It didn't take long for Baytown Christian Academy volleyball standout RuthAnn Feist, who began her matriculation at The University of Texas last spring, to appreciate the dramatic change in her environment.

"I had one class with about 150 students in it," Feist said. "Now, there were about 200 students in my high school."

She punctuated that sentence with a laugh.

Understand that Feist was not surprised.

Nor was Feist intimidated…in the least.

To wit: All she did in the classroom last spring was perform well enough to earn a spot on the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll, which recognizes those student-athletes who recorded a 3.0 or better grade point average.

"I'm proud of that because college is much more difficult than high school," said Feist of her outstanding work during the spring.

"It's a big transition," she continued. "You don't have a lot of free time, so you really have to learn to use your time wisely. But your classwork is as important to the people here as it is to me. They make certain we have people to help us, if we need it.

"When I was being recruited by Coach (Jerritt) Elliott, there was as much talk about academics as there was about volleyball. That was important to me."

Longhorns faithful will be pleased to know that Feist is as accomplished on the court as she is in the classroom. She helped bring three Texas Association Parochial and Private School titles to Baytown Christian Academy. She also received All-State honors in her final two years there.

"I'm glad I came last spring," Feist said of her decision to enroll early at UT. "This fall would have been a lot scarier because of having so many things to do.

"But it has gone more smoothly because of my time here last spring."