1st Place Volleyball April 2010 : Page 4

player spotlight Making the Next The Transition from High School & Club to the Collegiate Game Step Recently Phenomcaught up with Penn State freshman outside hitter Darcy Dorton. The Muncie, Ind., native is no stranger to success, both at the high school and collegiate levels. As an athlete at Delta High School, she earned Under Armour High School Girls’ All-America honors and was named the 2008 Indiana Gatorade Player of the Year. In her fi rst season as a Nittany Lion, Dorton was selected as the 2009 AVCA Division I Mideast Region Freshman of the Year, while helping Penn State to its third consecutive national championship. In this sit down Q&A, Dorton divulges what it took for her to successfully transition from a high school athlete to a fi rst-year collegiate player. Phenom: What did you find was the big- gest difference between the high school game and the collegiate game? Darcy Dorton: The major difference, specifi - cally, between the high school and collegiate game would defi nitely have to be the physical- ity of the types of players. When you’re in high school, there are different types of players who play volleyball; there are strictly volleyball play- ers and there are also girls who play basketball in the winter or girls who run track in the spring. You have girls who are involved in different things outside of volleyball. 4 Phenom | April 2010 When reach the collegiate level, you’re play- ing against strictly volleyball players – people who have been training their entire lives just to play volleyball. You’re competing against ath- letes who have spent all 12 months of the year working, training, lifting and doing all different types of things to improve their game. When you get to college, you’re facing bigger block- ers and faster defenders, not only in matches, but also in practice. You are forced to get used to the different demands of the game because the game, in general, is very different. It’s faster paced and it’s at a higher level. For me, that was the biggest difference between the high school game and the collegiate game. P: What was the most difficult aspect of the collegiate game for you to adjust to? DD: You could look at this question in two differ- ent ways, through both the physical and mental aspects. Physically, like I mentioned earlier, it’s the physicality of the athletes; it’s competing against bigger, stronger and smarter girls. Col- lege athletes know the game better and are better prepared. At the collegiate level, I can’t have my only approach to the game be, “I’m going to jump high and hit hard all the time.” In- stead, my approach to the game must be, “I’m going to jump high, hit hard and also be smart.” That’s also where the mental aspect of the

Making The Next Step: The Transition From High School & Club To The Collegiate Game

Recently Phenom caught up with Penn State freshman outside hitter Darcy Dorton. The Muncie, Ind., native is no stranger to success, both at the high school and collegiate levels. As an athlete at Delta High School, she earned Under Armour High School Girls’ All-America honors and was named the 2008 Indiana Gatorade Player of the Year. In her fi rst season as a Nittany Lion, Dorton was selected as the 2009 AVCA Division I Mideast Region Freshman of the Year, while helping Penn State to its third consecutive national championship. In this sit down Q&A, Dorton divulges what it took for her to successfully transition from a high school athlete to a fi rst-year collegiate player. Phenom: What did you fi nd was the biggest difference between the high school game and the collegiate game? Darcy Dorton: The major difference, specifi - cally, between the high school and collegiate game would defi nitely have to be the physicality of the types of players. When you’re in high school, there are different types of players who play volleyball; there are strictly volleyball players and there are also girls who play basketball in the winter or girls who run track in the spring. You have girls who are involved in different things outside of volleyball. When reach the collegiate level, you’re playing against strictly volleyball players – people who have been training their entire lives just to play volleyball. You’re competing against athletes who have spent all 12 months of the year working, training, lifting and doing all different types of things to improve their game. When you get to college, you’re facing bigger blockers and faster defenders, not only in matches, but also in practice. You are forced to get used to the different demands of the game because the game, in general, is very different. It’s faster paced and it’s at a higher level. For me, that was the biggest difference between the high school game and the collegiate game. P: What was the most diffi cult aspect of the collegiate game for you to adjust to? DD: You could look at this question in two different ways, through both the physical and mental aspects. Physically, like I mentioned earlier, it’s the physicality of the athletes; it’s competing against bigger, stronger and smarter girls. College athletes know the game better and are better prepared. At the collegiate level, I can’t have my only approach to the game be, “I’m going to jump high and hit hard all the time.” Instead, my approach to the game must be, “I’m going to jump high, hit hard and also be smart.” That’s also where the mental aspect of the Game comes in – knowing the game more, knowing your opponents more, being stronger mentally, being able to handle things in a different way and being more mature. It’s a lot more diffi cult the collegiate level because I’m playing volleyball to pay for my college, you could say. It’s not just about having fun anymore. It is more of a job, but it’s still defi nitely a lot of fun. When I play, I fi nd myself laughing and enjoying myself. Volleyball is still the love of my life. However, I also know, that if I don’t perform well, I may not have a scholarship and may not get to go to school. P: How did you prepare yourself, both physically and mentally, for the transition from the high school game to the collegiate game? DD: I played for a very competitive club team, Asics Munciana Samourai, and I played in the 18’s age group for three years. I think that was the biggest factor that helped me transition from the high school to the collegiate game because I had a coach who would kick my butt every single day. His mentality towards training was, “If you think this is hard, wait until you get to Penn State and work with Coach (Russ) Rose.” I was going into practice every single day training and thinking about the next level. It wasn’t just practicing to have fun with my friends and to go to dinner afterwards, which I feel like a lot of club players and athletes do. It was never about having fun, it was about preparing for what’s next. I think that helps a lot when you’re thinking of going to that next level and preparing yourself as much as you can before you get there. I started lifting three times a week before I got to college so that I was at least acquainted with how things work in the weight room. We would do ladders and different types of training that you would see when you got to college so that you were better prepared. Also, we participated in tournaments the other higher-level club teams, so we also getting used to playing against more elite athletes. During practice, we would practice against people standing on a box trying to block us, which wasn’t exactly game-like, but it defi - nitely made us get used to having hands in our face all the time and made us get used to hitting different zones. When you get to college, everything is mapped out on the court and there are players who are going to be in a spot every single time because they are trained to be there. You have to learn how to hit away from them and not just hit hard. P: What was your adjustment like to having new teammates, coaches and support staff? DD: Coach has a lot of techniques that he likes to use that I had never seen before, and so I had to get used to some different technical things. Coach is an amazing coach. He has his own style and so you do have to kind of fi gure out his style. You have to learn what kind of things he likes and what kind of things he doesn’t like and try to stay away from those things. My fi rst year, especially the fi rst couple of months, was all about learning. You rely on your teammates a lot. One of the good things about recruiting young is that I met Blair (Brown), Alisha (Glass) and Megan (Hodge) several years ago, so we had the chance to get acquainted with each other and talk before I got to Penn State. It made things easier and less awkward to already have formed a prior relationship with them. They were great leaders and they taught me the Penn State way of doing things. It is a lot different. It is a lot more structured and there is a lot more tradition. They did a good job of pointing me in the right direction. P: What is your advice to current high school athletes on how to prepare for the transition to the collegiate game? DD: Try to prepare yourself as much physically as you can, whether it be lifting weights, practicing against a bigger blocker if you are a hitter or practicing against harder hitters if you are a defender – anything that will help you to improve. Don’t ever get satisfi ed with being a “top senior.” Always recognize that you might be the top dog then, but you’re going to go to a level where you’re going to go to the bottom, and you’re going to have to work your way up again. Don’t ever get complacent in just being good in the moment. Always be thinking of how you can better yourself for the future. Also, mentally, when you get to college that there are going to be time when you think you can’t handle it, but realize that it’s still volleyball. The goal is still to keep the ball from hitting the fl oor, no matter if you’re playing against Stanford or against your high school team. The goal is still the same. P: Can you talk a little about your experience as an Under Armour High School All-American? Do you think the experience was benefi cial to your preparation to become a collegiate athlete? DD: Playing in the Under Armour All-America Volleyball Match & Skills Competition was So much fun. It helped a lot in terms of meeting other players. I got to play with Kristin Carpenter, who is now my current teammate at Penn State. I had played with her a few times before, but it was really nice to get to play with her again and get more acquainted with each other because we are going to be spending the next four years playing together. It always helps to get to play with future teammates so you can see their styles and get used to their personalities both on and off the court. It was also great to meet players who were recruited to other programs. I played with Lauren Cook, who ended up going to UCLA. Getting to know her and Gina Mancuso, a Nebraska recruit, and some of the other girls I played with was benefi cial because hopefully those are girls that you are going to play against in the future. It’s good to learn their strengths and weaknesses for the future, should we ever be playing against each other. That experience was really good because you do make those friends. It’s good to bring in the elite high school athletes because you all have something in common; you are all there for a reason and it’s nice to be around people who are like you and understand what you are going through. P: Can you talk a little about your transition from high school level academics to your fi rst year as a college student? How were you able to adjust to the new setting, tougher academic standards, etc.? DD: Academics are something that I defi nitely underestimated. My freshman year, it was a lot harder than I expected balancing volleyball with academics. I was a pretty good student in high school. I got A’s and B’s and didn’t have a problem with grades. School always came easy to me and it always came kind of second to my volleyball. When I got to college, I was there to play volleyball, so I wasn’t really focused on my school work. In college, your professors don’t care if you turn in your assignments. If you don’t get your work turned in, they will just mark you as having a zero and that’s that. In high school, teacher will help you along more. It’s a whole lot easier to fall behind and miss assignments in college, because the professors aren’t going to walk you along like your high school teachers did. Also, playing volleyball during your fi rst semester of college is really diffi cult. I would definitely advise high school athletes who will be playing volleyball in college to be sure they stay on top of their academics. I did have a little bit of diffi culty. I ended up with good grades, but it was it was much more diffi cult than I expected. P: Is there anything you know now, that you wish you knew when you were a high school athlete in regards to the recruiting process or the transition between the two levels? DD: When it comes to the recruiting process, I wish I would have had a little more fun with it. I was stressed out to no end being recruited by schools because I was so confused and caught up in the situation that I didn’t know what to do. I wish that I had taken a step back and really enjoyed it. I am, however, 100% happy with the decision I made. I don’t regret it for a second. I love everything about Penn State, and I’m not just saying that to make it look good on paper. It really was a great decision for me. To come in my fi rst year and play and win a national championship, it’s something that I’ll cherish forever. Experiencing those things with the people I was fortunate to play with, like Megan and Alisha, I don’t regret it for a minute, but at the same time I wish that I had taken more time and enjoyed it. P: Describe your experience as a freshman student-athlete. Was it what you expected? Where there things you weren’t prepared for? DD: The transition itself was kind of what I expected, because I came in expecting the worst. I came in mentally prepared, which made things a little bit easier. The physical portion, for me, was a lot more diffi cult. Getting used to bigger players was much more diffi cult for me personally. Going from getting up and being able to just bounce balls against people was something that I wasn’t able to do right away. The hardest transition for me was not being the “top dog” anymore. It’s really humbling when you played with the people that I played with. My head was spinning for a little bit, but at the same time it’s a different challenge and you just have to approach it as such. Something that I would tell younger players is to learn as much as you can. Follow the upperclassmen, especially the ones that play in the same position as you, and just watch what they do in every single aspect of the game. Watch how they handle different situations. Watch their footwork. Watch their speed. Try to emulate them. I had a great example my freshman year in following Megan. I just tried to soak up as much as a could, not only about her physical game, but about her mental game. P: What is your favorite part about being a volleyball student-athlete? DD: There are so many great things that come with being a student-athlete at the collegiate level. It’s really cool to walk down the street, especially at a place like Penn State where they really do appreciate volleyball players, and have someone approach you and say, “Hey, are you Darcy Dorton?” It’s so cool to have people recognize you and really appreciate the things you are doing. With that, also comes a different type of pressure, because people are constantly watching you. You have to make your decisions based on how they would refl ect upon your team. You have to realize that you represent more than yourself now, and you are responsible for being a spokesperson for your university and want to represent them well.

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