Positive, humble, funny, goofy, dependable — these are the characteristics teammates and coaches attribute to Mississippi State University’s freshman opposite Kimmy Gardiner, to name a few. 
Head coach Jenny Hazelwood said Gardiner’s personality makes her a great athlete to coach.
“She’s fun,” Hazelwood said.  “She’s always working really hard. As a coach, you know that regardless of what kind of day she has from a skill standpoint, you’re going to get the same person and that helps a lot. It helps everybody in the gym.”
Gardiner, a native of Grapevine, Texas, played and starred on the Colleyville Heritage High School volleyball team.  
Although she started playing volleyball around the fifth grade for her rec-league, it was not until she reached high school that she realized volleyball was something she really wanted to pursue. 
Gardiner quit her basketball team and decided to focus solely on volleyball.  Her decision has paid big dividends.  As a freshman, Gardiner is now one of MSU’s dominant players. 
As a senior at Colleyville, Gardiner had an exceptional year, racking up 515 digs and 560 kills, leading her team in both categories.  Now, as a freshman at MSU, Gardiner continues to see some of that same success. 
Last week, Gardiner was named the SEC Freshman of the Week after her outstanding play in the Maroon Classic.  
Initially, she said she was surprised when she heard she received the award.
“It was awesome,” Gardiner said.  “I thought it was crazy that it’s happening in my first week, but I was super excited and honored to get the recognition.” 
Gardiner’s journey to MSU has been a stressful one, especially with the recruiting process.  Gardiner said the ordeal of being recruited by different schools was her biggest obstacle. At times she became overwhelmed with the whole thing, but she said she knows she made the right choice by coming to MSU.
“I loved the environment at MSU, and I loved the idea that it was an SEC school,” she said.  “The fact that I was able to come into a program that was rebuilding made a big impact on my choice to choose MSU.” 
Making the jump from high school to Division I volleyball can be a huge step for some athletes, but for Gardiner, it has been an easy transition.
“It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” she said.  “Coming in July really helped a lot.  I got to meet the team really quickly.  We hung out all the time and got our chemistry going, and that made it really easy for me to transition into playing with everyone.”
Gardiner has contributed right away, and in many ways has already become the team’s go-to player. 
Senior Dani McCree said she sometimes forgets Gardiner is only a freshman.
“In the middle of a play, if we are in trouble, we know we can set Kimmy the ball and know that everything is taken care of,” McCree said.  “She’s definitely been able to come in and be someone immediately who is dependable and we can pass the ball to.”
Hazelwood said Gardiner is a solid player who brings a lot of value to the team.
“She can play all six rotations.  Teams start to figure out pretty quickly that she’s our go-to player, and she can handle that and still be very effective,” Hazelwood said.  “She opens things up for everyone else because teams are always keying in on her.  She gives us a solid player that never has to come off the floor.”
McCree said Gardiner is not just a phenomenal athlete, but she is a genuine person to be around.
“I feel like she would do anything for anyone.  She’s always willing to help and she’s always there to listen. She’s just easy to talk to and easy to be around,” McCree said.
Although Gardiner has seen a lot of early success, she knows she can still improve on her game even more and can only go up from here.
“We’re still young, so we have so much potential and so much to prove to everyone in the SEC,” Gardiner said.  “I’m excited to show all the work we’ve been going through and how hard we’ve been working to win these games, and hopefully it shows on the court.”