By Keighla Schmidt
UWRF Sports Information

Coming out of high school as a three sport athlete, playing volleyball, basketball and golf, Falcon junior Krista Cordes knew where ever she went next, sports would be coming with her.

"No matter where I went, I wanted to play basketball, it would be too hard to not play after playing all three sports in high school," Cordes said.

Cordes, a Farmington, Minn., native came to UW-RF after she was encouraged by Falcon Coach Cindy Hovet to study elementary education here while playing basketball. She said she also liked the small town atmosphere that River Falls has.

Starting off her freshman year on the basketball team, Cordes learned she had to have good time management skills and organize her life. She discovered early that elementary education was not for her and switched her major to business. In order to do well in her courses, excel in basketball and have a social life, she had to manage her time well.

"I had to discipline myself," Cordes said. "It made me schedule things around practice and games."

She had to step that up even more when she made the decision this fall to try out for the Falcon volleyball team. She said she missed playing the past two years, and was excited to get back into the sport.

After making the team, Cordes worked hard to manage her time and play her best game.

When the basketball and volleyball seasons overlapped Cordes focused on finishing up the volleyball season for the final two weeks, and then going to basketball preseason practices.

"Krista is really coming into her own right now as a college basketball player," Falcon Coach Cindy Hovet said.    "She came to River Falls with some excellent basketball skills and a great attitude. She has worked very hard the last couple seasons to add defense and rebounding to her list of strengths."

Outside of volleyball and basketball Cordes likes to golf. She also enjoys spending time with her roommates, some of whom are on the Falcon basketball team.

Cordes said she likes living with them because it makes it easier to feed off of each other's experiences. If one of them is battling school and sports, the others can be empathetic and help them get though it.

Another upside, Cordes said, is that they don't take things from the house to the court, or from the court to the house.

"If one of us isn't getting enough playing time, we won't take it out on each other," she said.

She uses her roommates and teammates as a support system. Cordes also has support from her parents.

Farmington is close to River Falls, Cordes said, so they make it to every home game and others that are close to the area.  "It's great to know you have fans in the stands," Cordes said.

She said since not many fans are at the women's games, it's good to know that she can always count on at least them being there.

Cordes said since arriving on campus she has watched herself develop on and off the court.

She said she now sees herself as a leader on the team. She is one of the veterans and she said she is more vocal this year. "Hopefully that helps to get everyone going, to be the spark" she said. "I want to energize everyone."

Her skills have also grown she said. "My defensive skills have gotten a lot better," she said. She said she has also become a quicker and stronger player, and all around improved.   "My ability to score and to shoot," she said are her big contributions to the team on the court.

Off the court Cordes said she tries to lead by example through her dedication to school work and attitude. She said she works hard to make the team get along by making sure no one is left out of team activities.  

Cordes does not know how she would ideally use her degree in business after graduation, but she is keeping the possibility to coach an option. "Maybe if I have kids, I'll coach them," she said.

"Krista paid her dues with very limited game time her first two seasons. But she kept working and now it's paying off for Krista and the team. She has become an emotional boost for our team. She is one of our most versatile players with the ability to step in at any of three positions depending on who's on the floor. She's positive and an excellent teammate," said Hovet.

Krista Cordes