Photo credit: Courtney Ryder | The Breeze
In volleyball, defensive specialists are the first to contact the ball once it’s served into play. They steady the offense and determine whether the team will have a chance to score — the offense relies on the back line to control the ball and set the hitters up for success.
Senior defensive specialist and libero Savannah Marshall can handle that pressure. Marshall is a natural leader — she said being a business management major helps with that. However, Marshall, a Virginia Beach native, wasn’t always planning on being a Duke.
“My original plan was to go to South Carolina,” Marshall said, “[but] they had this whole coaching change.”
When Marshall decommitted from South Carolina, she took a semester off for what would’ve been her first semester of college and worked at a local TJ Maxx and Food Lion to make extra cash. After visiting a friend — JMU freshman outside hitter Liv Crawley — and stopping by Sinclair Gymnasium to watch Crawley and the Dukes play, Marshall caught the attention of then-associate head coach Casey Steinbrecher, who got to work with head coach Lauren Steinbrecher on recruiting her.
“We liked her before she committed to South Carolina,” Lauren said. “When she opened it back up, we made sure we got in touch with her.”
Marshall said the friendliness of her teammates made the transition to JMU easier and that they helped her relax and enjoy the experience. Now, in her senior year, she wants to make sure she does the same for her younger teammates, including fellow freshmen defensive specialists Jaydyn Clemmer and Madilyn O’Toole.
“They’re kind of at the age where they’re focusing on their skills, and that’s affecting how they are,” Marshall said; she enjoys “just being able to be there for them and let them know there’s so much more to life.”
Marshall, Clemmer and O’Toole have formed a rock-solid back line this season — the three have a combined total of 644 digs.
“All three [are] exceptional,” Lauren said. “They each have their roles that they do fantastic in, and each role is extremely important — I don’t know what I would do without any of the three of them.”
Clemmer and O’Toole have each other to lean on as they navigate their first year of college together. O’Toole said Marshall has also been a big help and that she’s always there to talk, offer advice or help her relax.
“[Marshall] wants to see us succeed, and her presence on the court is really nice because if we’re struggling, she’ll always be there to help us — she boosts my confidence,” O’Toole said. “It’s really nice [having Clemmer] because we’re kind of going through it together. We relate to each other.”
O’Toole grew up in Kentucky, but Clemmer is a Virginia native and said she was raised going to JMU football games and has always loved the school. Now, she’s in the same shoes as the athletes she grew up watching from the sidelines.
“I didn’t know that JMU was an option for me to play volleyball until I started getting recruited,” Clemmer said. “I just loved the coaches and I loved the girls on the team, and I had such a good visit when I came. I just felt like I would be happiest here.”
Marshall said she’s appreciating every moment of her final season. She’s also helping Clemmer and O’Toole, as they’ll likely fill her shoes when she’s gone.
“Having them is just so fun,” Marshall said. “I know it’s easy to get competition in your position, but I think taking them under my wing and just being [more of] a friend than anything to them just makes it more enjoyable; they have so much potential, and they’re so good.”
Marshall said winning the CAA championship would've been a nice way to wrap up her four years at JMU — mirroring, in a way, how it started. The ruling by the CAA to ban JMU from competing in postseason tournaments, following acceptance of an invitation from the Sun Belt Conference, took that opportunity from Marshall.
“[My goal this week] is just to have fun,” Marshall said. “Why go out on a bad note given the situation? [Having] good energy in practice, good vibes — and then going into the weekend and bringing that — that’d be the best way to go out.”
Marshall will play one last weekend series with JMU volleyball Nov. 13-14 at Hofstra. The Dukes enter the weekend with a 16-6 (10-4 CAA) record and are currently the No. 2 seed in the conference.
Story originally published by The Breeze.
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