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St. Cloud State University
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Juniors pondering future
By Kari Turkowski, Jane Backes and Cara Bartolic, with Ben Dunsmoor
Published:
Monday, October 28, 2002
Media Credit: Geoff Higgins
Kari Turkowski (left), Cara Bartolic (center) and Jane Backes are three junior volleyball players that hope to lead the Huskies to a winning season next year.
The record doesn't show the half of it.
There is more to this year's installment of the SCSU volleyball team than just the record and the numbers. We gave Kari Turkowski, Jane Backes and Cara Bartolic, the three juniors and leaders of this team, a chance to speak out about the Husky netters; where they've been, where they are and where they're going.
#KT: Our record doesn't show what this team is about and what kind of talent we have. You look at the scores and no one ever dominates us, it's just the extra step we have to take because we've never been a winning program. We've never known what it's like to win, the other teams have, so it's easier for them. We're learning how to do that and once we learn, then it should be second nature to us. We just haven't figured it out yet, it will come.
JB: I think we are figuring it out every single day in practice, every single game we have we are that much closer. We're learning in so many different ways of what exactly we have to do.
The past four games we haven't taken a step back. The only way to go is down or up, and right now we keep going up. We used to lose in three games and now we're pushing that fourth game. It's a battle for who's going to win this game, and we keep going up.
We can beat these teams. The thing is we've never backed down. We can start off slow some days, but then we come back fighting. Right now we're struggling to finish that fourth game, and if we can finish that fourth one, I feel we'll be the team with the momentum during that fifth game.
KT: Everybody wants the same goal and we're all going to work hard for it. That's what we all have in common. We know where we're going to be realistically this year. We know that next year, if we keep thinking the way we are now, we're going to be something special. Everybody wants it, and everybody here has the same goal in mind and they're not going to give up. The girls that have stuck with it right now are just all pushing so hard because they know that we're building this program up again, and we're not going to give up on it.
JB: It feels a lot more realistic now too. I kind of felt that we said we'd be a much better team last year, but I didn't really feel it as much. We gel so well together even though we're so different. We're going to have a powerful year next year.
We also have a lot of work to do, because we're not perfect. We're going to accomplish the goal of being a contender. Our attitude is such that we can do that. We'll put forth the effort to become what it takes to be a threat. It's the start of a new team hopefully. We're trying to rebuild this team and make it what it was, at the top of the conference.
CB: We came into this season very optimistic. We have a lot of talent on this team. We say we're young, and experience comes with playing together and being confident and trusting each other. I think we expected more. As juniors we wanted more, but now we know what we have to work with and that's what we were given.
I think that this is a growing year, but we didn't really look at it like that at the beginning of the year. We just continue to play with new people that we haven't played with before; we've always had six new players on the court the past few years. This is the year for us to hopefully get everybody here and bring in good recruits so that we'll have depth on our team.
We had a goal at the beginning of the year. We expected that we could reach that goal. But realistically we are a young team, and it sucks to say that, because we've been saying that for three years. It's the truth though. We've been the only three from our class to stay here and we continuously play with different people. If we can finish up this season tough, next year will be a different story.
KT: I think that we will be a threat next year. Our opponents are going to have no idea what our attitudes are. They probably think that we'll probably go into the off-season giving up. That's not what we're going to do. It's going to be huge and they're not going to expect us to do anything.
A strong program doesn't come overnight. I think that our focus this year is that we're going to have pretty much everyone returning next year, and it will make us so much better, with much more experience together on the court.
KT: We're not just teammates, we're friends. No one forces us to hang out with each other; we choose to hang around each other. We get to know each other a lot better and understand one another. We have a lot of diversity on this team. We get along well and our personalities complement each other. We try to do things every week, whether it's watching, "Friends," or just hanging out. Most of our team lives together in one way or another. It's like a small family.
CB: We have good people on this team. I respect my players, my teammates and my roommates. Respect is what we're built on.
