Edelman Inks Professional Contract
May 17, 2016 | Volleyball
Nicole Edelman will leave Boulder this fall to play volleyball professionally in Europe.
BOULDER — Growing up, Nicole Edelman always knew she wanted to play volleyball past her collegiate days.
Now, after serving as the starting setter for the past four seasons at the University of Colorado, Edelman has signed a contract to play professionally in Europe for the Volleyball Franches Montagnes Club. VFM, located in Saignelégier, Switzerland, competes in the Swiss and European Leagues.
"I'm so excited and a little bit nervous," Edelman said. "I've been in Boulder my whole life. I was lucky to play here at CU and to stay close to friends and family. I am really excited to get out, play some good volleyball and see the world a little bit. It will be a great experience and I'm really looking forward to it."
Part of the reason Edelman knew she could play volleyball beyond college was her father, Nestor, who was a professional player on the men's side. She knew college wasn't the end of a player's career, but a spring board to the next step. Edelman said, "He was a huge inspiration for that. He's been a huge help and I'm lucky to have him."
And because Nestor played professionally (in Europe and Argentina), Edelman already has a support system in place, making this next step a little less daunting.
"It's so nice because now that I am moving on to the international part of my career, he has so many connections, whether its agents, coaches or mentors, they are there to support me," she said. "Even though he played on the men's side and it was years ago, it's so nice to have him be able to guide me through this next phase of my career."
Edelman was recently named a co-recipient of CU's Female Career Athletic Achievement award. During her accomplished career with the Buffs, she was just the fifth Buffalo to record 4,000 career assists, finishing with 4,278. Edelman helped the Buffs reach the top half of the Pac-12 standings during her career, taking CU from 1-21 (Pac-12) when she signed in 2011, to an 11-9 league record the last two seasons, which tied for fourth in 2014 and was fifth in 2015. The Buffs also advanced to the NCAA Tournament twice (2013 and '14) and just missed a selection in 2015.
The Boulder, Colo. native has never known anywhere else as home, but couldn't contain her excitement on the next phase of her career. She will leave in September to train with VFM for a couple of months, before starting the season in November where the club will play three to four matches a week, a slight difference from the collegiate schedule of two matches a week during the conference season.
