Brekke and Choice

IN THE FALL OF 2006, Wesley College fielded the first varsity volleyball program since moving into the Division III era. The Wolverines won nine games that season with a roster of mostly freshmen and the program looked to have a solid foundation. Freshman Lilia Brekke earned All-Pennsylvania Athletic Conference second team honors. One of her classmates, Nettie Choice, paced the conference in blocks. Then everything changed. And then it changed again.

In the program’s first three years, there were three different coaches. There was not a revolving door just on the coach’s office, but on the locker room as well. A total of 27 different players had suited up for the Wolverines. The only constants were Brekke and Choice.

“It was definitely hard,” Brekke remarked. “It put a lot of stress on Nettie and me.”

“We came into every season expecting a new coach,” Choice added. “It was very unstable. The two of us just got used to it.”

It took until their senior year to play for the same coach for two consecutive seasons. As one might expect, this brought the duo closer, on and off the court, especially since they were being looked to for primary leadership as early as their sophomore seasons.

“Playing with Nettie so much, we know each other inside and out, on and off the court,” Brekke said. “It made the two of us play together really well and that’s helped the team while the new players have learned to play together.”

If the bond could be made stronger, the two even line up next to each other with Choice playing middle hitter and Brekke on the outside. “I got used to looking to the left and always seeing her there,” Choice noted.

While it may seem obvious they would hold virtually every career record for the young program, it certainly has not been by default. The pair has racked up nearly every season record as well. Between them, they have racked up eight of the top 10 kill totals and five of the six best block totals. Brekke also has the season record for digs.

The career totals add up well too. Both players tallied over 550 career kills. Brekke added 222 aces and 934 digs while Choice patrolled the net for 449 blocks.

Despite playing their final match in the blue and white this October, the two young women see a bright future ahead for the program. Aside from the two senior captains, the rest of the roster has been made up of entirely freshmen and sophomores. The two agree that the recent consistency with Head Coach Gerry Szabo has been a welcome change. It also has been beneficial for the program in order to recruit the next genera­tion of volleyball players.

“We have players who came here to play volleyball,” Choice observed. “Before we just worked with whomever we had. Sometimes people were learning to play.”

“The group we have now is going to be able to grow and develop together,” added Brekke.

Something else they agree on is that more than the volleyball, the relationships they have built with each other and their team­mates are what they will remember most after they leave Wesley.

“There are girls on this team I’d call my sisters,” Choice said. “It’s like a family.”

For Choice and Brekke, their career paths on the court cer­tainly have had more twists and turns than those of their peers on Wesley’s more established athletic teams. Despite the turbu­lent beginnings for the program, however, the volleyball team has now reached a plateau. In addition, the two standouts have emerged stronger than ever, in their game and their friendship.

“Looking back,” Brekke said, “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Nicole Hill

FIELD HOCKEY
One of Wesley’s most decorated ath­letic programs, the field hockey team, set a school record with a 7–0 start that included a win over perennial confer­ence power Mary Washington. Also included in the streak were three of the Wolverines’ four shutout victories of the season. The fast start also propelled the team to its 12th straight season of at least 11 wins.

Junior Brooke Tadlock (Middletown, Del./Middletown) led the team and ranked among the Capital Athletic Conference (CAC) leaders with 11 goals and 25 points. Over the course of the year, the nursing major moved into fourth place all-time at Wesley in both scoring categories. Sophomore Sheree Pleasanton (Smyrna, Del./Smyrna) also entered the career top 20 in goals, ending the season with six to bring her career total to 15 and reaching 18th in the record book.

Sarah Johnson (Honeybrook, Pa./Twin Valley) turned in a strong season in goal, ranking among the con­ference leaders by stopping nearly 80 percent of the opponents’ shots on goal. During separate weeks this season, she and senior Erin Bailey (Rehoboth Beach, Del./Cape Henlopen) were named to the National Honor Roll by womensfieldhockey.com

In the CAC playoffs, the Wolverines had a dramatic 3–2 overtime win over St. Mary’s (Md.) in the first round, Wesley’s fifth overtime contest of the year. During the game, freshman Abigail Hill (Dover, Del./Lake Forest) tied the game with just 1:34 left with her second goal of the afternoon. Then in overtime, it was Pleasanton with the game-winner to lead Wesley to a semifinal matchup with a Salisbury squad ranked No. 2 in Division III. To find out details of the season ending, visit the athletics website at www.gowesleyathletics.com

MEN’S SOCCER

On the men’s soccer pitch, the Wolverines turned in another winning season — their seventh in the last eight years. Wesley’s season opening win at McDaniel was the 200th career victory for head coach Steve Clark. All of his victories have come coaching the blue and white.

Injuries seemed to plague the squad to some extent all season, but the team still came through to register 10 wins due to the contributions of several newcomers. While the defense was led by senior Ryan Fisher (Eastampton, N.J./Rancocas Valley) and juniors Nick Talarico (Little Egg Harbor, N.J./ Pinelands) and Dan Canova (Ocean City, N.J./Ocean City), the offense was paced by several newcomers. Kyle Long (Delaware, Ohio/Buckeye) scored seven goals, the most for a Wolverine since 2006. The next three leading scorers, Frank Buffa (Pheonixville, Pa./Owen J. Roberts), Luis Rivera (Rockville, Md./Rockville) and Josh Chellah (Columbia, Md./Long Reach), were freshmen.

Frank Buffa

WOMEN’S SOCCER

The women’s soccer team featured a roster with 16 freshmen and a schedule with seven games against regionally ranked opponents, yet still managed to salvage a seven win season and the team’s first berth in the CAC playoffs since 2007. The team played well late in the year and nearly knocked off three regionally ranked foes, falling in each match by just a single goal.

Samantha Hannibal (Baltimore, Md./Loch Raven) led four freshmen who topped the team in scoring with seven goals, three assists and 17 points. Sammi Nevin (East Greenville, Pa./Upper Perkiomen), Kaitlin Barry (Chester, N.J./Immaculata) and Lindsey Campbell (Bear, Del./Padua Academy), also freshmen, each scored at least five goals.
Wesley also broke in a freshman goalkeeper, Sydney Kahan (Cranston, R.I./Cranston), who stopped 79 percent of the shots taken at her. She also post­ed six shutouts on the year while mak­ing 124 saves and playing every minute in net for the Wolverines.

VOLLEYBALL

The Wesley volleyball team stepped up its scheduling in the program’s fourth year. While the team took a step back in the win column from 2008, the experience should help a youthful team in the future.

Seniors Lilia Brekke (Prescott, Ariz./Caesar Rodney (Del.)) and Nettie Choice (Lewes, Del./Cape Henlopen) paced the team in hitting and blocking once again as they finished their careers as the school’s first four-year players in volleyball. Sophomores Sophie Reed (Dover, Del./Dover) and Kristen Roberts (Loveland, Colo./Middletown (Del.)) and freshman Carle Ax (Lewiston, Idaho/Lewiston) also turned in strong performances hitting, setting and serving to provide hope for 2010.

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

Kristine Bailey

The women’s cross country team featured one student-athlete pulling double-duty on the field hockey team in Tristin Burris (Camden, Del./ Polytech). Twice this season, she played field hockey on Friday and Sunday with a cross country meet on Saturday. She earned a CAC Runner of the Week honor on October 6 after fin­ishing fourth overall at the Wilmington Invitational, the day after scoring her first career field hockey goal and the day before helping the field hockey team to another victory.

One of Wesley’s 10 fastest women at both 5,000 and 6,000 meters, Burris was joined by another strong newcom­er in the record books. Junior Kristine Bailey (Vancouver, Wash./Evergreen) formed a strong one-two punch with Burris for Wesley, pacing the Wolverines at three different meets in her first season with the team.

MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

On the men’s side, senior John Clarke (Middletown, Del./Middletown) paced the squad at three meets, while freshman Terry Harens-Walgreen (Shadyside, Md./Southern) led the way at two more races.

To see how the Wolverines fared at the CAC Championships, click here.