The U.S. women’s national volleyball team couldn’t have won the bronze medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janiero without Courtney Thompson, ’05. After the devastating semifinal loss to host Brazil, the 5-foot-8 setter rallied her teammates to grab the bronze in a hard-fought victory over the Netherlands. Thus ended the on-court career of the most decorated women’s volleyball player in UW history. “I’ve been overseas nine years. It’s super fun and it’s cool … but you are also out of the country for like eight, nine months a year,” she says. “I’ve gotten to experience everything in the game I’ve ever hoped for. I just want to be around my friends and family. ”