Sabrina Ewing’s life was upside down.

“I didn’t know what I was doing,” she said. “I was failing in every aspect of my life.”

As a freshman at North Idaho College, Ewing walked on to the volleyball team, where she immediately felt out of place.

“I didn’t feel like the girls liked me,” she said. “And honestly, I didn’t like being here at NIC. I was going through a rough patch in my life.”

Just a few months earlier, Ewing had completed a successful track and field career at Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy, and had garnered interest from schools such as Boise State, Western Oregon and Sacramento State.

But Ewing, 19, decided to stay in Coeur d’Alene to maintain a relationship with her boyfriend and to take a break from track.

Ewing’s relationship eventually turned violent, and began to send her life into a downward spiral.

The 5-foot-8 freshman began not only failing her classes, but she stopped showing up for them. She felt like an outcast on the volleyball team and when she eventually ended her relationship, she was left with few friends.

Ewing sunk into depression.

“I would just sleep in all day — right through all of my classes. I just didn’t want to go to them,” Ewing said. “I just didn’t want to do anything. I was so depressed. My friends told me I needed therapy.”

Ewing’s life continued to lose control during her first semester. She was involved in three fights and was often partying, completely ignoring everything academics.

“I was hanging out with the wrong people and dating bad guys,” Ewing said. “I didn’t like my life. I wasn’t in the right state of mind, and I wasn’t being who I could be. I was a bad person.”

Despite her personal issues, Ewing continued to work hard to try and get better at volleyball.

“I wasn’t very good when I got here,” Ewing joked. “And even though nobody on the team liked me, I still busted my butt every day.”

Ewing played in just one match last season, but all of her work paid off following the national tournament when then-coach Colleen Frohlich offered her a scholarship, which would cover her tuition.

“Colleen told me, ‘You’ve worked really hard and come a long way. I know you don’t see it but I see it and you deserve it,’” Ewing said. “With her leaving us it was nice to hear that I’d come ... somewhere ... some kind of distance to being better.”

Despite being rewarded for her efforts, Ewing still pondered quitting the volleyball team altogether as she entered second semester.

“I still didn’t fit in with the team,” Ewing said. “I still wasn’t going to class or doing my homework. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, and I was just frustrated. The easiest way out seemed to be just quitting.”

But when Kandice Kelly was hired as the new head coach to replace Frohlich, who resigned to spend more time with her family, things began to change in the life of Ewing.

During a ‘queen of the court’ team event, Kelly approached middle blocker Janele Vogt and asked who Ewing was.

“(Vogt) told me she was from Coeur d’Alene and didn’t play last year,” Kelly said of noticing Ewing for the first time.

Kelly was unaware of Ewing’s situation at the time, but said she saw potential in the outside hitter.

“I said, ‘Holy crap. That kid is athletic,’” Kelly said. “She was really good.”

But then Kelly overheard a comment said by Ewing, in which the freshman told a teammate she didn’t need to be here (with the team) because she wasn’t going to even play next season.

Kelly then approached Ewing in early April about the comment.

“I gave her an ultimatum. I said, ‘Did you say this?’” Kelly said. “She said, ‘Yes’ so I told her ‘You’re either going to play here next season or see ya.’”

Ewing recalled the talk. “I told her, ‘Yeah, (quitting) has crossed my mind. I think about it every day, actually.’”

It was her talk with Kelly that ultimately helped Ewing decide to stay on the team, and, unknowingly, change her life.

“She told me I have skill and she wanted me to stay here. But she said I had to want to stay here, and that I would have to work for it,” Ewing said. “It really just pulled my head out and want it. I finally wanted it. For myself, I wanted to be better and not let what other people said or thought affect what I did in my life.”

With a new outlook on herself, volleyball and life, Ewing began honing her skills on the beaches of Coeur d’Alene over the summer.

“Playing beach volleyball this summer really sparked that love for volleyball I’ve always had,” Ewing said. “I just decided I was really going to work hard and I realized that I really do love this sport.”

Over the same summer, Ewing met Emily Sarff, who was also playing beach volleyball.

The two struck a friendship, and Ewing introduced Sarff to the NIC team where Sarff walked on as a libero.

Sarff and Ewing are currently roommates, and Sarff said the Ewing she knows now is nothing like the girl she’s heard about from a year ago.

“She is so much fun,” Sarff said. “She’s a totally, totally different person. We always have people over and she’s always socializing. She was never like that before.”

Ewing returned to the NIC team this August with her new persona, ready to make the most of her second chance.

“She worked out this entire summer and came back a different player. She came back a different kid,” Kelly said. “She had confidence. She does everything I ask, and she wasn’t like that last year. She trusts me; she believes in me. And I trust her, and I believe in her. It is like night and day.”

But just three weeks into practice, Ewing’s past came to the forefront, putting a damper on her road to change.

The sophomore received a letter from NIC stating she was academically suspended.

Ewing was in danger of losing her scholarship, and had to explain why her suspension should be lifted.

“I had go through a huge appeal process. I went to talk to the board and tell them I have been changing my entire life around,” Ewing said.

Ewing was allowed to return and keep her scholarship, but is still on academic probation and must keep her grades up in order to avoid a 6-month suspension from the school.

“I’ve just been working really hard on my grades and working my butt off all around,” Ewing said.

Her hard work and dedication both on and off the court has allowed Ewing to become a starting outside hitter for the Cardinals this season.

NIC shared this year’s Scenic West Athletic Conference championship with Salt Lake, clinching the No. 1 seed in the regional tournament and earned a berth to the NJCAA tournament in West Plains, Mo., which starts Thursday.

“Without (Ewing) we wouldn’t have won as many games as we did or done as well as we did,” Sarff said. “As for the social and personal aspect, she is a huge deal. We all love her so, so much.”

Kelly, who stuck with Ewing the whole way, said she, too, sees a different person.

“She’s got a second chance and I think she’s taking full advantage of that chance,” Kelly said. “She hates to disappoint me and (Linda Hall, assistant coach). When she disappoints us you can see that she is sorry. She is truly sorry. I just think of the world of that kid.”

From the girl who lacked direction in her life, and wasn’t sure she ever wanted to play volleyball again, Ewing is preparing to show other schools what she can offer them.

Ewing met with Kelly last week to find schools she is interested in so Kelly can send game tape, advertising the sophomore.

But Ewing isn’t worried about schools’ interest in her athletic ability. Her grades are what scare her.

“Schools are going to want a student-athlete, not just an athlete,” she said. “And I really set myself back that way last year. But hopefully someone will see that I have the potential and I’ve changed my life around now.”

Kelly echoed, “Sab is somebody people are going to want. She’s a very athletic outside hitter that can definitely play all the way around, and she’ll find a school to play for.”

While her future plans remain uncertain, Ewing has tossed around the idea of becoming a massage therapist.

“Whatever I choose to do, it’s going to be something to do with sports,” she said. “I’ve been around sports my whole life and I am never going to give it up.”

On staying with the team, Ewing called it the best decision she’s ever made.

“Honestly, I don’t even understand how I could have thought about quitting,” she said. “It seems so surreal that I thought like that. I can’t believe I ever let myself hit such a low.

“I never want to be like that again.”