CHAMPAIGN — Ashlyn Fleming's welcome to Champaign moment was her apartment flooding not long after she arrived in town in early August. Heavy rain, combined with holes in the roof of her building, equaled water streaming in from two vents — and eventually the light — in her bathroom.
So Fleming leaned on her still-new Illinois volleyball teammates, couch surfing until a different — leak-free — apartment in her building was available.
"That was definitely a good adventure," Fleming said, laughing. "I didn't have any towels or buckets and was calling everyone like, 'Please help me.'"
That start to Fleming's time in Champaign was clearly not ideal.