Columbus High's Shardonee Hayes signs to play volleyball at Arizona

When Columbus High volleyball star Shardonee Hayes got to high school, her coach Donna Fleming saw the same thing everyone else did upon first meeting her:

She was really tall.

"I just knew with that frame, there was a lot of potential there," Fleming told a crowd of students and parents at a signing ceremony at the school on Tuesday.

"You could tell she could be special."

But it didn't come overnight. Freshman year was a struggle. Hayes wasn't a major factor on a team that finished as state runners-up to Sandy Creek in Class AAAA.

By the time Hayes finished her high school career, however, she was arguably the best to ever play the sport at the school.

She finished her career with a school-record 1,374 kills and added 279 blocks. She was named an Under Armour All-American, for which she will play in the national match on Dec. 18. She helped her team to four consecutive state title appearances, winning twice in 2013 and again this year.

On Tuesday, she signed with Arizona out of the Pac-12 conference to cement her legacy in high school and begin a new one in college.

"It feels so great," Hayes said.

"All my handwork paid off over the years."

Hayes said she wanted to go to Arizona partially because it was outside of the south.

"Everyone wants to stay in the south," she joked. "My goal was to get out of the south."

But it wasn't just that. She loved the school and felt comfortable with the program.

The coach, Dave Rubio, has a reputation for developing good players into superstars, which was certainly an attractive quality for her.

"He recruits players that may not be the top players in the country and develops them into All-Americans," she said. "I feel like that's a good environment for me."

She said her goal is to play beyond college, and Arizona felt like a place that will help her do that.

"It's just going to take passion and having confidence in myself," she said.

"You can have all the physical talent in the world, but if you don't have the mentality for it, you won't be successful."

This story was originally published November 17, 2015 at 9:45 PM with the headline "Columbus High's Shardonee Hayes signs to play volleyball at Arizona ."