Under The Radar: A Redshirt Diary

The Future Starts Now

November 14, 2021

As the JMU volleyball team headed into its final match of the 2021 regular season on Sunday, they were riding a wave of good vibes as a result of their counseling session with Marc on Wednesday afternoon.

* Sarah stopped by Marc's apartment after her class on Wednesday night, needing some physical attention from him. She had packed for the New York/Boston road trip prior to practice and thus brought her suitcase to his place, which would allow her to stay the night and then go directly to Godwin in the morning from there. 

* A good number of players chose to stay back at the team's hotel on Thursday evening rather than journey into Manhattan, hoping some less-indulgent bonding time would heal some of the fissures that came to the fore during Sunday and Wednesday's team meetings. Rebecca and Savannah offered their room for the gathering, with Julia, Emma, Danielle, and Savanah choosing to join them. The two seniors started off their time together by gauging their teammates' feelings about this weekend, the waiting game they'd be playing after returning to campus on Sunday night, and the decisions they made to return for 2022, providing their reasoning for their choices and the off-court reasons behind them. Julia mentioned she was planning to enter the Portal as she saw Lauren's variegated lineups combined with another back-row player being sought pushing her further down the bench. Both Danielle and Savanah stated they were looking to sit down with their parents over Thanksgiving break to discuss their futures and come to a decision about staying or leaving before Selection Sunday. On the other hand, Emma had taken the elder players' comments on Sunday morning to heart and saw the benefit of another season under the tutelage of Cameryn, being able to grow her game and thus allowing their coach more flexibility to use her alongside Cam and the other front-row players.

* Friday night saw the Dukes wrap up the Colonial Athletic Association regular-season title with a straight-sets win over the Hofstra Pride (27-25, 25-21, 25-22). Combined with Towson falling to Elon, JMU now sat three games above the Tigers in the standings (14-1 vs. 11-4) while running their winning streak to seven matches and their record to 28-2.

* On Saturday, most of the team got out and about in Boston, with Sarah and Rebecca doing a self-directed walking tour going from the Old North Church to the Charles River Esplanade. Along the way, they visited the Paul Revere House, Faneuil Hall, the Old South Meeting House (site of the Boston Tea Party), and Boston Common before crossing Beacon Street and visiting Cheers. Following a pint in celebration of last night's championship, they continued east, going over the Arthur Fiedler Footbridge to the Hatch Memorial Shell and the Charles River Esplanade. As the two of them had traversed from the North End, Sarah took notes of what she had seen, about which Rebecca inquired once they had stopped, with the duo hopping on a pair of swings at the Esplanade Playground.

Rebecca: What's with the copious notes? Planning a visit sometime in the future?

Sarah: Possibly. Marc has the Boston Pops Independence Day concert on his bucket list. We won't be in classes at the time and I think that would be a nice joint present for our nine-month anniversary.

Rebecca: Already have that figured out?! You truly ARE head-over-heels for him.

Sarah: What about you and Savannah? I know it's only been a couple of weeks, but have the two of you talked about things in the future you want to do together?

Rebecca: Definitely NOT doing the "Meet The Parents" thing over Thanksgiving break. I think we'll target that for semester break. She comes to DC for a few days near the beginning, I go to Virginia Beach for a few prior to us going back to school. So you and Marc are serious about each other?

Sarah: Serious enough. I know he's not looking elsewhere and I'm dang sure not looking around. He's who I think I want for endgame.

Rebecca: I'm quite jealous of you having found your seemingly forever person and more or less knowing it within, what, three months? I wish I had that level of assurance about Savvy and I.