Volleyball was all but in the rear-view mirror for Tyler Jameson.

The senior setter for Durango High School’s state tournament volleyball squad was all set to matriculate to Colorado State University, even having paid $300 in enrollment fees.

That is until an unforeseen possibility emerged, one from a seemingly unlikely destination.

“(McHenry County College) called Terene (Foutz, director of the Four Corners Volleyball Club), then they emailed us,” Jameson said. “It was really random. I was already enrolled to CSU, so this was really awesome.”

Soon after, Jameson sent a DVD of Durango’s dramatic five-set victory over Roosevelt in the Class 4A regionals, and by the end of the week, McHenry County College head coach Jylianne Czanstkowski had a proposal for the youngest member of the Jameson family: Come be a Scot.

After pondering the offer for about a week and a half, Jameson decided to heed the advice of older sister Larkin and head to the Chicago suburb of Crystal Lake, Ill., for at least two more years of setting up the big hitters at the NJCAA Division II and Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference school.

“Since I already had in my mind I wasn’t going to (play volleyball), I had to completely rethink ... everything again,” Jameson said.

“(Larkin) said, ‘Anyone from Durango can go to CSU, but not everyone can get to go to Chicago,’” said Cory Jameson, her mother. Larkin Jameson, a former DHS libero, graduated in 2009.

Adjusting mentally to playing again after having all but decided to give up the game was a bit tricky for Jameson, who had looked into playing at Yavapai College, a two-year program in Prescott, Ariz., before those plans fell through.

Instead, she landed with the Scots, who went 12-27 last year, ending a streak of five consecutive National Junior College Athletic Association tournament appearances.

Jameson, who’s never been to Chicago, said that having the built-in support system of teammates should help her adjust to being a nearly 20-hour drive from home.

As for the parental perspective, Cory Jameson, wife of Bret Jameson, said her friend, Harshil Thaker, lives 45 minutes from Crystal Lake, and she’ll use him to relay game updates whenever possible. That is, if she’s not there in person.

“I’ve already set my email up to notify me every time plane tickets get cheap,” she said.

After years spent playing for coaches such as Foutz, Ron Becker, Tom Jensen and DHS head coach Robin Oliger, Jameson will turn to a friend of her mother’s in order to get in shape before heading east in July, saying she wants to improve her vertical leap first and foremost.

Of course, it helps when mom’s friend is a three-time U.S. Olympian and bronze medalist in 2004 in Athens. Jameson, along with Katherine Rifilato of Bayfield High School, sister Gabriella Rifilato of Adams State and Jessica Wilson of Fort Lewis College will spend a couple of days a week at Elaine Youngs’ new downtown gym, The Vault.

For Youngs, it’s a chance to become active in her hometown’s volleyball community, something she couldn’t do during her time playing on the AVP Tour and preparing for the Olympics. She’ll host various clinics throughout the summer as well as some beach training sessions in addition to her work at her new gym.

“For me, it’s been a really hard thing, living here for 10 years and never really being able to get involved with these kids,” she said.

“Tyler especially ... It’s always so hard to find time. I was here for three months, and those three months were spent working on myself. ... I feel like I’m really getting myself involved in the community (now).”

After playing her high school and college ball in Southern California, Youngs said she’s pleased to see the progress the Four Corners area has made in volleyball over the last decade. And the more kids that can be like Jameson, the Rifilato sisters and Wilson – a DHS alumna – and pull in college offers, the better.

“There’s a lot of great talent; there’s a lot of great coaches here. ... I think that Durango’s come a long way the last 10 years with the people that have been involved,” she said.

rowens@ durangoherald.com