Your road to playing college volleyball actually begins much earlier than college. Your freshman year of high school is when you need to get started on the volleyball recruiting process.

Consider this time line for reference:

Freshmen Year

During your freshman year, it is important to have fun. Don't worry: the serious stuff will come soon enough.

But, while you are having all this fun, it is also important to keep focused academically. When coaches and recruiters have interest in you, your grades will come into play. Poor grades or test scores can drastically hurt, and even end, your chances of playing college volleyball.

It is also important during this time to make sure you are playing volleyball correctly. Bad habits, many of us know, can be quite hard to break so it is better to break them while you are young. Make sure your volleyball coach teaches you with proper form and technique. It is also a good idea to play on a competitive club volleyball team; this will let you compete against the best players in the country.

As your freshman year comes to a close, you may receive introduction letters in the mail from a variety of colleges. While these may seem exciting, don't get your hopes up. These letters are part of the college volleyball recruiting process and a way for colleges to build a database of interested athletes. Don't think of these letters as being actively recruited, instead think of them as the first step of the volleyball recruiting process.

Sophomore Year

At the beginning of your sophomore year, you should meet with your guidance counselor to discuss the requirements to play college volleyball.

You should continue to play high school volleyball, and club volleyball at the highest level available to you.

This year you will also want to start recording game footage. You will use this footage to market yourself to schools. Ask your parents to purchase or rent a digital recorder that can be used to film games and practices.

As your sophomore year progresses, you will get a variety of questionnaires in the mail. Again, this does not mean a college is actively recruiting you (though they may be). Rather, this continues to help the college build up their database. Fill out the questionnaires so that you can voice your interest.

You should also begin researching schools. Maybe you have a specific school in mind or maybe you have certain requirements. Do you want to go out of state? Do you have a specific major? Is there one or two schools you will absolutely not attend? These are things you need to ask yourself.

Once you have figured out the schools that interest you most, send an introductory letter to the coach of that school. This letter should include a bit about your volleyball self (such as stats and awards), as well as a link to your video game footage. Include a game schedule and invite the coach to come see you play.

Finally, consider attending summer camp at a few of the schools you like best. These camps are crawling with college volleyball recruiting officials - they are a great way to get noticed.

You won't be able to fully know whether you are being recruited until your Junior year, as per the NCAA rules. But, by doing the above steps you are laying the groundwork of your college volleyball career.