After missing most of last season, redshirt sophomore Lo Hathaway (#13), is back on the volleyball court and doing what she has always wanted to do: leading.
“I love to lead,” Hathaway said. “I’m proud to be this team’s captain.”
She was named captain of the team because of her confident attitude on and off the court as well as work ethic. “She’s okay with the mistakes she makes and she’s okay with helping others and she’s okay with being selfless,” head coach Coley Pawlikowski said. “I think that all stems from being confident in yourself.”
Last season, several viruses infected Hathaway’s body, forcing her to sit out. “Basically my body shut down for six months, so I was just sleeping 20 hours a day,” she said.
But thankfully, she recovered and became well in time to accept an invitation to compete in the Bring it Promotions (BIP) European Global Challenge on the Southeastern team in Pula, Croatia. Hathaway, a Warsaw, NY native, toured Europe from July 10-21, 2013 and played a competitive four-day tournament against the top talent in Europe. The tour also included practices, friendly matches and sightseeing.
As a defensive specialist and libero, Hathaway helped her team earn a spot in the final game after defeating Pawlikowski’s team. Overall, her team finished in second place.
Since competing in the BIP Challenge, Hathaway feels that she has gained more experience playing volleyball and learning how to interact with different types of people and personalities.
“I think that was really big for her because she went and had to take a spot on a team of strangers,” Pawlikowski said. “She’s a natural leader and she had to learn how to lead a group of strangers.”
When Hathaway came back to play in Pritchard Gymnasium, she was ready to lead the Seawolves.
“I want to be the best at everything I do. I’m competitive and I don’t like to be anything but number one,” Hathaway said. “What motivates me to train harder and work harder is my teammates and my coaching staff. I want to be better for them and win for them.”
“She’s aggressive and fearless and confident and I think that that’s really important for our group,” Pawlikowski said. “She just likes to fight and she likes to win.”
As a captain, she uses her natural loudness to constantly communicate with her teammates. But sometimes she worries that she does not communicate as well as she could.
Her teammates look up to her and have all gained trust in each other after this summer’s training session. The session focused on how to be teammates both on and off the court through team bonding activities such as flag football and The Amazing Race, which was inspired by the TV show.
“Everything we did had to do with communication and being a competitor,” Hathaway said. “There isn’t a girl that you would pass or ask on the volleyball team that wouldn’t do anything for a teammate.”
With great team chemistry and skillful players, Hathaway has high hopes for the Seawolves and is looking forward to the rest of the season.
“We look good. We’re learning,” she said. “We’re getting challenged more than we’ve ever had. We’re getting pushed in different ways and we’re really trying to tackle the problems ahead of us.”
The Seawolves currently have a record of 5-10 and America East conference play starts on Friday, Sept. 27 at UMBC.
