Raider Feature: Molly Dolson and Heidi Splinter
8/31/2010 12:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Aug. 31, 2010
By Ryan Hehr
When freshmen athletes walk into practice for the first time, there's normally a sense of fear since they don't know anyone else on the team. Anxiety about fitting in with teammates and terror of doing something wrong can sometimes overwhelm an athlete on that first day of practice.
For Wright State's freshmen volleyball players Molly Dolson, however, most of that fear was absent when they walked into practice for the first time in August.
The two have been playing volleyball together since their sophomore year of high school and will continue to do so at Wright State this season. Though they were worried about much more than that first day of practice when they decided to play at WSU, they admit that it was a little less intimidating knowing that a familiar teammate was going to be present.
"It was good to see a familiar face," said Dolson.
Besides taking the edge off of that first practice, having an old teammate on the team has helped the freshmen on the court as well.
With Dolson being a setter and Splinter being an outside hitter, the duo is constantly working with one another at practice in addition to the upperclassmen who have been playing at Wright State. The mixture of working with new teammates and a familiar one has made practice a little more fun and helpful for everyone.
"It's good to play with someone you know because you know what to expect," said Splinter.
Dolson added more, saying the trust and honesty the two have with one another makes them both better athletes.
"It's good to have a familiar person because I know Heidi will be honest with me. If my sets are off, or if they need to be better, she'll tell me so that's always good," Dolson said.
That blunt honesty has helped both freshmen mesh well with their new teammates.
College athletes are known to be intense and can sometimes get caught in the moment when working with new teammates. Because of the honesty Splinter and Dolson have with one another, comments and suggestions that are made by the upperclassmen of the volleyball team are welcomed with open ears by the two newcomers.
"They (upperclassmen) aren't afraid to tell us what we need to do to get better, and I think both of us want them to be honest with us. We appreciate it because we are only going to be as good as they can make us," said Dolson.
Dolson is also hopeful that the advice she is getting from her teammates can help turn the whole team into winners, no matter how cliché she may sound.
"We want to be the best we can be on and off the court," said Dolson. "It sounds really cheesy to say but we're really excited to play and the whole team has been practicing really hard the last couple of weeks."
