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Owl volleyball alums enjoy return to KSC
KEENE, N.H. 8/31/09 - Who said alumni games can't be competitive? Playing the first annual alumni women's volleyball game at Keene State's recreational gym, the former Owls gave the current Owls all they could handle in a spirited match on Saturday.
It didn't hurt that the alums had several member of last year's Little East Conference championship team on their side of the net, including league All-Stars Brittany O'Bryant and Sarah Peterson. "It was really strange, said O'Bryant. "I felt like I should still be practicing with the current team."
"Its' funny, we all looked at each other through the net and realized this is so weird," said Jordan Pokryfki, the team's senior setter.
The alumni game was the brain child of KSC coach Bob Weiner. Starting his fifth season as coach of the Owls, he wanted his present players to have a connection with the athletes that built the program. "I want them involved with our program," he said. "They are the steps we've been walking on to get to higher levels."
One of the players who helped build those steps was Abbe Robichaud Bryant '03. "When we came in as freshman, we had a goal to build up the program and I think we left it at just the right place for Coach Weiner to take it to the next level, she said.
Current players like senior Abby Rosen understand the importance of forming a bond with the alums. "It's important that we re-connect with the people who made this program what it is," she said.
Weiner enlisted Kristen Mullins '03, a former four-year player and assistant coach, and Shelly Ellis Welch '07, a standout outside hitter to help recruit alums for the game. "All the player who could make it were psyched and the one's that couldn't make it were a little devastated," said Mullins, who along with alums Kelly Yankowski ‘08 and Robichaud Bryant '03 coach at Turners Falls (Mass.) High School.
All the alums were glad to be back. "I walked down Appian Way and everything came back to me," said Stacy Parr '05, a physical education teaching in Bridgeport, Conn.
"It just brings back so many memories," said Ellis Welch, who is busy chasing little kids around as a first-grade teacher in Stratford, N.H.
Aimee Scaccia Fowler '01, the oldest player on the alumni roster, had a hard time navigating her way around the recreation center to find the location of the game. "I didn't know where to go," she said. "The gym is completely different and beautiful."
Several former Owls moved into the coaching ranks after their playing days were over. "I think the coaching staff and the group of girls we had on the team motivated us to stay in the sport," said Robichaud Bryant. "Kristen and I reference KSC volleyball all the time when we're coaching our girls."
Making the trip up from New Jersey, Marla Malinauskas '02 said "We want our players to love the sports as much as we do."
Glad to see the response to the alumni game, Weiner said that the returning players remember the friendships more than the games. "When they come together and talk about their careers they don't about the game," he said. "They talk about the bus trips, the friendships, and what they did as players together. It's all about camaraderie and I'm so happy that they could come back and share those memories with each other."
