![\"Graduation](\"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Graduation-Cap_blue-500x500-e1586882554282.png\")
<\/a>CELEBRATING SUCCESS:<\/strong> During this time when we cannot come together to celebrate our graduates, UToledo is recognizing the Class of 2020 with a series of feature stories on students who are receiving their degrees. Help us celebrate our newest UToledo alumni. Visit utoledo.edu\/commencement<\/strong><\/a> to share a message of support to graduates and come back online Saturday, May 9, to take part in the virtual commencement ceremony.<\/p><\/div>\n When the Dublin, Ohio, native arrived on campus in fall 2016, she was the only freshman on the team.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was very cool, but scary at the same time,\u201d Birnbrich said. \u201cHaving no one to go back to the dorm with and talk about how practice went, or not having someone with the same schedule as me, that was hard.\u201d<\/p>\n Birnbrich was lucky that her roommate, Abby Demboski, was a Toledo soccer player from the same hometown. But the volleyball and soccer teams had opposite schedules, so there were many weekends where one was home while the other was on the road.<\/p>\n \u201cI was so scared to miss morning lifts if my alarm did not go off because no one could get into the dorm and get me,\u201d Birnbrich said.<\/p>\n On the court, Birnbrich proved to be a valuable asset for the Rockets as a freshman, starting 19 of the 24 matches in which she played.<\/p>\n At every match and at every practice during Birnbrich\u2019s time as a Rocket was Assistant Coach Bethany Lokken, who was hired in spring 2016. Birnbrich credited her with helping her not just as the only freshman getting started on the team, but throughout her whole career.<\/p>\n \u201cShe was my position coach, so she worked with me every day on the court,\u201d Birnbrich said. \u201cShe helped me through everything in college and was the only person who stayed in my life at Toledo from freshman year to senior year.\u201d<\/p>\n