“Wildcat for Life” was the phrase printed on T-shirts worn by Arizona athletes at McKale Center on Friday, Oct. 2.

If anyone embodies this sentiment, it’s Madi Kingdon Rishel, the former Arizona volleyball standout (2010-14) who is the latest Wildcat to enter the Ring of Honor.

She joined nine others in the Ring of Honor, including Dana Burkholder, Kim Glass and Whitney Dosty.

A lot has changed since she wore the Arizona uniform, from name, image and likeness deals to the new Taraflex® court. Still, “walking in here (McKale Center) feels like home,” she said.

It’s been at least six years since Kingdon Rishel has been in Tucson because as a pro volleyball player, her season and the Wildcats’ season overlap in the fall.

Her numbers at Arizona were impressive. The All-American outside hitter ranks second in both career kills (1,943) and career digs (1,366) in program history. She and Glass are the only two players with more than 600 kills in one season. She was a two-time All-Pac-12 honoree.

Kingdon Rishel was also a member of Team USA, named “best spiker” at the 2016 Pan American Cup and in 2017 earned “best outside spiker” at the FIVB World Grand Champions Cup. She won numerous gold medals.

There were no pro volleyball leagues in the United States until a few years ago, when three started: Athletes Unlimited, LOVB and MLV. Athletes Unlimited announced this summer that it is shutting down its league.

Players like Kingdon Rishel had to play overseas. Her journey took her all over the world to Azerbaijan, South Korea, China, Turkey, Italy and Indonesia.

Of these places, it was South Korea and Indonesia where the fans really knew volleyball and would recognize her off the court.

Overseas is also where she learned that “I could really do anything I put my mind to.”

“All of them (my experiences) were unique and different in so many different ways, but I’ve lived in seven countries now, and I just feel like if there’s a challenge in front of me, I know that I can face it head-on and accomplish anything I really put my mind to,” Kingdon Rishel said.

She jumped at the opportunity to play in the United States, where her mother, father and husband could easily watch her play.

Over the last few seasons, she played one season with Athletes Unlimited and has been with LOVB ever since, spending two years in Houston and this season with one of the newest teams, the Los Angeles Orbit.

It was a full-circle moment to play in Houston with Micha Hancock, a setter and one of Kingdon Rishel’s first friends on Team USA.

At Athletes Unlimited, she was reunited with her college coach, Dave Rubio, an advisor for the league, which had no coaches. As he watched her play that season, he said she had the same “elite, world-class brain” she had during her Arizona days. He said that is what separates the best of the best from the rest.

For Arizona women’s volleyball, the margin between close and there is razor thin

Coach Rita Stubbs on adjustments, finishing and what it actually takes

The Undercovered: Women's sports with PJ BrownPJ Brown

At the time, he compared the skills needed to play efficiently at outside hitter to those of Golden State Warriors guard Steph Curry.

“You’ve got to be able to shoot the three, you’ve got to be able to dribble, and you’ve got to be able to pass,” Rubio said. “You’ve got to be able to drive and be able to create your own space, to do a layup. You have to have multiple skills to be able to function at an exceptionally high level. The biggest one (on the volleyball court) is just serve receive. Her ability to serve receive at that level, that’s the biggest thing. And she can score. Madi has a scoring mentality. Her brain is, ‘I’m scoring. I don’t care what it takes, I’m scoring.’ That’s always separated her.”

He knew all along that she belonged in Arizona volleyball’s Ring of Honor.

“He’s always been saying, ‘This is gonna happen, it’s gonna happen for you,’” Kingdon Rishel said.

She never expected it and even with a coach who believed in her, it never crossed her mind that this could really happen. After all, “When you’re playing here, you never think about that,” Kingdon Rishel said.

Then, a few months ago, she got the call.

Her family, Rubio and current Arizona volleyball coach Rita Stubbs were thrilled and proud.

Current Wildcats also see the standard Kingdon Rishel set as aspirational.

“It’s an honor to see exactly where I am and all the things they were able to accomplish in their volleyball career,” said junior outside hitter Carlie Cisneros. “It’s truly inspiring, and it just means so much that I get to do exactly what she did. I get to play at the UA and wear this color on my chest. It’s really cool and the fact that she’s coming back here because she’s in the Ring of Honor, that’s so cool. I’m so jealous; that’s awesome.”

PJ Brown is the founder of The Undercovered, a Substack newsletter covering untold stories in women's college, professional and Olympic sports. Find more of her work at theundercovered.substack.com.

Tucson Spotlight is a community-based newsroom that provides paid opportunities for students and rising journalists in Southern Arizona. Please consider supporting our work with a tax-deductible donation.