When Belgreen High School senior Morgan Lauderdale put pen to paper last Friday, it was a major step towards achieving a lifelong goal: to play a sport at the collegiate level.
Lauderdale, described as a “quiet presence” by Belgreen volleyball head coach Alison Terry, was glowing as she signed her name, at that moment a member of the first class of signings for the new Northwest Shoals Community College volleyball program, set to begin competition in fall 2025.
“I’m very thankful and excited to have the opportunity to play at the next level,” Lauderdale said. “It’s been a dream of mine since I was a kid to be a college athlete. I know it’s going to be a challenge, but I’m excited to take on the challenge.
"I wanna thank God for the ability he has given me and the opportunities I have had throughout my life. I wanna thank my family, friends, coaches and teammates for always pushing me to do my best and helping me succeed and get to where I am today,” she added.
Lauderdale hasn’t been at Belgreen long, but the outside hitter and defensive specialist has played a huge role for the Lady Bulldogs, both on and off the court. Helping Belgreen to the Franklin County Tournament title this past season, Lauderdale recorded 149 kills, 239 digs, and seven blocks, including three solo blocks; she also finished the year with 52 aces and a successful serve rate of 89 percent.
As one of the two seniors on the squad, Lauderdale provided invaluable service as an older student-athlete the younger players could look up to. Not the loud or blustery type, Lauderdale led more by example.
“When we had (Lauderdale’s) signing I talked…about her leadership on the court and off the court,” Terry said. “She was a very quiet leader. She wasn’t as outspoken as some of the other players on the team, but the little ones were able to look to her to see how she handled herself, how she handled her mistakes. She helped explain things to them at practice, and I just appreciated her as an older member of the volleyball team her helping the young ones when they didn’t understand something.
“That’s something about Morgan that I want others to know,” Terry added.
Lauderdale’s capacity to captain and mentor others is one recognized not just by her high school coach but by her future coach at NWSCC, Susie Tverberg, as well.
“She has a natural leadership ability that is remarkable for a young person and a high school student,” Tverberg told the Franklin Free Press. “She has a way of making those people around her better.”
According to both Terry and Tverberg, Lauderdale also epitomizes what it means to be a student-athlete. A reflection of her character, the senior is as dedicated to her performance in the classroom as she is to her play on the court.
“Like I tell my athletes, you have to be a good person both on the court and off the court,” Terry said. “At the college level, not only do they look for athletes that can play the sport, they’re looking for, like Susie (Tverberg) mentioned, she’s looking for kids that aren’t going to give her problems. They’re going to show up to class and try and want to make good grades. I think that in itself says a lot.”
“She's a standout, both in the classroom and on the court,” Tverberg said of Lauderdale, who wants to study speech pathology at NWSCC. “When you have that combinated of an academically sound student and an athletically sound student, they can come in and be the ideal addition to your program.”
Asked what trait she possesses that she believes will help her be successful at the next level, Lauderdale said it’s her ability to adjust to whatever situation she finds herself in.
“Being able to adapt to other players and work together with new people,” she said. “I recently just moved to Belgreen so I had to learn everyone’s skills and how they work with each other.”
In a similar way, Tverberg said that adaptability, in tandem with Lauderdale’s intelligence, gives her an edge on the court.
“She’s very smart and her intelligence and decision-making is going to make her invaluable to our team,” Tverberg said. “She has the ability to think on her feet and make those quick decisions to reset and adjust in game time.”
Lauderdale’s leadership, her commitment to her team and teammates, her dedication to improvement, and her willingness to push herself in the classroom and on the court—all of these things taken together culminated into an opportunity for her to play at the collegiate ranks. At small schools like Belgreen that opportunity probably doesn't present itself as often as it should; but it worked out for Lauderdale, who, in the relatively short history of the school’s volleyball program, appears to be the first Belgreen student-athlete to sign to play the sport at the college level.
“I didn’t know that,” Lauderdale admitted. “It’s an honor to represent Belgreen in that way.”
Though the senior’s volleyball career with the Lady Bulldogs is over, Terry believes Lauderdale’s opportunity to play college volleyball can be her legacy: an example and proof for other student-athletes that it doesn’t matter how small the school or how storied your program is, if you put in the effort you can do it, too.
“Sometimes it’s really hard for kids from small schools to get scholarships like that, but I think her hard work, and Susie Tverberg knowing what a great kid she is, that says a lot,” Terry said. “It makes me very excited for other students because they can look and say, ‘Hey, Morgan did this. I can do it, too.’ Whether it’s softball or basketball or whatever they choose, I hope that it can give others a goal knowing it’s possible. It doesn’t matter that we’re a small school. If you stand out as a person athletically or with other qualities off the court, it can happen to them, too.”
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