By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
With a lot of volleyball talent in the Midwest region to pick from, veteran Washburn University volleyball coach Chris Herron opted not to recruit Alex Dvorak out of Park Hill South (Mo.) High School.
But when Herron got a second chance to land Dvorak after the 6-foot-1 middle hitter played two seasons at William Jewell, he didn't hesitate -- a decision that has paid early dividends for both WU and Dvorak.
Alex Dvorak
"I knew her in high school, I knew her in club, and I kind of hesitated and I never really recruited her out of high school or out of club,'' Herron admitted. "But then when she went to William Jewell I saw her work ethic, I saw that she had gotten better her freshman year and had gotten way better her sophomore year.
"And then when I found out the coach was leaving, the coach actually called me and asked if I would be interested in Alex and I jumped on that immediately because I felt like Alex could come in here and start.''
Alex Dvorak (left) has made an immediate impact for 3-0 Washburn volleyball, leading the Ichabods with 31 kills and 11 total blocks. [Photo courtesy of Washburn Athletics]
Dvorak, who transferred to Washburn for the spring semester, made an immediate impact for the Ichabods in last week's season-opening Kansas City Classic, helping WU post three straight wins while leading Washburn with 31 kills (2.82 per set) and hitting .472. She also leads the squad with 11 combined blocks and ranks 24th in the nation and third in the MIAA in hitting percentage and is eighth in the conference in blocks per set. She hit over .300 in all three matches.
"She played exceptionally,'' Herron said. "Offensively she was just really unstoppable. She just did whatever she wanted to do pretty much the whole way.''
Dvorak said the move to Topeka has worked out very well from both a personal and volleyball standpoint.
"I love it here,'' Dvorak said. "I hate to say that I'm so glad that I transferred, but I'm so glad that I transferred.''
Dvorak had individual success at William Jewell, including 272 kills and a .316 hitting percentage as a sophomore while registering 85 blocks.
But after playing for two coaches in two seasons for the Cardinals Dvorak made the decision to move on.
"The moment that I decided to transfer and I entered the portal I was lucky enough to get a call with coach Herron with help from my past coach, which was really nice,'' Dvorak said. "Then after that I came here and I sat down with him and I met a few of the girls and I got to see the campus, which actually my grandfather used to work at.
"He was head of maintenance for about 17 years, so I had kind of grown up around here a little bit, which is good, and I'm so excited to keep playing and I love that I got the opportunity and I love how coach Herron helped me adjust and took me in.''
Dvorak said that being with the team this past spring was a big help in her transition to Washburn.
"I love to see how much work we put in through the spring transferred into the games,'' she said. "The girls on the team are amazing and it's a lot easier to play when you know the people and you know who you're playing with, so I'm glad I got to be here for the spring and be able to meet the girls and play with them and understand the coaching style.
"Moving to this conference (MIAA), it's a whole different ballgame and there's a lot of harder teams, so I understood going into it that I would have to be more focused. I do think I've adjusted well and I'm excited to see where the season is going.''
The Ichabods got the year off to an impressive start in last week's tournament, posting a come-from-behind 3-2 win over Sioux Falls (S.D.) before 3-0 sweeps over Winona State and Dvorak's former team, William Jewell.
"This last weekend was great; I think we played amazing,'' Dvorak said. "The first game against Sioux Falls, the reverse sweep, I don't love how that started off (down two sets), but I'm very proud of how the girls finished and came together and found the grit to get through it. It kind of got us kicked into gear.''
The Ichabods will be looking to continue their hot start to the season in Friday and Saturday's Mountaineer Volleyball Classic in Gunnison, Colo.
"I like everything that's going on,'' Dvorak said. "I think practices are going good, we're very focused on staying focused in practice and making every touch count and every ball better, which I think has been helping us.''
The Ichabods will play four matches over the two-day tournament, beginning with a match against host Western Colorado at 11 a.m. (Mountain time) on Friday before finishing the day against Fort Lewis College (7 p.m. MST). Washburn will face Western New Mexico (11 a.m. MST) and Texas A&M-Kingsville (3 p.m. MST) on Saturday to wrap up the tournament.
