Vanessa Stauble, special education junior, is juggling the responsibilities of being a student athlete.
This semester, Stauble is taking a number of education classes for her major and a geography class. The hardest thing about being a student athlete is that you have to keep your grades up and maintain a certain GPA.
“It’s hard balancing volleyball and my school work especially since I play basketball too,” she said.
Stauble says she favors volleyball over basketball. The requirements for playing on the volleyball team are you have to take 24 credit hours per year and attendance usually depends on the coach.
Most people only play one sport for IU Southeast and in the off season they schedule a heavier work load. Stauble says that it is different for her.
“I always have something going on and I never get a break,” she said.
A routine day at volleyball practice consists of stretching, running, warm-ups, serving, passing, hitting, and scrimmaging at the end, but this gives Stauble a chance to spend time with her teammates.
The volleyball team has a close team unity. They spend a lot of time together on and off the court. Stauble along with a few other girls have been close friends for a long time.
“My teammates are fun and most of us are really close,” she said.
So far this season, Stauble says that her most memorable game was when they played Spalding because of their good competition.
“I think we all played very well in the Spalding game, even though we lost, but we still get two more chances to play them this season,” she said.
The Woman Grenadiers will get to face off against Spalding at home on Oct. 2, and again on Oct. 18, in the Campbellsville Invitational. The volleyball team’s overall season record so far is 5-7 and they are running on a 4 game winning streak.
Stauble said if she can change one thing about the volleyball program this year that it would be the lack of hitters.
The volleyball team had some hitters that were suppose to come back this year and they ended up quitting.
Stauble is a gifted middle hitter and uses her height to her advantage. On Saturday, Sept. 27, the volleyball team played IU East. Stauble had 18 of the team’s 60 kills and 5 game points.
On that same day, they also played Rochester College where Stauble had 16 of the team’s 51 kills and 5 game points.
Kimberly Davidson, criminal justice senior, is one of Stauble’s teammates and one of her closest friends. She said Stauble has been on the team awhile and she’s a key player.
“She is a good leader on the court and she is one of the best hitters on the team,” Davidson said.
Stauble started playing volleyball when she was 7 years old. She attended Male High School in Louisville. There she played volleyball for the Bulldogs. In 2006, she started playing volleyball for the Woman Grenadiers.
In the off season, Stauble likes to play in volleyball leagues for fun and to help keep her in shape. She also likes to go shopping and hanging out with her friends when she has time between her school work and sports.
By NATALIE DEDAS
Staff Writer
natdedas@ius.edu
