The Ohio State women’s volleyball team celebrates during the Ohio State-Michigan game Oct. 26. Ohio State won 3-0. Credit: Katie Good | Asst. Photo Editor
There are more than 550 miles separating the Covelli Center and Marietta, Georgia.
Seniors outside hitter Gabby Gonzales and middle blocker Reilly MacNeill grew up playing volleyball there together since they were teenagers and both made the journey to Ohio State to begin their collegiate volleyball careers.
“Reilly’s been with me through it all,” Gonzales said. “Through the good, through the bad.”
The two were recruited separately, as Gonzales committed to Ohio State before her ninth-grade year and MacNeill the following summer.
The longtime friends have a friend group in Georgia that played volleyball and went to high school together, but Rebecca MacNeill, Reilly MacNeill’s mom, said she thought everyone would go somewhere different.
“When she committed to Ohio State, we had almost forgotten that Gabby committed there,” Rebecca MacNeill said. “I asked Reilly if she was OK with that, she said, ‘No, I’m fine with that.’”
A few days following their high school graduation, the student-athletes were thrown into their new environment in 2019.
That summer, the women’s volleyball team went on a South American tour, and Rebecca MacNeil said Gonzales and Reilly MacNeill’s relationship strengthened due to those early travels.
“That was definitely a comfort,” Rebecca MacNeill said.
After their first year, they experienced another period of transition, as Jen Flynn Oldenburg took over as head coach from Geoff Carlston.
Neither student-athlete planned to leave after the coaching change, and they both credit the family-like atmosphere around Ohio State volleyball for this decision.
“My biggest reason to stay, in addition to Reilly, the whole rest of the team is just like family,” Gonzales said. “It’s so special what we have here, and I don’t think that is the case for a lot of teams.”
Reilly MacNeill felt similarly about her reason to stay at Ohio State and said she and Gonzales have friends and family in Georgia cheering them on while supporting one another.
“We have a great friend group at home that we’re always hanging out with when we go home,” Reilly MacNeill said. “It’s like having a sister away from home.”
Gonzales said the two argue like sisters and, like sisters, make up quickly.
They have been friends for over a decade, and Reilly MacNeill said there is comfort in having that familiarity.
“It is nice to know that you have someone there with you that if something is going on, they know exactly how to handle that situation,” Reilly MacNeill said. “They were there when that same thing would happen when you were 15 years old.”
Gonzales said while it can be tough being away from her home, having someone she’s always known helps.
Naturally, for out-of-state athletes, not every family member can make it to every game or family night.
“One of my favorite moments was walking together on family night,” Gonzales said. “Since we’re so far from home, our families can’t come. Being able to walk with someone that is family on family night was awesome.”
They worked their first job together at a small gym in Georgia during summer 2022.
Reilly MacNeill is majoring in sports industry and is graduating at the end of the fall 2022 semester, she said. She said the transition out of college will be odd, but she is excited for it.
“It’s going to be weird,” Reilly MacNeill said. “We’re going to get that feeling pretty soon but just seeing us do big girl things is going to be awesome.”
The stretch run of their final season together at Ohio State is underway, and both said they are excited to experience life without volleyball.
Gonzales, an exploration major, looks forward to seeing how they adapt to the working world.
“I am really excited to see how Reilly is in the workplace,” Gonzales said. “I can’t wait to see us both do our business professional thing outside of sports. I’m excited to create a life without volleyball.”
Both will leave the court in the coming months and join the workforce, they said, but they know they will always be friends, and Reilly MacNeill thinks they will live close to each other.
“Hopefully, we’ll be like the cute moms that are still best friends with our kids hanging out when we get older,” Reilly MacNeill said.
