August 1, 2006 - Both 2006
CareerCAPS have
made their decisions on the university paths they will take in their
volleyball careers.
Kate Eckhardt has signed with the
University of Albany Great Danes and
Melissa Zéroual has
signed to play for the
University of Western Ontario Mustangs.
Kate and Mel join our other
Alumni playing top-level ball in
Canada and the United States.
Kate Eckhardt, a member of the U19 Canada 1 beach volleyball
team, has been negotiating the tricky transition from club to
university ball for well over a year now, after receiving interest
from numerous high-level programs across North America. Kate
passed on opportunities at schools such as UBC and York in Canada, and
Concordia (California) and South Carolina in the U.S. in favour of a
four-year athletic scholarship with perennial contenders, the
Great
Danes of Albany, New York, in the America East Conference of the
NCAA. The Danes have finished at the top of their conference for
the past two seasons.
Head Coach Kelly Sheffield was thrilled to complete the process
that will bring Kate to Albany starting in 2006. "Kate has great ball control skills. For someone
her age she is as smart a player as I've seen."
Kate will study towards a Bachelor of Arts degree and reports to
her first training camp next week in preparation for an intense
3-month NCAA season that will have her matching up against former CAPS
teammate and current
University of Maine Black Bear,
Jessica Wolfenden on November 3rd in Albany.
Melissa Zéroual, a Biomedical Sciences major, tested the waters
mostly north of the border in Ontario, Quebec and out east. In
the end, Mel chose to play with the 2004-2005 OUA champion
Western
Mustangs in the next stage of her volleyball career.
"Melissa is definitely the type of
student athlete we like," says Head Coach Dean Lowrie. "She is
very strong in the classroom, has some unique and diverse qualities
and will be a fundamental part of our team over the short and long
terms. She is very athletic and we are looking forward to seeing her
athleticism as a potential outside attacker."
Congratulations girls and best of luck in your university
careers!
