Under The Radar: A Redshirt Diary

Capitol Convergence

September 23, 2021

The first portion of JMU's three-match road trip resulted in a straight-set win over George Mason that, combined with their Saturday sweep of the College of Charleston, ran the Dukes' unbeaten streak to 13 matches as they moved north for a pair of CAA battles against defending conference champion (and relative thorn-in-the-side) Towson and the University of Delaware. Following a film session that was done during the team's morning meal, the players and coaches left their hotel in Baltimore for the National Mall in Washington to "be touristy". Unbeknownst to them, the University of Wisconsin volleyball team was also in the city, as they had a Friday night match against Maryland and were visiting the White House earlier that day to be recognized by President and Dr. Biden for winning the 2020 national championship. On the Lincoln Memorial promenade, the Dukes were spotted by the Badgers' Chicago-based alumnae players (Dana Rettke, Grace Loberg, Lauren Barnes, and Molly Haggerty), with Dana making her way over to them and fangirling just a tad while hugging Sarah.

Dana: I'm sure you're glad the furor from the Spring and Summer has died down.

Sarah: VERY! What has you and the alums in town?

Dana: Got a date with the President tomorrow. The school scheduled the visit to coincide with their road trip to Maryland and Rutgers. So, how are you liking JMU?

Sarah: A bit different than Vanderbilt, and MUCH more peaceful than the go-go-go of the last year or so.

Dana introduced the rest of her group to the superstar in their midst, with the three of them fawning slightly over her. A couple of minutes later, the remainder of the UW group (head coach Kelly Sheffield, assistant coach Brittany Dildine, Jade Demps, Sydney Reed, Devyn Robinson, Izzy Ashburn, and Sydney Hilley) caught up to the others and saw what (or more precisely, who) all the commotion was over. Lauren worked her way past her remaining five players (Savannah, Sophia, Caroline, Elizabeth, and Rebecca) to greet Brittany and Kelly as she was acquainted with them through the latter's friend Craig Skinner, the head coach at the University of Kentucky, where she was an assistant prior to being hired by James Madison. The quintet of Dukes looked over their opposite numbers from Wisconsin, leading to Jade and Caroline embracing ever-so-tightly.

Jade: WOW! I haven't seen-you seen-you in what, a couple of years?

Caroline: Probably. You don't get back to the Triangle much with your high-flying Big Ten life.

Jade: Mom got to asking about you after seeing the results of the Campbell tournament. How is your team doing so far this year?

Caroline: We're 13-0 after last night. I expect you guys are unbeaten or close to it.

Jade: Yes. 8-0 heading into tomorrow's conference opener at Maryland.

The two of them went over by Elizabeth, Izzy, and Sydney Hilley, who were talking about their long-ago high school matchups in Minnesota (Liz played for Wayzata, Izzy and Sydney for Champlin Park, with the former's Tigers losing to the latter's Rebels in the Section 5AAA final in 2016 and 2018), then collectively drug another school which had lost to both of them in the state final in back-to-back years (CP in 2018, Wayzata in 2019).

Brittany (to Lauren): Skinner ever give you stories he got from the Shondell coaching tree?

Lauren: Just that Steve (former women's coach at Muncie Burris High School and Ball State University) didn't think much of Kelly's future in the sport because he signed up to be Craig's assistant with the Burris JV to get close to someone at the school. Also said that he's a relentless notetaker and, though never having played the game, did everything he could to learn it.