By: Katie Zigelman, News Coresspondent
Freshman outside hitter Janelle Tucker registered a career- high 22 kills and 23 digs against Delaware for a double-double last Sunday in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championship game.
Despite the effort, the women’s volleyball lost to Delaware 3-2. James Madison University in the Huskies’ 3-2 win in the semi-finals. Her performance has earned her Huntington News Player of the Week honors.
These high numbers did not just begin appearing at the end of the 2010 season; Tucker has consistently been at the top of the scorecard all along.On the team, she was second only to senior captain Britney Brown in kills, digs and service aces with a total of 348 kills, 320 digs and 24 service aces. She also had nine double-doubles.
Her 3.05 kills-per-set ranked her seventh overall in the CAA and first among all freshmen in the conference and her 394.5 points also made her first among all CAA freshmen and eighth overall. She was awarded the title of CAA Co-Rookie of the year and made the CAA All-Rookie Squad.
The Encino, Calif., native began seriously playing volleyball when she was 11 and joined a team with her elementary school friends. She said she likes both beach and indoor volleyball for different reasons.
“I enjoy volleyball because of the competition and I have always loved the sport,” Tucker said.
She said she had to make a big transition both from high school to college volleyball this fall and also from the west coast to the east coast. Tucker was a three-year captain of the Campbell Hall High School Volleyball team back in Encino, where she played on the varsity volleyball team all four years and was named MVP three times.
“Playing for college is a lot more of a commitment, a lot more time, a lot more serious, but also a lot more fun and competitive,” Tucker said. “The games are played at a much higher tempo. I also loved the traveling, I got close with my teammates and it was really fun.”
Tucker said she used to love spending all of her free time at the beach and hanging out with friends in her home state.
“I definitely miss it,” Tucker said. “It’s very different being in Boston, living in the inner-city, but I like it.”
Despite her age, Tucker said that she never felt looked down on by her teammates because she is a freshman.
“Everyone is treated equally no matter what age,” she said. “We all have leadership positions which I really think helps build chemistry.”
Tucker said that the volleyball season was a big success.
“It was really cool coming back and playing in the CAA tournament,” she said. “The team really came together at the end.”
Even though this season is now complete, Tucker will be around for a while. She has yet to declare a major, but is thinking about studying sport psychology so she can help athletes who are mentally injured. After college she hopes to play abroad, possibly in Spain.
