VANCOUVER, Wash. (KOIN) –Ridgefield senior volleyball player Lizzy Andrew certainly stands out when she walks into a room.

“I am 6-foot-5. That is a question I get asked, but I don’t mind answering it,” said Andrew with a big smile and a laugh.

Her height, but more importantly her athletic ability, her calm demeanor, and her leadership skills, led to an email from USA Volleyball this past spring she’ll never forget.

“I was like, ‘Is this for real? I don’t know what this means.’ And then you read the whole email and you’re like, ‘Holy cow!’” said Andrew.

Andrew was one of 20 girls asked to try out for USA Volleyball’s U19 Pan Am Cup team.

And yes, she made the final 12-woman roster.

“It’s so hard to put words to because it’s just kind of a feeling you get. You just feel so proud and you’re just so excited to get that opportunity to represent your country. It’s just an amazing feeling,” said Andrew.

All she and her team did at the tournament was not drop a set through five matches on their way to gold.

“Oh, it was so exhilarating. Rushing on the court as a team, I was just so happy,” said Andrew. “I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face. Just sitting there listening to all the names being called, I was just so proud of my teammates and how hard we worked together.”

Team USA was dominant, but so was Andrew, being named the Best Blocker of the tournament.

It’s no hyperbole to say she’s one of the best at her position at her age in the world right now.

“We just think of her as somebody who’s a part of the team, a friend, a teammate, and when you think of it as your saying, it kind of gives me little goosebumps because it’s crazy to think that she’s really that good,” said Ridgefield head volleyball coach Sabrina Dobbs.

After this year, Andrew will be off to Stanford to play for the Cardinal, but she has higher aspirations than that.

“She said, ‘I want to play pro,’ and I was like, ‘Okay, this will be awesome to see you do this.’ I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say, ‘I want to go pro for volleyball, so this is awesome to hear,’” said Dobbs.

And of course, Andrew also has the highest aspiration of all.

“Oh for sure, yes,” said Andrew, lighting up when asked if she wanted to play for Team USA at the Olympics. “I think that would mean the world to me because it’s been a dream of mine. I know it’s a journey to get there, but that is the end goal.”