Madi Kingdon Rishel

Madi Kingdon Rishel was born on April 20, 1993, in Phoenix, Arizona. She began playing indoor youth volleyball in 2005 with Arizona Storm and attended Sunnyslope High School. During her high school career, she was a three-time Class 4A Division I champion and was named to the Republic’s All-Arizona team in both 2009 and 2010. In 2010, she received the Gatorade Arizona Player of the Year award, Arizona Republic’s Player of the Year, and Prepvolleyball.com All-American honors. She holds the record for most kills at Sunnyslope High School and was inducted into the Sunnyslope Hall of Fame in 2024, with her jersey number being retired. She was selected to the 2011 U.S. Women’s Junior National Team, which finished fourth at the FIVB Women’s U20 World Championship in Peru.

Kingdon Rishel continued her volleyball career at the University of Arizona, where she played collegiate indoor volleyball starting in 2011 and sand volleyball in the 2013 and 2014 seasons. She is recognized for one of the most successful indoor careers in Wildcat history, ranking second in both career kills (1,943) and career digs (1,366). During her time at the University of Arizona, she led the team to three NCAA tournament appearances and two AVCA Sand Volleyball Pairs Championships. As a senior, she was named AVCA All-America Third-Team for indoor volleyball and AVCA Sand Volleyball All-American, making her the only player in the country to receive All-American honors in both formats during the 2014–2015 season. She graduated in 2015 with a degree in sport management/marketing. After college, Kingdon Rishel embarked on a professional career overseas, playing in Azerbaijan, South Korea, China, Turkey, Italy, and Indonesia, before returning to the United States to play in the newly established professional leagues.

Her professional career began in 2015 with Azerrail Baku in the Azerbaijan Superleague, where she won the championship and was named MVP. She then played for Hwaseong IBK Altos in South Korea’s V-League (2016-2018), securing a championship title and MVP honors in 2017. Following this, she played for Beijing Baic Motor Women’s Volleyball Club in China (2018-2019), contributing to an undefeated preseason and a Chinese Super League Championship title. From 2019 to 2023, Kingdon Rishel was with Türk Hava Yolları in Turkey, achieving a bronze medal in the 2020-2021 season. In the 2023-2024 season, she joined Reale Mutua Chieri ’76 in the Italian Serie A1, winning the CEV Cup championship. In 2024, she returned to the U.S. to play for LOVB Houston in the inaugural LOVB Pro season and also competed in Athletes Unlimited, finishing third individually. She is also a member of the U.S. Women’s National Team, earning a bronze medal at the 2016 Pan American Cup and a gold medal in 2017, where she was recognized as “Best Spiker.” She contributed to gold medals at the FIVB Volleyball Women’s Nations League in 2018 and 2019, and a bronze medal at the 2017 FIVB World Grand Champions Cup.