Senior Jessica Rimsza "played between 15 and 17 hours of volleyball in the off-season" to become good enough to be a key player for Sabino.

David Sanders / arizona daily star

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Sabino High School senior Jessica Rimsza chose to play volleyball as an eighth-grader for one reason.

"I knew that the volleyball team didn't cut anybody," she said.

Rimsza found out otherwise one year later when she was cut from Sabino's freshman team.

"I was really disappointed, but it made me want to be better," Rimsza said. "I thought, 'I know that I'm not good enough for you now but I know that one day I will be.' "

The day came sooner than expected. When a player moved to Phoenix three weeks into her freshman season, Rimsza went from team manager to second string.

Now, in her final season, she is a starter and captain on one of the state's best volleyball programs.

"Her improvement has been complete and total," Sabino coach John Kramkowski said. "She has improved to the point now where we absolutely need her in order for us to be successful."

Kramkowski said Rimsza was barely strong enough to serve the ball to the net as a freshman. But she never gave up. The coach soon heard stories from her family that she served volleyballs off the side of their barn to improve her arm strength.

Later that year, she joined Zona Volleyball club team.

"I played between 15 and 17 hours of volleyball in the off- season, so it was kind of like a part-time job," she said. "I put in so much time into it because I wanted to play for Sabino."

Three years after being cut, Rimsza is a starting defensive specialist for the Sabercats (19-6, 6-0), who are in first place in the 4A Kino Region.

Rimsza, who has played in every match as a senior, will hang up her kneepads for good at the end of this season.

"I'm going to miss having volleyball," she said. "It'll be weird to come home and have nothing to do."

But she will still have a busy schedule.

A member of the Tanque Verde Livestock 4-H Club along with her twin sister, Rebecca, she raises pygmy goats, lambs and steer for shows like the Pima County Fair.

Rimsza has won Grand Champion prizes at several 4-H competitions but volleyball cuts into the amount of time she can spend tending to her animals.

Rimsza is also a member of the National Honor Society and carries a 3.89 GPA. She plans to major in engineering at the UA and join Amnesty International someday.

"I feel that there are a lot of people that are suffering for no good reason," she said. "I'm really lucky to have the opportunities that I have at Sabino. I want to make sure everyone has an opportunity."