GREEN RIVER — Green River senior Sophia Arnold will continue her volleyball career at the collegiate level after signing with Gillette College on Thursday.
Arnold, a two-time all-state selection for the Green River High School volleyball team, helped lead the Lady Wolves to a state runner-up finish during the 2025 season. Along with volleyball, Arnold also competed in basketball and track and field during her prep career. She plans to study health sciences while attending Gillette.
Arnold said the opportunity with Gillette first came together after hearing from coach Chase Soennichsen.
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“Coach Soennichsen emailed me an offer,” Arnold said. “He offered to have me come over and see what the college was like since I’d never been there. When I went, I just really liked him and the players I got to meet and play with a little bit at practice with them. I just really liked it, and it felt like somewhere I could really play and grow.”
While Arnold excelled in multiple sports at Green River, she said volleyball was always the sport she envisioned pursuing at the next level.
“It was always volleyball I think for me,” Arnold said. “Volleyball’s always been my favorite. So I just always knew that volleyball would be the one I picked.”
Even so, Arnold said stepping away from the year-round schedule of being a multi-sport athlete will be an adjustment.
“It will definitely be weird, not having something to do all the time,” Arnold said. “Although volleyball is my favorite, I still love playing basketball and doing my track-and-field event. So I think I’ll just miss the practices and also just the people I’ve gotten to play with.”
Arnold said her love for volleyball started at a young age and grew through the relationships she built along the way.
“I remember playing it when I got into fourth or fifth grade, I think, and I just fell in love with it,” Arnold said. “My mom used to play it, and it was just such a good bonding moment for us. I’ve learned to really love all the coaches I’ve had and the teammates I’ve had — really good ones, thankfully, throughout the years.”
Among her favorite memories at Green River was the Wolves’ semifinal victory over Laramie at the state tournament this past season.
“I think my favorite moment was when we beat Laramie this year in the semifinals, because we’d never beaten Laramie and it seemed like kind of just such a hard thing to do,” Arnold said. “So when we did it, it just felt like all of our hard work had paid off and all the work we put in leading up to that.”
Arnold also said remaining in Wyoming to continue her career was important to her.
“I’m so excited,” Arnold said. “I’m glad I get to continue to play in a competitive environment, but also I get to stay in Wyoming and be close to my family and friends who are still here. Maybe it also allows for them to get to watch me play, and I get to see them more too, so it’s really nice.”
Arnold said the best advice she has received is to appreciate every opportunity.
“My best piece of advice was probably to work hard for everything you want. Nothing’s ever going to be given to you,” Arnold said. “And then also, make sure you just enjoy every moment because it goes by. Enjoy every practice, because you get to do it — it’s not that you have to do it, it’s that you get to do it.”
Green River head coach Andri Dewey, who coached Arnold during her senior season, said Arnold played a major role in the Wolves’ success during the transition to a new coaching staff.
“Instrumental doesn’t even seem like the right word,” Dewey said. “She made so much of our team. She was a phenomenal leader, the hardest worker in the gym all the time. She cares so deeply about everything that she does. She was instrumental in what we did and what we achieved this year as a team.”
As Arnold prepares for college volleyball, Dewey said embracing the experience will be important.
“Make the most of it,” Dewey said. “It’s really hard, but it pays off in the long run. I want her to have the best time and the most fun.”
Check out more photos of the signing below.
