Former Yellowjacket Volleyball All-America Selection Crotteau Signs Contract in Austria

BILLINGS, Mont. – Former Montana State Billings volleyball standout, Devon Crotteau, has signed a professional contract to play volleyball for VC-Tirol in Innsbruck, Austria.

“I honestly cannot believe how blessed I am to be able to do this,” Crotteau said in an e-mail.  “I’m not sure it’s entirely hit me yet that I am actually going to be getting paid to play the game I love in one of the most beautiful cities I’ve ever seen. I feel like I’m just on a vacation or something.”

Fans can follow Crotteau this season by logging on to www.vc-tirol.at and there is a space to translate the text to English on the right side of the main page, half way down.   

Crotteau said in her email she began thinking towards the end of the season about ways to continue playing after college and began researching on how to go about it. 

“I learned about Bring It Promotions and it is primarily an agency that deals with placing North American volleyball players on European teams,” Crotteau said.  “I went on their exposure tour, which is basically a camp where girls from a variety of schools get together and play while coaches in need of players come and watch.  The guy in charge told me it wasn’t about being the best player there, it’s about being the right player for any given team.  I was offered a contract in Austria because the coach thought I would be the best fit for the team.”

Crotteau, a native of Casper, Wyo., became the first volleyball player at MSUB to earn American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-America honors last season as she helped lead the Yellowjackets to a 17-11 record under first year head coach Steve Smith. 

She ranked fifth nationally in kills last season (4.47) and led the Great Northwest Athletic Conference in kills and points and was in the top ten in service aces.  Crotteau became the fifth player in MSUB school history to reach 1,000 kills and was the only player to record three-straight seasons with 400 kills and 300 digs.  For her career, she finished with 1,351 kills, which ranks third in the school’s annals, 3,436 attempts, 1,114 digs and 118 service aces.

She also earned AVCA and Daktronics All-West Region honors and was named first team all-conference for two years and academic all-conference honors.