Sydney Glover’s father suspected her competitive softball career might not be over after she finished successful runs with Nansemond River High School and the Virginia Lady Eagles 18U Gold team in 2013.

“We’ll see,” David Glover said that summer before his daughter left for Yale University. “I’m hoping she’ll change her mind and walk on, and I know she could help them.”

His hopes were fulfilled.

While she did not play during her freshman year at Yale, she is now a member of the Lady Bulldogs as a sophomore. The 2015 season is set to begin next week.

Glover, who graduated as salutatorian at Nansemond River, came into her collegiate experience with the desire to explore new opportunities outside of softball, though she did have plans to play intramural ball at Yale.

“I was kind of disappointed that she didn’t play her freshman year,” Nansemond River coach Gabe Rogers said, though he added he understood that she wanted to focus on getting her feet wet academically at the challenging Ivy League school.

“Sydney’s a fantastic ball player, and I knew that she had the skillset to be able to help their team,” Rogers said.

So, what changed for Glover?

She said when February 2014 rolled around, she was conscious that she would normally be getting ready for the softball season.

“I just really missed playing,” she said.

Later in the year, she moved further down the path of her sophomore comeback by asking Yale coach Jen Goodwin some questions.

“Would you be OK with me walking on? Was there still room for me to walk on?” Glover said she asked.

It helped that there was a pre-existing relationship.

During Glover’s senior year at Nansemond River, one of Yale’s coaches saw her at a tournament and expressed some interest. They had her come up to Yale for a visit.

“I already knew Coach Goodwin through that,” Glover said.

She said the coach responded to her questions about walking on by saying it would just be a formality, and Glover said she did not even have to go through a tryout process.

She was added to the team and started official practice with the Lady Bulldogs in the fall.

“Over the summer, they sent me all the workout stuff the actual team had,” she said. “All the older girls reached out to me.”

Glover said the fall workouts were small and focused a lot more on lifting and conditioning.

She played in three fall games and logged time at center field and left field.

“For the outfielders, there are seven of us vying for spots,” said Glover, who is naturally hoping to start. “Lately, (Coach Goodwin’s) been having me start in center when we’ve been doing practices and stuff like that.”

Glover fractured her wrist in the fall of 2014 and was just recently cleared to play. She said her hitting has not been super strong, but she is hoping to make a significant impact during the season as a left-handed batter.

“She’s going to do some good things for them,” Coach Rogers said. “She brings that speed and that lefty hitter.”

The Lady Warriors coach said he expects her to be in the starting lineup, have an extremely high batting average and on-base percentage for the Lady Bulldogs, and essentially doing “the same things for them that she did for us, which is get on base and wreak havoc.”

He later noted, “She’s a great reflection of our softball program.”

After having its first four games canceled due to inclement weather, Yale is set to begin its season with a doubleheader in Florida on Tuesday.