Griz Player Goes Pro

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Griz volleyball star Jaimie Thibeault, who graduated this month with a degree in elementary education, signed a contract with Lavoro Doc Pontecagnano recently and will begin playing professionally in Italy the first week of January.

“I’m excited, because Italy was my No. 1 choice,” says Thibeault, who spent the fall semester student teaching at Cold Springs Elementary in Missoula. “It’s probably the best league in Europe.”

Thibeault, from Red Deer, Alberta, concluded her Montana playing career in 2010 as a three-time first team All-Big Sky Conference selection. She holds the program record for career blocks and ranks second in career hitting percentage.

Soon Thibeault will be immersed in a new culture. She’ll be living just south of Naples -- “five minutes from the beach on the Amalfi Coast,” she makes sure to highlight -- and be the only American on her club team, which plays matches typically once a week.

“All of (my teammates) speak slight English, but not very much, so it will be interesting,” she says.