It’s a Wrap!

The end of California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB) 2011 women’s volleyball season also marked the end of an era for the closely knit team. Finishing the season just before Thanksgiving this November, six ladies played their final matches for CSUMB; Rheann Fall, Melanie Lashbrook, Dionna Lucas, Tiffany Riggs, Monique Sena and Lauren Shacklock.

Ending the season with a 9 -16 overall record and ranked 15 in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II, the ladies remained optimistic about the challenges they faced this year and reflect on how far they have come.

Collaborative Health & Human Services senior, co-captain, and defensive specialist, Dionna Lucas resolved, “…it is very odd to think that this is going to be my last year playing volleyball. It was also hard to think about because as a team, we did not have the season that we wanted; however looking in the past was not going to help.”

Lucas recalled with pride that, “All I can do as one of the captains on the team is make sure that everyone push themselves to the limit, as well as myself. Toward the end we saw more fight out of each other and were giving it all we had, and that’s all I could ask for.”

With six graduating seniors as players, four who have played with head coach Jody Garry since her start at CSUMB four years ago; the group embraces the time they have together.

Kinesiology senior, co-captain and all-American outside hitter Rheann Fall stated, “Although our record wasn’t what we hoped for, this season turned out to be a life lesson. We learned how to rely on each other and play for each other, and we learned how to overcome adversity. No matter what our record was, we still have each other at the end of the season, and no bad record can ruin that.”

Leaving CSUMB holding the record in service aces, fourth in digs, eighth in total blocks and at the top of every kills category. Fall also received her second California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) first team spot on the all-conference team, along with Kinesiology senior, co-captain and middle blocker Melanie Lashbrook who received her second CCCA second team honor.

Now that the season is over, Lashbrook affirmed, “I am glad to be done, but it feels even better to finish.”
Joining the team three years ago, Liberal Studies Senior, outsider hitter Lauren “Shack” Shacklock reflected, “Wrapping up your senior season has a bitter-sweet feeling to it. A part of you is relieved to be done with all the mental and physical wear and tear...but at the same time you start realizing how special all the moments were and the fact that you’ll never get them back.”

Shacklock continued, “All those times when nothing but the court and your teammates mattered, are now just memories of the past. This realization can bring both, sadness for its loss and happiness for its experience. Bitter-sweet...”

Already scouting out and signing several new players to join the lady otters, head coach Garry has taken the transition in strides while planning for the 2012 season. Naming Collaborative Health & Human Services junior, outside hitter/defensive specialist Lauren Ding and Environmental Science sophomore, Lily Staight as two of the team’s three new captains.

While preparing for what is next and proud of the ladies accomplishments regarding the wrap-up of the fall season, Garry quoted Denis Waitley, “Learn from the past, set vivid, detailed goals for the future, and live in the only moment of time over which you have any control: now.”