Annie Drews was still absorbing the personally devastating news when she got a random call from the perfect person.
It was 2019, and in the three years since completing her volleyball career at Purdue, the 6-foot-4 Drews had earned a spot on the U.S. national team — a success few would've predicted when she joined the Boilermakers as an unpolished talent with a supercharged left arm. But now she was on the chopping block, told by Team USA that she may not travel to the Volleyball Nations League competition that year if she didn't start bringing a more assertive attitude and presence.
The setback was mortifying, and Drews quickly got lost in her own mind trying to figure out what to do. Then her phone rang — an unexpected call from Purdue coach Dave Shondell, a man she first knew as her parents' friend from college, then as her coach and later as a confidant.
Shondell was unaware of the development until speaking to Drews, but he saw a simple solution.
"The one thing that makes you different than anyone in there is your arm," Shondell told her. "Stop thinking about things that might pull you out of it and focus on the one thing that'll put you in in the ring."
Drews heeded the advice, and in the five years since, she has emerged as one of the most dominating front-line presences in international competition. She rose from the cut line early in 2019 to earn USA Volleyball's Female Indoor Player of the Year that winter after making two FIVB tournament dream teams and leading the U.S. women's national team to three podium finishes — one gold and two silvers — to put the team on a path to its first-ever Olympic gold medal in Tokyo.
And now Drews, the fourth-leading scorer among all women's teams at the Paris Olympics, is one of the main pistons powering the U.S. team's drive for another medal entering its semifinal match Thursday against Brazil. And after Tuesday's win over Poland, Drews pointed to Shondell's advice from five years ago as a turning point.
"I carry that with me," she said. "It's so great to have a resource who's known me for a long time and knows how my brain works."
Shondell could tell early on that Drews' mind would be the biggest obstacle to unleashing her potential.
Her upside was clear from the first time he saw Drews play. As she was leading Penn High School to its first two Indiana high school championships, Shondell remembers watching a player from her Mishawaka school shank a dig that sent the ball about 30 feet off the court. Nobody could reach it — except Drews, who raced from the front line and beat everyone to the ball to save the play. That athleticism told Shondell there was something special in this girl whom he'd known since her birth.
Sure, there were skills she needed to refine after getting a late start on volleyball in high school. Her ability to receive a serve and pass effectively to the setter needed improvement. Her defensive skills were raw, and even at her height her blocking abilities needed work. It's why she came to Purdue as the 29th-ranked recruit in the country — not exactly the pedigree expected of a future Olympic star.
But the power in her left arm was unmistakable — the way she could wind up and strike a ball with ballistic force told Shondell there was a beast inside her waiting to be uncaged.
"It's like pitchers in baseball — you can either ball really hard or you can't," Shondell said. "We never put a radar gun on her ball, but clearly she has some talents and arm speed that very few people have. It's violent, almost. You can tell she's swinging from her toenails sometimes."
But Shondell suspected that Drews had no idea of her potential, and the coach wondered if she could develop the mentality needed to lift her to the level where her physical skills wanted to go.
She didn't come to Purdue with an intense competitive spirit, which Shondell attributes to her late start in volleyball. Other players began developing and refining their skills in middle school. Drews didn't seem to feel she was good enough to entertain lofty dreams.
Such mental barriers are challenging for coaches to unlock because only the players can turn the key. So Shondell and his staff kept nudging Drews along, watching as growth slowly progressed. And when she finally turned that key as a junior — suddenly rising from part-time starter as a freshman and sophom*ore to honorable mention All-American and member of the All-Big Ten team as a junior and finally the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-America second team as a senior — Shondell knew Drews could finally see her potential.
"It was just maturity," Shondell said. "At some point in time, she understood that this was her calling. It got to a point where she looked herself in the mirror and said, 'I'm a badass.'"
And as that mental barrier fell and Drews' talents began taking off from Big Ten battles to international stardom, Shondell remained a mentor, helping her spot when her mind was choking her performances and helping her work through it. "Nobody can hit the ball the way you can," he'd remind her. "Hit it high and hard, and good things are going to happen."
All those years of mentoring and preparation came together at the Tokyo Olympics.
U.S. teammate Jordan Thompson had been on a tear to start the Games for the world's No. 1-ranked team, blasting China for 34 points in their second match, when she landed on a teammate's foot after setting a block in a match against the Russian Olympic Committee and severely rolled her ankle. It was a devastating turn for the U.S., which lost the match 3-0.
But Drews stepped in and immediately became a dominant force. She led the U.S. in scoring over the final four games, posting 22 points on 19 kills against Italy and capping the tournament with 15 points as the U.S. powered past Brazil 3-0 in the gold medal match. After Drews took over for Thompson, the U.S. won 12 of its final 14 sets to win the gold medal.
The memory still can make Shondell emotional.
Watching Drews progress from a raw talent with a .50-caliber arm to seeing an Olympic gold medal draped around her neck is an image Shondell has called "one of the greatest moments of my life." And when Drews returned to Indiana for her wedding three weeks after that golden moment, one of her stops was to the Purdue campus, where she and Shondell shared a celebratory hug.
"I could feel his pride," Drews said. "It's always very grounding to me when I can get back to campus and be around them, because it does feel like home and a piece of my life. That was long ago, but it kind of grounds you when you get back."
Shondell's only regret at the moment is not making the trip to Paris to cheer on Drews' latest Olympic run. With Purdue anticipating one of its most talented teams in Shondell's 22-year tenure — picked to finish fourth in the conference in the preseason poll behind national powerhouses Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Penn State — he made the choice to remain in Indiana and get the team ready for fall practices.
But each game, you can see him on Instagram, letting his fan side loose to send Drews messages of support. When the U.S. battled through a five-set match against Serbia, Shondell once again lauded Drews' left arm as the Americans pulled out the tight contest. "When the match is on the line,"he posted, "set the lefty. Annie! Annie!"
And with Big Ten Volleyball Media Day taking place Tuesday, a time for Shondell to brag on his incoming team's potential, he was simultaneously hoping the U.S.'s quarterfinal match against Poland would be playing on nearby TVs.
"Our university is so proud of how Annie competes with unique positivity and enthusiasm, while demonstrating how a TEAM is superior to any group of individuals,"Shondell posted.
Then, the mentor's pride bloomed.
"Play hard and enjoy the moment," he wrote. "You have absolutely earned it."
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