Ex-Longhorn Paulina Prieto Cerame to continue playing volleyball in Puerto Rico

Paulina Prieto Cerame’s volleyball career has come full circle.

The recent Texas graduate announced on her Instagram account on Tuesday that she had begun her professional career with Las Valencianas de Juncos, a Puerto Rico-based professional team. Prieto Cerame attended high school in Miami, but she spent much of her preteen years in Puerto Rico. Prieto Cerame told the American-Statesman last year that she was introduced to volleyball by her uncle, who managed a professional team in Puerto Rico.

If you love what you do, you'll never have to work a day in your life. Couldn't have asked for a better first day of my professional career here in Juncos, PR. God is GREAT! I am very grateful that I get to do what I love for a living and for everyone that I have crossed paths with that have given me their love, knowledge, and support in order for me to get here. Texas family, words cannot describe the gratitude I feel for being a longhorn. Thank you for giving me the best years of my life and for being my home away from home. I hope I make you all proud. To a new beginning but the same motto, VAMOS! ??❤??? #ibelieveinthegoodthingscoming ✨

A photo posted by Paulina Prieto Cerame (@paulinaprieto9) on Jan 10, 2017 at 2:31pm PST

A 6-foot-2-inch outside hitter, Prieto Cerame was an all-conference performer for the Longhorns in 2016. Prieto Cerame’s 3.5 kills-per-set ranked in a sixth-place tie among Big 12 volleyball players this season, and she registered 12 kills in Texas’ sweep of top-ranked Nebraska in the national semifinals.

Prieto Cerame, who graduated this past December with a degree in youth and community studies, spent the last three years at Texas. She began her collegiate career at Penn State, and Prieto Cerame won a national championship with the Nittany Lions in 2013.