Senior setter Alisha Cornick to play volleyball in Southern
California
HOLLISTER
Despite an initial desire to play on the East Coast, San Benito senior Alisha Cornick opted to stay just a little closer to home.
Sometimes the cold weather has that effect on people.
Choosing between Stonehill College in North Easton, Mass., or the University of Redlands in Southern California, the San Benito volleyball player picked the latter, and joins a growing list of Lady Baler setters who have gone on to play at the collegiate level.
And really, the weather was only part of the decision-making process. According to Cornick, the University of Redlands had a lot going for itself.
“I loved the team and I loved the coach,” said Cornick, who recently made a verbal commitment to the school. “She was competitive, personable. She wanted to win and was competitive, but not in a way that was scaring you off.”
Speaking of Redlands head coach Mari Burningham, who was recently named the 2009 American Volleyball Coaches Association West Region Coach of the Year, Cornick said she felt more at home with the Southern California school than she did living roughly 3,000 miles away.
“It wasn’t my kind of atmosphere,” Cornick said of Stonehill, which, along with Redlands, made the short list of schools the senior setter was interested in attending.
But it was the official visit to Redlands that sealed the deal for Cornick, who racked up 712 assists for the Lady Balers last season and joins former San Benito setters Justine Hunter (Pepperdine University) and Chelsea Fowles (Utah State) at the next level — each player having competed for the Main Beach Volleyball Club team during their respective prep careers as well.
“The school itself, I loved it,” said Cornick, who attended a pair of Redlands matches during her visit — both wins for the Bulldogs.
“They played their hearts out,” she said. “Just watching them play together, there was a sense of unity and support.”
A Division III school and member of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), the University of Redlands also enjoyed its best season ever last year.
The Bulldogs compiled its best record in program history at 23-6, won the SCIAC volleyball championship and ensuing postseason tournament, and advanced all the way to the NCAA West Region Championship semifinals.
And Cornick is expected to be the team’s back-up setter in the fall.
“When I went on an official visit there, it was just so much fun,” Cornick said, noting that nearly half of the school’s student body is involved in the athletic program. “I got to see how the school worked, and with most them being athletes, it was just really easy.”
