If you watch McKenzie Williams play volleyball for five minutes, you can see how passionate she is about the sport she first played in eighth grade. After her final season at Morgan Academy, that passion was still strong, so Williams was hoping to find somewhere to play in college.

On Tuesday, that dream became a reality when Williams signed a letter of intent with Huntingdon College in Montgomery.

“I wasn’t ready to throw my knee pads away,” Williams said. “I’m really excited to see what God has in store for me.”

Williams credited coaches Seth Currie and Walker Lewis, both Huntingdon graduates, with helping her through the process. She was one of the standouts on Morgan Academy’s volleyball team, which reached the Alabama Independent School Association state quarterfinals.

Williams was also the West MVP of the AISA All-Star Game in October.

She also played club volleyball with Capital City Juniors in Montgomery during her junior season.

She will be moving 45 minutes away from home, but technically, she’ll be moving back home. Before moving to Selma, Williams attended Eastwood Christian School in Montgomery.

“I’m going back home. I moved to Selma in eighth grade, so I’m very excited about going back home to Montgomery, but it’s nice to be 45 minutes from my mom so I can get a nice, home-cooked meal every now and then,” Williams said.

She’ll even get to play with one of her former Eastwood teammates, who she said is also heading to Huntingdon to play volleyball.

Williams wants to study kinesiology and she wants to become a physical therapist.

“On the court, I have this passion to help other people learn how to play volleyball,” she said. “I want to be able to help people be able to learn to walk again, learn how to use their body.”

Williams also wanted to thank her teammates, coaches and family. She said Morgan Academy’s setter, Cassidy Lawrence, was one of the reasons she is where she’s at.

“She definitely pushed me to do my best,” Williams said. “Without my coaches, my friends and family, I couldn’t have done it without them.”

Morgan Academy athletic director Josh Thacker said Williams has worked hard and expects to see her do great things at Huntingdon.

“We’re proud of McKenzie and she’s that infectious type of woman that you love to be around — always smiling, always in a good mood and she just deserves the best,” Thacker said.