Standing only 4-feet-10, NIU volleyball’s Gina Guide is the shortest player in Division I volleyball.

Megan Vehovic of Navy and Lauren Vukovic of Wisconsin-Milwaukee are the next shortest in the country, according to the www.Richkern.com. Both barely crack the 5-foot barrier.

“Marie Zidek was the person who told me that I was officially the smallest player in volleyball,” Guide said. “I kind of figured that since I haven’t seen anyone smaller than me.”

Guide is more than a foot shorter than the average volleyball player, listed at about 5-foot-11.

Not only is Guide the shortest player in the country, she is the smallest player ever to put on a Huskies volleyball jersey.

She said she has always been the smallest player on the floor, even when she was younger. Since then, she has learned to use her height as an advantage.

“My height helps me on defense because you have to be low to get to some of the balls,” Guide said.

NIU coach Ray Gooden couldn’t agree more.

“There is no one smaller, but there is also no one who fights harder than she does,” Gooden said. “When it comes to playing defense, passing the ball, covering hitters, there’s not many people better than she is.”

Guide, a freshman libero/defensive specialist, is leading the Huskies in digs per game with a 3.05 average.

NIU wasn’t the only option that Guide had coming out of high school. Both Loyola and the University of Illinois showed interest when she was a defensive specialist at Carl Sandburg High School in Orland Park, Ill.

The reason she chose NIU was because both Guide and her dad were comfortable with coach Gooden.

Some of Guide’s teammates can’t remember playing with a player of her size.

“It’s kind of funny because I am considered small to be playing Division I,” 5-foot-9 Brooke Dodson said. “She is the first person who really made me feel tall on the court.”

Guide always knew that she wanted to play Division I volleyball, which was one reason she stopped doing gymnastics.

“Everybody looks and sees that I am small,” Guide said. “Then they sit there and watch and they see that I am good. It’s cool that they’re looking at me. A lot of people don’t think that I can have an effect on the court, but I do.”

With her mom standing 5-foot-1 and her dad 5-foot-9, she wouldn’t trade anything in the world to be different.

“I would like to be tall for a day or two to see how it is,” Guide joked. “Then I would go back to my normal size because that is who I am.”