Burlington Notre Dame School

Matt Levins - The Hawk Eye

When it comes to sports, Madalynn Knapp is torn between two loves.

Knapp has a passion for volleyball, where she was a first team all-district outside hitter.

Knapp also loves softball, where she is a first team all-conference outfielder.

So when it came time to pick a sport for college, the Notre Dame High School senior did the logical thing.

She chose both.

The 5-foot-8 Knapp recently signed to play volleyball and softball at Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg, Illinois, beginning in the fall.

When offered the chance to play both of her favorite sports for at least one more year, the temptation was too much for Knapp to resist.

“I’m very excited. I’m glad Coach (Todd) Winkler has given me the opportunity to play at Carl Sandburg,” Knapp said. “I’ve never really known what I want to go to college for because I’ve always favored them both. When I found out he coaches both, I thought this would be a perfect opportunity. I was texting him no-stop until he made me an offer.”

Knapp is coming off a solid volleyball season for the Nikes. She averaged 3.1 kills and 4.9 digs per set and was successful on 252-of-279 serves (90.3 percent) with 27 aces.

Knapp was a unanimous selection as a hitter for the SEI Super Conference South Division first team and was a first team all-district selection by the Iowa Girls Coaches Association.

Knapp had a fabulous junior year of softball for West Burlington-Notre Dame last summer. She spent most of last season playing left field for the Falcons.

Knapp hit .337 with a .436 on-base percentage and a .465 slugging percentage. She had six doubles, one triple and one home run, scored 33 runs and drove in 29 runs. She was 12-of-13 in stolen base attempts.

In the field, Knapp had a .897 fielding percentage. In 29 total chances, she had three errors, five assists and 21 putouts.

Carl Sandburg was 36-12 in volleyball this past season, including 8-2 in the Arrowhead Athletic Conference.

The Chargers were 6-36 in softball last spring.

“It’s going to be nice that he’s coaching both sports. I think it will work out with my schedule, especially since I don’t have a major yet. He’s a good guy,” Knapp said of Winkler. “The fact that he coaches both was a big factor. The drive is perfect from my house. It’s far enough that I can live up there, but it’s still close to home.”

Knapp has one season of softball left this summer, then plans to get ready for playing two sports at the college level.

“I’ve been able to balance it pretty well for high school, but I know it’s a completely different story when it comes to college,” Knapp said. “I guess I’ll just figure it out as I go.”