Griz add defensive midfielder from Washington
5/13/2025 12:29:00 PM | Soccer
The problem with having a player as good as Maddie Ditta on your team – and this is probably the only issue – is the size of the hole in the roster left in her wake when she graduates out of the program, which Ditta will do following the upcoming fall season.
Montana soccer coach Chris Citowicki addressed that matter this month in the way his program tends to do, by attracting and signing high-level talent to fill in behind the team's already high-level talent.
Malli (MAL-ee) Rude, a 5-foot-9 defensive midfielder from Prosser, Wash., signed a scholarship contract recently and will join the Grizzlies in the fall with four seasons of eligibility. An early graduate from Prosser High, Rude spent the spring semester on the team at the University of Portland.
"She's coming in to learn and work with Maddie Ditta, so she's got the ultimate role model and is the type of player who can fit that role perfectly," said Citowicki, who coached Ditta to second-team All-Big Sky Conference honors as a sophomore, first-team honors last fall as a junior.
"They play the same way. They are both aggressive ball-winners and very, very good in possession as well. When I project into the future, that was a spot that was going to be needed to be filled. Now we have someone coming in to fill it."
Rude, whose mother, Walburga (Wali) Martin, was inducted into the Lower Columbia College Athletics Hall of Fame in 2023, played club for Seattle United, where she was teammates with incoming Griz freshman Mia Draper-Kunz.
Both players made the US Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program National Team for 2007s last year and traveled last spring to Costa Rica for a series of matches. In August, Rude was named an ECNL U17 first-team Northwest All-Conference selection.
"She is an immensely high-level player," added Citowicki.
Montana soccer coach Chris Citowicki addressed that matter this month in the way his program tends to do, by attracting and signing high-level talent to fill in behind the team's already high-level talent.
Malli (MAL-ee) Rude, a 5-foot-9 defensive midfielder from Prosser, Wash., signed a scholarship contract recently and will join the Grizzlies in the fall with four seasons of eligibility. An early graduate from Prosser High, Rude spent the spring semester on the team at the University of Portland.
"She's coming in to learn and work with Maddie Ditta, so she's got the ultimate role model and is the type of player who can fit that role perfectly," said Citowicki, who coached Ditta to second-team All-Big Sky Conference honors as a sophomore, first-team honors last fall as a junior.
"They play the same way. They are both aggressive ball-winners and very, very good in possession as well. When I project into the future, that was a spot that was going to be needed to be filled. Now we have someone coming in to fill it."
Rude, whose mother, Walburga (Wali) Martin, was inducted into the Lower Columbia College Athletics Hall of Fame in 2023, played club for Seattle United, where she was teammates with incoming Griz freshman Mia Draper-Kunz.
Both players made the US Youth Soccer Olympic Development Program National Team for 2007s last year and traveled last spring to Costa Rica for a series of matches. In August, Rude was named an ECNL U17 first-team Northwest All-Conference selection.
"She is an immensely high-level player," added Citowicki.
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