Bedore stepping right in for Cowgirls

Wyoming sophomore rightside hitter Dani Bedore

By Richard Anderson

Wyoming Sports.org

Evidently, the word competitive just begins to describe Wyoming sophomore Dani Bedore on and off the volleyball court.

The 5-foot-9 rightside hitter is easily the most physical player for the Cowgirls. Wyoming coach Carrie Yerty said that if she could take somebody to war, she would take Bedore.

But that is nothing compared to her younger days growing up in Goodland, Kan.

Picture this: Her older brother, Jordan, is 6-3 and 310 pounds and is the starting center on the Kansas State football team. In her own words, she used to “beat him up” when they were in their spirited younger days together. Of course, he was only 5-9 and 150 pounds at the time.

She would go with Jordan to his wrestling practice and wrestle. In sixth grade, she would go with him and participate in football weight lifting workouts.

Her mother, Barb, was a volleyball player at Colby Community College, and her father, Dustin, was a baseball player at Colby. Several aunts and uncles were also college athletes. Younger sister Taryn (12 years old) wanted to be a cheerleader, but she is “coming along.”

And just try to get your way at the Bedore home watching sports on television.

“We’re competitive over who we want to win and who our favorite player is,” Bedore said. “We’re competitive in everything.”

At Brewster High School in Goodland, Bedore was a three-time all-state player in both volleyball and basketball and a state track qualifier in the long jump, triple jump and as a member of the 4X100 relay team. She was also on the academic honor roll all four years of high school.

Bedore wouldn’t have it any other way. Now as a Cowgirl, she is the team’s leading hitter at 3.06 kills per set and leading blocker with 29 total blocks.

So how does she describe herself as a player? It’s not really too difficult to figure out.

“I like to get excited about everything. I really try most of the time to fire everybody up,” Bedore said. “But that is how our team is. We’re really small, so we have to have a lot of fire to really get after the other team.”

With that said, she is developing into a go-to player at crunch time in her short time as a Cowgirl.

“She wants the ball at game-point, she wants to jump serve for game-point and she wants to have 50 attempts a match,” Yerty said. “She’s still young. For us, we see an awesome future for her in terms of developing into a go-to player. I truly believe that if you have a good rightside, then you are going to score and you are going to win games.”

Senior setter Tasha Weishahn has had to develop relationships with all of her young hitters this season, as the Cowgirls lost about 90 percent of their offense due to graduation. It’s been a good transition, she said, with Bedore.

“It was easy to get to know her because she is pretty open. She has a lot of energy, so it is fun to play with her,” Weishahn said. “She’s very competitive, a very strong player. She goes out to kill it every time. She gets a little down on herself at times, but she just wants perfection and I think that is a good thing to strive for.”

Bedore came to Wyoming after spending last season at South Carolina. She said it was tough to leave her friends, but she wanted to be closer to home. Her parents make sure that one of them is at all of her matches, whether it is at home or on the road. They did that last year as well, but traveling to South Carolina compared to about a 4½ hour drive to Laramie was a big deciding factor in her transfer.

“They’ve always been supportive of me,” she said. “It just helps with them being there, cheering me on. And after the game, I get to see them."

As far as making new friends, that was an easy transition as well.

“When I came here, I really didn’t know anybody and now I have been forming really good friendships with my team and have become really good friends with my coaching staff,” she said.

Bedore is also a lefty … in everything she does. “I don’t know how to do anything right-handed,” she said.

Hitting left-handed, especially on the right side, not only adds to her aggressive play, but it might just give her a little edge.

“I think it is an advantage because of the way I’m lined up,” she said. “I can just turn and hit since I am left-handed.”

That’s fine with Weishahn, who set to another lefty, Angie Hellbaum, the previous three seasons.

“I love having a lefty on the right side. It is so much easier than setting to a righthander,” Weishahn said.

The Cowgirls, 2-2 in league play, are just 3-10 overall. A tough non-conference schedule has the team beginning to gel.

“I think we have definitely played better than what our record says,” Bedore said. “We get into the gym and work hard to get better. Everybody has a key role on the team.”

The Cowgirls will host New Mexico and TCU this week as they look to jump over the .500 mark in league play.

For the Cowgirls to continue their progression, Yerty said she would like to see Bedore become more contagious on he team with her competitiveness.

“Our team really looks to her for a big play,” Yerty said. “When she goes up and knocks somebody’s socks off or when she gets a big block, she instantly ignites our team. I think that is something she is going to work to develop.”

The years have passed since Bedore tried to out-do her brother on the basketball court, wrestling mat or in just about anything else they competed at. She is now channeling that competitiveness in other ways. Time will tell, but likely they’ll wait and compare notes once their athletic careers are done.

After all, her brother is 6-3 and 310 pounds.

“I wouldn’t even try to push and shove him right now,” she said with a laugh.

In this case, being competitive does have its limits.