Kill, kill, kill. That is how Pieter Olree plans to make his living after graduating from Ohio State.

Playing professional volleyball in Europe and for the U.S. national team didn’t appear realistic when Olree started his career with the Buckeyes, but now the senior captain is ready to move on and see what he can do at the next level.

“Pieter has always been a good attacker and we always felt like he had a wealth of athletic talent,” said OSU coach Pete Hanson. “Over the years, he has polished his volleyball skills and he has a good chance to continue his career after college. That’s something we’re pretty proud of.”

With 1,287 kills thus far in his career, Olree has an outside shot at 1,603 kills, which would break the school record. But since the Buckeyes play a rally scoring style instead of side-out scoring, it might leave him around 60 kills short of the record.

The positive is his roommate Mark Peckham just went over the 1,000 assist mark for his career, and with the two starting to click, it might put the record in striking distance.

But volleyball hasn’t always been easy for this season’s two-time Midwestern Collegiate Volleyball Association player of the week.

Olree’s father played soccer and semi-pro water polo in Holland before coming to the United States. Thus Olree played soccer for most of his life before he finally started to play volleyball in high school.

Olree’s volleyball talent was found unexpectedly. When he was at one of his basketball practices, the volleyball coach noticed him and asked him to try out. Olree said he would play, but the first few weeks were difficult for him.

“I asked Pieter after his first practice how it went and he said he hated it and didn’t want to play anymore,” said Becky Faller, Olree’s mother. “In our family, if you say you’re going to do something then you have to follow through. But after a few weeks he loved it and it was all he wanted to do.”

But once again, the transition to the college game after only a few years of experience was a difficult time for Olree.

“My freshman year was a big struggle for me,” Olree said. “We had a couple All-Americans on the team that year and it was tough adapting to the college level, but I had the support of my teammates and coaches and eventually it came together.”

By Olree’s sophomore year it did come together. Now a starter Olree was a key piece of the puzzle that helped the Buckeyes to the national championship game.

Now the challenge of moving on to the professional level will once again prove to be a difficult transition for the 6-foot-6-inch senior.

“He’ll have to play at a lower level probably to start, but if he gets his foot in the door and gets well respected, then he can start to climb the ladder,” Hanson said.

“Italy is the best league in the world; I’m not sure if he’ll play there, but he can definitely play for someone,” said Tom Tantrow, the junior co-captain.

“He knows what he wants, he has always been very confident and very outgoing,” Faller said. “We’re very proud of him and he’s done it all on his own. We never had to push him and he’s always been able to achieve his goals.”

This season was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the Buckeyes, but with Olree combined with a solid core of guys stepping up, the No. 13 Buckeyes have a chance to win the conference championship and an NCAA tournament berth.

“Pieter means a lot to this team,” Hanson said. “He’s a fifth-year senior, he’s been here the longest and he is the one guy that has played at the highest level of volleyball. His experience is huge because he can tell the guys what we need to do to be successful.”

Olree does enjoy telling the guys what to do during practice.

“He likes to dish the sauce to guys, and he particularly likes to get on the younger guys,” Hanson said. “But when they develop a backbone and dish it back he takes it real well. He just wants to be one of the guys. He doesn’t want to be above them and he interacts with everyone real well.”

Tantrow said he’s experienced what it’s like to feel Olree’s wrath during practice.

“Sometimes we get bored so we talk trash to him to get him motivated, but you never say too much because he almost always tends to dish it out by blocking a shot or hitting a good ball,” Tantrow said.

But the trash talking is not negative. It’s more of a tool to get the guys prepared for a tough environment like the Buckeyes faced at Loyola-Chicago earlier this season.

“It’s tough love on the court,” Olree said. “We’re going to get on you when you are not doing things right. But we’re here to help the team and everyone get better because we want to see the program succeed in future years. Off the court we are there for everybody 100 percent.”

Olree did say the practice challenges are more than just some fun for him.

“On the floor, there are guys in this league that if they block you they’re going to let you know about it,” Olree said. “But if the guys on the team want to challenge me, I think it’s great. I usually end up winning, but I like it when they do it.”

Olree’s teammates classify him as a high-class, laid-back guy, which is a bit of a switch from when he was younger.

“He was wild,” Faller said. “He was such an active child and so strong. I didn’t have another child for four-and-a-half years.”

But Tantrow said he’s changed a lot since he’s been at Ohio State.

“He used to scream a lot and yell, but now he leads by example on and off the court,” Tantrow said.

A sports and leisure major, Olree looks to get into coaching after his playing days are over. He even mentioned possibly coming back to coach for the Buckeyes.

“I’m ready to go,” Olree said. “It’s been a long five years and I’m ready to see what else I can do.”