Edward Everett Hale penned the novel, 'A Man Without A Country' in 1863, a story aboutAmerican Army lieutenant Philip Nolan, who renounces his country during a trial for treason, and is consequently sentenced to spend the rest of his days at sea.

In the summer of 2020, Gretchen Durbala was a college athletewithout a school.

Durbala, a graduate of Burlington High School, was getting ready for her senior year at MacMurray College in Jacksonville, Illinois. But MacMurray shuttered its doors, its financialstruggles pushed over the edge by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Just 18 months before she was supposed to walk across the stage to get her degree in biochemistry and just weeks before the start of her senior season of volleyball was supposed to begin, Durbala was scrambling to find a school.

Up steppedNatalia Koryzna, head volleyball coach at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. Koryzna had seen Durbala play, since the schools were in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference together.

One thing led to another, and suddenly Westminster had a setter and Durbala had a new home.

It has been a perfect fit for all involved.

"MacMurray College announced they were not opening up in the fall, they were shutting down. I was a littlebit in shock. I really didn't know what to think," Durbala said. "In a matter of hours I was getting calls asking me ifI wanted to play volleyball for my senior season. (Koryzna) called and asked me if I was interested in playing for her.

"They already knew me and I knew how they played. My parents and I went down on a visit. I had never been there or met any of the girls. But I knew it was the perfect fit for me."

Durbala was actually in the middle of a class when the news broke that MacMurray College was closing its doors forever.

"The kids and teachers didn't know what to do," Durbala said. "The teacher said, 'Okay, I guess we are done with class for the day.'"

Durbala helped the Blue Jays to a 13-3 season, including 11-2 in the SLIAC, where they shared the regular-season title with Greenville. Westminster advanced to the conference championship match this spring before falling to Greenville, which handed the Blue Jays two of their three losses this season.

Durbala made a smoothtransition, helped when the pandemic pushed the start of the season from fall to spring. She got her 1,000th career assist this season and finished 38th in NCAA Division III, averaging 9.19 assists per set. The 5-foot-10 Durbala garnered second team All-SLIAC honors, whileKoryzna was named co-Coach of the Year in the SLIAC.

"It was a pretty smooth transition. It helped that the season was pushed back to the spring, especially with 10 incoming freshman and myself. We had a lot of new people on the team and we all had to get to know each other," Durbala said. "I had a couple extra months to get to know everyone and know how and where they want the ball set. We got it all figured out pretty quickly and had a really good season."

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Durbala was granted an extra year of eligibility. She will return to Westminster College for the fall semester and complete work on her biochemistry major. From there, it's probably off to physician's assistant school.

Now, Durbala hopes Westminster will have a volleyball season in the fall.

"I have to go back anyway, so hopefully they get to play in the fall," Durbala said. "It would be really nice to get to play one more year of volleyball."

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Burlington High graduate finds the right fit with Westminster volleyball - Burlington Hawk Eye