Lyndie and Kraymer Eppich pose together inside the Smith Fieldhouse. The Eppichs met during a student athlete fireside. (Hannah Miner)
Lyndie Haddock-Eppich created a legacy for herself during her time as a member of the BYU women’s volleyball team. She sits at No. 7 for the all-time highest number of assists at BYU with 3,470 total career assists. She also led all setters in the nation with an average of .93 blocks per set during her final season in 2018.
Lyndie said she believes it takes trial and error to learn how to balance one’s social, spiritual and academic worlds as a student athlete.
“Be ahead in everything and always be prepared for a week when you’re going to travel,” Lyndie said. “Academics gets pretty hard mid-semester when you’re gone a lot of the time and your professors still expect the same from you.”
In addition to the responsibilities a student athlete typically juggles, another bullet on Lyndie's to-do list is investing in a healthy relationship.
Her husband, Kraymer Eppich, threw javelin on the BYU track and field team. The two connected three and a half years ago at a student athlete fireside on campus at The Wall. After sitting next to each other for the duration of the night, Kraymer challenged Lyndie to a ping pong match.
“I was like, ‘I’m going to go easy and let her win,’” Kraymer said. “I thought she was cute, but then she just smoked me. Actually, she absolutely destroyed me.”
Kraymer then invited Lyndie on a date. After a few dates, she wanted to be friends. A close friend of the couple, former BYU women’s volleyball player Madeline Graham, commented on Lyndie’s confusion.
“One time we were in the car and she said, ‘I could never date Kraymer. He reminds me too much of my brother,’” Graham said.
After a few months of spending time together in a group of friends, Lyndie gave Kraymer a second chance.
“I just remember one weekend we went on a trip together, and before we left, she turned to me and said, ‘I like Kraymer,'' Graham said. 'Something just switched.”
While Lyndie originally hesitated on a relationship with Kraymer, their friendship and similar passions pushed them together.
“I had to become friends with him first to see if I liked him,” Lyndie said. “We’re pretty similar on a lot of our likes and dislikes. Obviously we’re not the same, but that’s what made us attracted to each other.”
As the Eppichs established a relationship, the reality of their heavy schedules set in. Kraymer said they only saw each other late at night when Lyndie finished volleyball practice, but even that wasn't much time because they had to get up early for weights the next day.
They each made a point to attend each other’s meets and games but spoke little of their sports outside of practice.
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“When were dating, I asked her questions about practice, but in my opinion, at the end of a day full of classes and practice, you don’t always feel like talking about your sport,” Kraymer said.
Kraymer added he appreciated their common interests and deep discussions during their courtship.
“There’s a lot more to her than just volleyball,” Kraymer said. “We enjoyed talking about other things than just sports.”
After a year of dating, Kraymer proposed, and the two athletes were married six months later on June 29, 2018, in the Mount Timpanogos Temple. Kraymer said their relationship has been much easier since they got married.
“You don’t have to do all the dating and trying to figure each other out,' Kraymer said. 'You already know what to expect.”
Meanwhile, Lyndie said she felt the need to adjust the focus she held for several years prior their marriage.
“In college, the thing that was most important to me was my sport,” Lyndie said. “That’s what keeping us at this school is that we have a sport. But now we have to balance how important our relationship is.”
The two are competitive as athletes, which extends into other aspects of their lives. For example, they strive to maintain impressive GPAs.
“One semester, we were comparing our GPAs and she had a 3.79 and I had a 3.80,” Kraymer said. “It was just (0.01) difference, but Lyndie said, ‘Why do you have to make everything a competition?’ I didn’t even know that we were that close.”
Lyndie said this competitive nature in no way causes tension in their relationship.
Since graduating last December, Kraymer put effort into medical school applications and plans on studying on the West Coast. After graduating in April in public health, Lyndie hopes to work in a hospital or school.
The couple continues to be an example to their close friends as they strive to support each other in their athletic pursuits.
“It was fun to watch their relationship because they totally support each other in everything,” Graham said. “It was neat to see her get spoiled by him. They’re perfect.”