megan (Jefferson College, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale), Rachel (Nebraska) and Chelsea (University of Missouri-St. Louis) also made an impact in college volleyball after playing for the celebrated Hermann High School program.

Jamie, a setter-hitter, made her mark at Southeast. She was the first player from the school to earn the Sports Imports/AVCA Division I National Player of the Week award Nov. 7, 2005.

"I had a really good four years," Baumstark said about her time at Southeast. "A lot of things changed in the four years. I had a great coach. She taught me so much. She was a setter in college, too, and I learned a lot from her. I really was close with my teammates. We had a really close team all four years. We went pretty far my senior year and played in the OVC championship match my senior year."

Baumstark continued her education beyond her playing days at the Cape Girardeau school.

Family ties helped Jamie achieve her goal of playing beyond college.

"In the very beginning, my sister (Rachel), who played at Nebraska, had a friend who played over in Puerto Rico," Jamie said. "At that time, I didn't know there was anything beyond college. I still wanted to play after school. I asked if there was something I could do. I talked to my coach and she got me hooked up with Bring It USA. They hooked me up with an agent and that's who found me the team in Switzerland."

Baumstark knows she has big shoes to fill with the Swiss team. Last year's setter was Stanford graduate Bryn Kehoe.

"It's Biel-Bienne," Baumstark said. "Biel is German and Bienne is French. They're pretty young, 19- and 20-year-old girls. They really don't have college teams, so it's like their college team over there. It's almost like a junior national team. I'll be the only setter, so I'm pretty much going to go in there and run the show."

Baumstark knows it's a long way from home.

"I've been talking to my family and I'm going to be here for the next month so I can be with them before I leave," Jamie said. "It's definitely going to be really hard. I'll be able to talk with them on the Internet and keep them updated. I'll be coming home for Christmas for 13 days. They gave me a trip back home. I'm excited that I'll be able to break it up a little bit and I won't get too homesick. I'm going to be so busy over there playing all the time. We'll be traveling so much. We're going to be playing in Germany, Austria and maybe in France since we're right on the border. I really won't have time to miss a whole lot of people."

Jamie said she only has to worry about playing volleyball.

"They hooked me up with an apartment, meals, transportation and cell phone," she said. "They're taking really good care of me over there. My agent said this is a great deal for a first-time player and he said it's definitely something I couldn't afford to pass up. I knew I had to take that chance and do it. I might as well do that while I'm still young."

While preparing for her move to Europe and pro volleyball, Baumstark has been working out with the East Central College volleyball squad.

"I'm very, very excited," Jamie said. "I really appreciate (East Central Head Coach) Brad (Bruns) for letting me do this. I didn't get a lot of chances to play in Springfield, where I was, so I knew I had to get into the best shape I can going over there. They expect a lot out of me because I am going to be their setter, so I'm going to work my butt off and do the best I can."

Baumstark heads to Switzerland, reporting Sept. 1. Matches start in October. If the team continues to win, she could play through the end of April.

"It's a pretty long season," Jamie said.