Who: Elizabeth Campbell, Shawnee High School Jr.
What: Division I college scholarship
Where: Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh, PA
When: Fall, 2015
Plays for: Chuck Braden, Dayton Juniors
Quote: “My parents and friends all told me (the recruiting process) would be stressful, but that it would all pay off in the end. I’m lucky enough to be able to play and have my college paid for. It’s definitely all been worth it in the end.”
One hundred highlight videos, five college visits, and one weighty decision later, Liz Campbell can finally breathe a sigh of relief.
She’s earned a Division I ticket to ride.
“I’ve always wanted to go D-I,” the Shawnee High School junior said. “I definitely like being able to say I’m going to a D-I school.”
Campbell, a 6-foot junior setter, has verbally committed to play volleyball at Robert Morris University in Pittsburgh, PA. Her full-ride scholarship is valued at roughly $40,000 per year.
“The school’s a three-and-a-half-hour drive or a 45-minute flight,” Campbell said. “It’s a good distance to be away from home, but I can still get home if I need to be there.
“I started (my search) by e-mailing videos to 100 different schools,” Campbell added. “As time went on, some of them either told me they didn’t need a setter for 2015 or I made a decision to mark them off the list.
“I made evaluation sheets for each of my five (college) visits. I narrowed it to 15 and then to four, then made my decision.”
Robert Morris got the nod over D-I Rider and D-II Palm Beach Atlantic and Findlay.
“It’s amazing to think there are so many girls wanting to play in college who can’t get a spot on a team,” said Campbell, whose conversion from hitter to setter took place just three years ago.
“It’s amazing to think that I’m lucky enough to get a spot on a team at a college that I actually like and want to go to. It hasn’t really set in yet that I’ll be playing at a Division I school.”
Coach Dale Starr’s Colonials are among the school’s most successful athletic programs, winning six regular-season, Northeast Conference championships and seven league tournament titles (including five straight from 1999-2003).
“He’s a strict guy when he needs to be,” Campbell said of Starr, who last season guided Robert Morris to its 14th-consecutive NEC tournament – the longest active streak in the league.
“He’s got an attitude of, ‘We’re going to do this and get it done and be done with it.’ But he’s still a family guy. He’s told us he’ll be a father figure while we’re at college.”
Known for its blocking prowess, Robert Morris has produced six NEC tournament MVPs, five NEC players of the year, 31 first-team, all-league selections and five NEC coach of the year awards since 1993.
“They’re bringing in another setter ahead of me for 2014 and coach asked me how I felt about that,” said Campbell, who last fall mixed 117 kills and 176 assists (2.09 per game) with 86 digs and 233 passes for Shawnee (17-6).
“I told him it would be good for me. I just want to make myself better. It will make me want to work harder.
Until then, the 16-year-old Dayton Juniors standout plans to enjoy her final high school season with all pressure removed.
“It will be a relief,” she said. “It’s really been nerve-wracking (the past year). I’d look out and see 10 coaches standing there with their iPads out, recording me. I’d see all the little (college logos) on their shirts. Some would tell me they’d be there. Others would just show up. It was intense.”
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