Kimberley's Brianne Rauch will be trading her Selkirk Storm silks for Thompson Rivers University kit next fall.

The star left side recently committed to the Kamloops school's volleyball WolfPack; it competes in Canadian Interuniversity Sport, the nation's premiere collegiate circuit.

"It's going to be different than I'm used to, although I think it's going to be a lot nicer because I'm not going to always be on the court," she said. "I'm going to have breaks and everyone is going to be the same skill level and we're all going to want for the same thing. I think it will be a really good change from high school."

Rauch was highly sought after during her Storm career. In Grade 11, she spoke to seven different U.S. schools and there was reciprocal interest with the University of Calgary.

In her Grade 12 campaign, her most serious interest came from UBC-Okanagan, Capilano University and TRU.

Rauch said she made her decision in late January.

"It's a big lift off your shoulders. It's really nice to know where I'm going. I can focus on just completing school and getting scholarships and stuff," said the aspiring teacher.

She decided on TRU with help from her mom Carrie Peacosh

"She was like, 'Find a school that has your academics and has a volleyball program you're interested in.' This one had both, and I kind of liked that it's a building team and she liked that too."

Rauch said her mom has always been supportive.

"From Day 1, she pushed me to be good at volleyball. Once I discovered that I wanted to play volleyball in Grade 8, she supported me the whole way."

She also appreciated the work Selkirk's Joe Ambrosio did as her coach for three of her five years in the sport.

"He was more than a coach. He's always been there for me," she said.

Ambrosio, who is also Selkirk's athletic director, said the key to their programs is mentoring the students to help them achieve whatever dreams they have - big or small.

"For somebody like Brianne... I knew what her goal was four years ago when I first coached her, so I guess it's nice to see that she achieved that goal and I had a little, small part to do with it. It's the same with the program."

Ambrosio said Rauch is very demanding of herself, and a fierce competitor in games and practice alike.

"She wants to improve, she's like a sponge: she just absorbs the game," he said. "That is what's made her successful at all levels, whether it's been club, Team B.C. or high school - that willingness to learn and for the love of the game. She loves what she does, and because of that competitiveness, she'll be just fine (at TRU)."

One of the first things she'll have to learn next fall is how to juggle classes, practices, tournaments and homework.

Rauch said she spoke to a couple of student-athletes when she visited TRU.

"They said their first year was more of a learning year, trying to figure everything out, (how to) get to every class on time, get to practices and manage stuff. They said once second year hit, they pretty much had it down."