Happily stuck in the middle
Ashern volleyballer enjoying first
year with
By Robin Wark
Friday December 07, 2007
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Sometimes mother does know best.
At least that was the case with Ashern’s Jennifer Rohl. After playing volleyball in grades 5 through 8, Rohl wanted to focus her energies on hockey in Grade 9. Pam
Rohl made sure her daughter gave volleyball another
try.
“My mom wouldn’t hear of me not trying to play,” said Jennifer, whose parents
include father Kurt Rohl and step-father Carl Budge.
“She told me I had to try it, and if I didn’t like it then it was OK. Once I
got in the gym and played with the team, I was hooked.”
With a good group of teammates around her and coach Dean Oakden
encouraging her, Rohl soon developed a love for the
game and, halfway through that season, became the varsity team’s starting middle
blocker. Rohl’s passion for volleyball has developed
over the years and she is enjoying a successful debut season at Montana State
University-Northern.
The 6-foot-3, first-year college athlete has quickly proven to be a dominant
player at the net for her school, located in the town of
MSU-Northern head coach Greg Ryan said it is unusual for a freshman to start at
middle. However, Rohl’s height and ability at both
attacking and blocking at the net have helped her make the transition to the
pro game quickly, said Ryan, who coached the
“She has evolved into a leader in this program,” Ryan said. “You will see her
be a captain in the near future.”
Rohl has enjoyed her university experience so far.
While she has had to adjust her game on the court, she said the biggest
adjustments have come off it. The hardest aspect, she said, is being about 12
hours away from home and not being able to visit anytime she wants. Rohl has come to enjoy the small, town-like setting of her
school. MSU-Northern has about 1,200 students and Havre’s population is 9,600.
“The university isn’t very big, so you know a lot of people,” Rohl wrote in an e-mail interview. “It’s pretty cool when
you have kids coming up to you and congratulating you on the game you played.”
Just being on a university court has been exciting for Rohl.
She described playing in her first conference game as “kind of a surreal
moment, it was like ‘Hey, I did it.’”
Rohl has certainly come far from the days when she
wanted to shoot pucks instead of spiking the ball. She has not forgotten the
people who helped her get where she is, especially Oakden.
“There were people who told him that I would never be a great player, and he
was wasting his time with me,” Rohl wrote. “He just
told them, ‘Yes she will, you just watch; she’ll prove
you all wrong.’ He is a big reason why I am the kind of player that I am today.
I don’t know if I would have stuck out the first two years without him around.”
She also has always had the support of her family.
“Sometimes I would come home discouraged, or upset, and they would cheer me up,
and listen to me,” she jotted. “I can’t thank them enough for everything that
they have done for me, especially all the driving and the time they put in with
me. Without them I wouldn’t be where I am today.”
While competing for
“It was the greatest feeling in the world,” wrote Rohl,
who was named the tournament’s MVP. “I can’t describe how I felt. It was a
little of everything I suppose ... relief, happiness and a little sad that my
high school career was over…. Winning with my closest friends was unbelievable.
We had been so close for so long, it was like ‘finally’ we did it. The best
part was getting to share the experience with my parents, brother, friends, and
their parents and our boys volleyball team.”
Her volleyball exploits were not just confined to Ashern.
Rohl also suited up for two club teams. She regularly
played with Winnipeg’s Big Sand and Virden’s Club West, which meant at least
four hours of travel one way.
“I wouldn’t trade any of the teams or any of the long drives for anything,” she
wrote of her high school and club experiences. “They all taught me something
different.”
Rohl believes strongly that sports can be a positive
factor in young people’s lives. While in high school, she played volleyball,
basketball, fastball, badminton, won a provincial
title throwing the shot put and also competed in discus in track and field. As
well, while in Grade 12, Rohl volunteered as a coach
for the Grade 7/8 girls volleyball, 7/8 boys baseball and a soccer team. She
also helped coach the junior varsity girls volleyball
team. The physical education major is inspired to try to make a difference for
young people by those who took an interest in her success.
“I can think of teachers and coaches who have made a difference in my life, and
I want to be someone who does that,” she wrote. “Coaching is a big thing for
me. I don’t think there is anything better then seeing kids improve in front of
your eyes, and it’s the same way in a classroom. It’s just something that I
want to do, and I can’t wait to do it.”
Before she heads into the classroom full-time, Rohl
has a lot of volleyball left to play. The drive to be the best player she can
be and her passion for the game keep her going, she said.
“Volleyball has let me see so much of North America, and meet so many people,
many of whom I am still great friends with,” she wrote. “I am also lucky to
come from a family and community that is so supportive
of me. I can’t thank them enough for always supporting me.”
(Wark is a former Manitoban now living in B.C. He has
profiled several Interlake athletes now living Stateside
for the Spectator and its sister papers at