Varsity Castoffs, Clubbers Thrive for Virginia Tech
by Clare Lochary |
Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff | WDIA National
Championship Blog
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Katherine Berkel is one of eight former varsity players on Virgiia Tech's club team. The sixth-seeded Hokies meet 10th-seeded Florida in the WDIA National Championship semifinals Friday in Scottsdale, Ariz. © Steve DeMeo |
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- It's easy to like Virginia Tech's club women's lacrosse team.
The Hokies upset defending champion Colorado State, 12-11, in the second round Thursday of the WDIA National Championship in Scottsdale, Ariz. The tournament's No. 6 seed, they'll meet No. 10 Florida in a semifinal game Friday.
Perhaps more importantly, Virginia Tech is the platonic ideal of WDIA lacrosse -- players who do it for the love of the game, a student-run group that comes to decisions jointly.
The team has a Knights-of-the-Round-Table philosophy that's
visible on the field when you watch the Hokies' balanced attack and
upbeat pacing. That's what sophomore Katherine Tracey, a former
Virginia Tech varsity player, likes best about her new team.
"I'm having more fun. The atmosphere, the chemistry is better.
They're just more happy about life," said Tracey, who led the
Hokies with four goals in the win over Colorado State.
Tracey is one of eight players on the Virginia Tech club roster
who previously competed for the Hokies' NCAA Division I team.
Unhappy with the grind of Division I life, they decamped for club
ball and found a better fit. The Hokies' club team has no coach,
and all decisions -- everything from strategy to fundraising to
substitutions -- are made communally. The players must rely on
themselves and their teammates for motivation, rather than the
top-down structure of a D-I program with a coach at the head.
With her hair twisted into messy Jen Adams-style knots on the back
of her head and sweat dripping down her cheerful, freckled face,
Tracey does not for a minute look like she regrets leaving behind
the glamour of Division I for the relative obscurity of club ball.
Knocking off a national champion feels a lot better than knocking
around the bottom of the ACC. Playing your heart out in the
sweltering heat of Scottsdale is more fun than spending May in
Blacksburg watching lacrosse on TV.
Virginia Tech varsity finished 7-10, although the team did claim
a program-first ACC victory, defeating Boston College, 16-14 in
overtime on March 14.
"I love it," Tracey said of her club experience. "I feel like
every day, everyone wants to be there."
Two of Virginia Tech's varsity defectors, senior midfielders
Christina Griel and Casey Warner, started every game save one in
2008, and Tracey was the fourth-leading scorer on the team as a
freshman. (The other five former varsity players are sophmore
midfielder Kristin Campbell, senior midfielder Kristy Zeigler,
sophomore midfielder Katherine Berkel, junior attacker Briana
Warner and junior attacker MacKenzie Costello. All played sparingly
for the Hokies' 2008 varsity team.)
Former varsity players were not guaranted a spot on the WDIA
roster. Reportedly, a few former varsity players did not make the
cut.
Sophomore Diane Revalski, a defender who did not play for Virginia
Tech's varsity program, always intended to play club. But even so,
the experience has surpassed her expectations.
"Club's literally changed my whole college career -- not just in
terms of lacrosse, but the whole thing. I never would have traveled
to as many places without it," said Revalski.
"We respect each other, and we can beat anyone when we keep our
composure."
