NAMPA, Idaho – Abbey Blum knew from a young age that she wanted to play volleyball and she wanted to play at Northwest Nazarene.

Making that happen, though, took years of dedication and effort.

Blum is a second-generation Nighthawks volleyball player and the star of the up-and-coming team entering the 2019 season.

"It was always my dream to play here," she said. "I wanted to go to a school that was Christian based. My mom's family lives down here and I grew up coming here."

Blum, who is from Troy, Idaho, east of Moscow, began playing volleyball when she was 10 in her front yard with her mom, Stacy. She started club volleyball that same year.

From there, Blum played volleyball, basketball and track and field but volleyball was always her favorite.

Her talent was evident from an early age.

When she was 15, she played club volleyball on the 18-year-old teams. When she was a freshman she played on varsity.

"I lived volleyball," she said. "I went to all kinds of camps and got a lot of encouraging feedback from all of my coaches.

"I just thought it was my dream to play here and I always wanted to do it. I was going to work hard until I got there."

Her mom played at Northwest Nazarene in the 1980s. Her older sister, Sarah, played soccer here and her older brother played college football, so it wasn't outlandish for Abbey to dream about playing at this level.

"Seven years ago, we didn't know the Blum family and their connection to NNU," volleyball coach Doug English said. "We went and watched her and realized she was pretty good and we wanted her to come play for us. She was one of the easiest recruits we've ever had. We offered her a scholarship in January of her junior year and she accepted it pretty easily.

"She is big and strong and that is a huge thing. When we are trying to get kills and score points, she can be that person for us and was that person for us last year."

And while landing a scholarship to NNU was a dream come true, the transition to college volleyball was a bit rougher.

"Going from a school with 24 students in my grade and going from being a leader and a captain to here where I was on the team, but not playing was a humbling experience," she said. "I'm very grateful that I didn't play, because I think it taught me a lot.

"My freshman year here was cool because I could watch all these girls work really hard to build up that team."

As a freshman, Blum watched All-American Madi Farrell and star outside hitter Kendra Bodine dominate the competition. That team earned its third national tournament berth in four years and won its first-round match.

Her sophomore year, though, was much different.

The Nighthawks started 0-8 and finished the season with a 6-24 record.

"It was just a constant grind," she said. "Last year I don't think we had confidence. Basically, everyone was new and we had very little on-court experience.

"This year, I feel like my confidence has sky rocketed. Last year, it wasn't there which was a bummer. I think it would have helped a lot."

Through all of the losing, though, Blum never lost her edge or work ethic.

"She is one of those people who is always bringing the team together to talk and say what we need to do to make this more intense or competitive or whatever," said Casey Kispert, a redshirt sophomore. "She has some more experience under her belt and she is ready to make a huge difference this year and I know that she will."