Abby Gould saw an open door, and the former Rochelle Township High School standout didn’t hesitate to walk through it.

After spending one year with the Kishwaukee College women’s volleyball team, Gould became an assistant for the Rochelle Middle School girls basketball program and head coach Kay Dobbs. As she watched her young players battle on the hardwood, Gould’s desire to revive her own basketball career came to the surface, and a scholarship offer from Judson University was all she needed to make the transition.

“I was coaching eighth grade girls and I realized that I really missed basketball,” Gould said. “After I received my associate’s degree from Kishwaukee, I decided to put in an application to play basketball and coach [Kristi] Cirone reached out to me. I went to an open gym and she offered me a scholarship.”

While Gould admitted that it took some time to shake off the rust, the former Lady Hub appeared in 15 games for the Eagles this past season, averaging 1.7 points and 1.7 rebounds per game while shooting 43.5 percent from the field. The team finished with an 18-14 record that included a 91-38 thumping of Moody Bible Institute on Nov. 8, 2016, when Gould scored six points on 3-of-6 shooting.

“Meeting new people and developing new friendships and relationships have been huge for me,” Gould said. “The transition was a little rough. At Kishwaukee, you know a lot of people… It was a little different making new friends at Judson and the team atmosphere was completely different.”

Gould played four years of volleyball and basketball at RTHS in addition to one year of track and field. She received Most Improved Player honors during her sophomore basketball season, and she earned All-Conference recognition by the Northern Illinois Big 12 in both volleyball and basketball in each of her final two years of high school.

Following in the footsteps of her father Jeff (who played high school basketball) and her mother Sandy (who played high school volleyball), Gould picked up a basketball for the first time when she was in fourth grade, and she began playing volleyball roughly two years later. She said her passion for the two sports was even throughout most of her life, with basketball eventually making its way to the front.

“I was more interested in volleyball during my first two years of high school, but my last two years were more about basketball,” she said. “In college I just really missed basketball… I was just really passionate about the game, the team atmosphere and just playing something I love.”

Gould graduated RTHS in 2014, and she was recruited to play basketball at Bethel University in Saint Paul, Minnesota. But something didn’t feel right for the Lady Hub forward, and after one week at Bethel University, Gould returned home to begin her volleyball career at Kishwaukee.

“I found out that [Bethel] wasn’t where God had intended me to go,” she said. “I came back home and started late at Kishwaukee, and after talking to both the basketball coach and the volleyball coach, the volleyball coach showed the most interest… It was a huge learning experience.”

Off the court, Gould was studying for an education degree, but her academic interests shifted right around the time her athletic plans changed. She switched her major to psychology after transferring to Judson University, and her new objective is to obtain her bachelor’s degree in psychology before beginning her postgraduate studies in speech pathology.

“I realized that I wanted to be in a school setting, but I wasn’t sure that the classroom was right for me,” she said. “If I stayed in the education department at Judson, I would’ve had to go one-half of a year longer… I was passionate about psychology, and I know that psychology can be used in the business world, which is something I’m looking into as well.”

Gould’s college experience has been a series of twists and turns, but she is aiming to finish her career strong when she takes the floor with her Judson teammates this coming season. From volleyball to basketball, she said that perseverance is the most important lesson she’s learned throughout her college years.

And with two younger brothers (RTHS sophomore Seth Gould and Kishwaukee freshman Caleb Gould) currently playing basketball, the older sister is looking forward to seeing what her siblings can achieve at their respective levels.

“In the midst of school, studying, work and family, you get a little worn out,” she said. “Sticking together and pushing through it as a team is something I’ve learned at both Kishwaukee and Judson… We only have one life. We need to work as hard as we can and do the best we can because life is short and we should cherish the moments we have.”