GREENSBORO, N.C. - Like many women's soccer players coming out of high school, Kelly Merriss' driving decision in picking a school upon graduation was determined by where she could best continue her athletic career. With a coaching connection to UNCG, the now Kelly Luedtke, realizes the decision she made to come to Greensboro as an 18 year old in 1994 has shaped her life in more ways than just her soccer career.

The former Spartan was among some of the most successful and groundbreaking teams to compete at UNCG, helping the program to win conference championships in four consecutive years. As a freshman Kelly helped the Spartans to their first unified title, taking both the Big South Regular Season and Tournament championship in 1994. UNCG won a second straight Big South season championship the following year, before becoming the first Spartan team to clinch a spot in the Division I NCAA Championship tournament in 1996. 

As a senior, Kelly played on arguably the greatest Spartan team in history during the 1997 campaign, bringing UNCG to its second straight NCAA tournament in its first year competing in the Southern Conference.

"That team was pretty special," says Luedtke. "We had incredible talent from both the U.S. and international players, and there was just an overall cohesiveness. When I look back, and we all still connect today quite frequently through social media, I think there was an overall incredible support of one another."

After clinching the SoCon Regular Season and Tournament trophies, the Spartans defeated South Alabama in a play-in game for the NCAA tournament, just the second year after the field had been expanded from 24 to 32. UNCG cruised past the Jaguars with a 5-0 win before facing perhaps their biggest match of the season, Duke University, who had defeated the Spartans 2-0 earlier in the season. 

The Blue Devils entered the contest after turning in a 14-win campaign and a 6-1-0 record in ACC-play, but were facing a UNCG squad on a four-match win streak in which they outscored opponents 29-0. The hotter team prevailed that day, with the Spartans taking a 3-1 win in overtime to reach the second round of the NCAA tournament for the first time in their history. And while the prestige of the match itself was held in high esteem, Luedtke admits she has trouble remembering it among all the successes her team had over her playing career. 

"...I've been playing soccer since I could run, at every level my whole life. I have so many amazing memories and that is such a pivotal moment in my life and in my soccer career, and for the life of me, I can't remember the game," she admits. "...I know that we dominated from what my peers were saying. We kind of dominated from the beginning and my teammates really set the tone early and it was a really great outcome. I wish that I could give you this really great story about that specific game, but for some reason I've drawn a blank."

It comes as no surprise that with a career highlighted by as many goals and titles as Luedtke's, some matches are bound to escape memory. Making 65 appearances for the Spartans and netting 16 goals and 48 points, the UNCG midfielder was an All-Big South selection in 1996, and played a key role in seven conference titles from 1994-97. 



The Spartans scored a pair in overtime against the Blue Devils to clinch a 3-1 win in Durham that year, catapulting the side into a second round draw with Clemson. While UNCG defeated the Tigers 2-1 at home during the regular season they were unable to do the double against the squad in South Carolina. The Spartans have since reached the second round of the tournament three times, but are yet to advance beyond, as that 1997 squad remain in a tie for the greatest postseason finish in UNCG history. 

"... We had the respect and the type of relationship where we could push one another to uncomfortable levels that some might take offense to, but we could push each other in that way and trust that we had each other's best interests and the team's best interests at heart," says Luedtke, commenting on the success of that 1997 squad. "So I think the ability to do that [made that team special]. We also had a lot of off the field camaraderie, and a lot of that had to do with [former UNCG Head Coach] Jack Poland and [former Spartan Assistant Coach] Diane Drake as well. They sort of created an environment for us to be able to work hard but have fun and respect one another."

That camaraderie and desire to push one another created a tight-knit group that still stays in contact today, with Kelly catching up with teammates on social media regularly. 

"Absolutely [we still stay in touch]. That whole core, Ali Lord, Kim Rosenberg, Dana Tilley, Susie Parsons, Raila [Maisonlahti] actually lives right down the street from me. Lyndsey McClean, I mean almost the entire team. Heather Bernard, who is now Heather Denton. I know I'm missing some, but yeah we actually communicate via social media probably weekly."



Originally coming to Greensboro in hopes of attaining a nursing degree, Luedtke finished her four years with a Bachelors of Science in Exercise and Sports Science in 1998. The Spartan realized her original aspiration in short time however, coming back immediately after graduation to achieve a second degree in the field of nursing two years later.

"I had determined that I wanted to be in the medical field," she explains. "I wasn't quite sure if nursing was then what I wanted to pursue long term, so I began networking and was hired into the medical device industry January 1, 2001 with a really great company, a division of Johnson & Johnson, and I've been in the medical device industry ever since."

Working with Ethicon for 15 years, Luedtke progressed up the chain of command to become a sales manager, before making stops as a Territory Manager with Terumo Medical Corporation, and now Abbott Laboratories.

"A lot of that was because I had that nursing background and in my industry they really love athletes, college athletes specifically," says Luedtke. "They bring a certain competitiveness to the sales aspect, and having a medical background and a sports background was very beneficial to me."

The hard work Kelly has put into her career over the past two decades hasn't kept the UNCG grad from starting a family for herself. Marrying her college sweetheart Michael, the pair have four children, and Kelly contends they are a big part of her latest venture, Happy So Lucky Photography.
  
"So that is a hobby, or a side hustle, however you like to call it," she laughs. "A lot of what I really enjoy is sports photography. Since leaving college, as well as entering the medical device field I also have four children. We have three boys and a girl, ranging in ages 10-17, so my love for photography kind of came from photographing them. I photograph families but also, really from a hobby standpoint, through my children's athletics and high school sports I've done sports photography as well."

Even though it seems unlikely that anyone will be following Kelly's footsteps on the soccer pitch, it comes as no surprise that all four of her kids are athletes and may even be faced with that pivotal choice their mother made back in 1994 someday, a choice that she still looks back on positively.
 
"I think what I love most about UNCG and really just the athletic department as a whole, whether it's because of the size of the school or the culture that's been built by [Former UNCG Director of Athletics] Nelson Bobb and the other coaches, is that all the athletes, we really had great camaraderie as a whole. What I remember most is athletes from other sports coming to soccer games and vice versa, so there was this incredible support system amongst the entire athletics program. It really was just like a larger family, outside of even the soccer team, and that's what I remember most. ...it was just such a family atmosphere, and supportive atmosphere. I think that was really special and unique."

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