Back in January, the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) released its women's volleyball All-Decade Team with four former Hawks receiving the special honor. Named to the team were Becca Borquist '16, Carrie Hack '14, Marissa King '14 and Morgan Roessler '17, all of whom were key cogs on the 2013 Hawks women's volleyball team that went 34-7 and made the third round of the NCAA Tournament. It was, to this day, the winningest season in school history.
Roessler, a middle hitter, left her career at SUNY New Paltz a very acclaimed and accomplished player. She was named SUNYAC Rookie of the Year in 2013, was twice named to the All-SUNYAC First Team, twice to the Second Team, and was twice an AVCA All-America Honorable Mention in addition to being named SUNYAC Player of the Year in her senior season.
Borquist, an outside hitter for the Hawks from 2012-2015, was a Rookie of the Year recipient, a three-time First Team All-SUNYAC player, twice an AVCA All-American Honorable Mention and once named to the AVCA All-American First Team, a recognition she obtained during her senior season.
Hack, a libero, was named to the All-SUNYAC team in all four of her years at SUNY New Paltz (twice first team, twice second team) from 2010-2013 and during her junior season earned AVCA All-Region and AVCA All-America Honorable Mention honors.
King and Hack were in the same recruiting class, and like her four-year teammate, received consecutive First-Team All-SUNYAC and Second-Team All-SUNYAC recognitions. In both her junior and senior seasons, King was an AVCA All-Region and AVCA All-America Honorable Mention and left the program as the all-time assist leader, which she held until 2018.
Recently, the four former Hawks took the time to speak with Athletic Communications Director
Monica D'Ippolito and talk about their All-Decade recognition, the 2013 season where they played altogether and their career's at SUNY New Paltz.
Congratulations on your All-Decade selections. I think it was a no-brainer when I was putting the nominations in. It was pretty clear-cut that you guys should've made the team. First I wanted to ask, how did you find out and what was your reaction when you found out that you were part of this team made up of some of the most elite players that have played, not only in the conference, but in the country over the last 10 years?
Roessler: I was really surprised. I was following along every week with the different sports that came out to see if I knew anyone. I got a text in the morning from my friend Matt Gassert, he was the first who told me. He's also a New Paltz Hawk, phenomenal swimmer (class of 2011)… I had no idea, and then I saw that you posted on Twitter, and then I saw the Instagram posts and tags and everything like that.
Becca when you saw the list did your time at New Paltz come flooding back to you? The four years that you put together, to see it on paper like that?
Borquist: I mean, like Morgan, I was kind of surprised. Most days when I am at work, I don't have time to go on my phone, but I was randomly scrolling and I was like, 'what the heck? There's my face,' and I was like, 'well thank God it's not one of those really ugly photos,' because I took a lot of those. I was so mind blown. It was very strange because I feel like volleyball was so long ago almost, so it was pretty cool, pretty exciting and definitely an honor."
Marissa, when you saw the All-Decade team posted how proud were you to just be named among some of the best that you played with?
King: Well, I was really confused at first because Carrie tagged all of us on Instagram and I thought she was tagging us in something that she got and I was like, 'oh, awesome, congrats Carrie!' Then I started getting people saying congrats to me and I was like, 'what did I do?' So yeah, it was pretty awesome to find out that I was part of that too, and an honor especially being with all of you guys on here.
Hack: It's always cool when you hear again from the volleyball program because in our current lives maybe we don't think about it so much. So, anytime something comes up it's always super exciting and it all comes rushing back to you. I, too, had no idea really what it was until I read the article and I was this is super cool and really nice. So, I was really excited to see it.
Even to see your teammates on there, did it make it extra special because you physically played with all three, to see it up close and personal how good they were?
Hack: Yeah, I mean I have so much respect for all of you guys, especially throughout the years we were playing together. Obviously the most time was with Marissa, but with Becca and Morgan too, they're phenomenal players and I'm happy that our times did overlap. They are so deserving, so I was super excited as well and it makes me feel good to do this with you guys because you are all amazing.
Morgan, being the youngest out of this group, I'm sure when you came in as a freshman you probably knew all of them and their legacies. So, to be in that group now, does it make it really special to see that they were included with you?
Roessler: Oh, yeah. Even my first year coming in, Becca's only a year older than me so we got to play a lot. But coach [
Matt Giufre] always talked so highly of Marissa and Carrie and how they've grown so much since their freshmen year… knowing that he thinks of them so highly at the level and now winning this award with them really is an honor like everyone else has said.
You all played in 2013 together and inevitably won 34 games, which is tied for the most ever in program history, and made another regional final run, but you didn't clinch a SUNYAC Championship that season. When you look back, especially for Marissa and Carrie, does it still leave a little bit on the bone I guess, not being able to say that you're a SUNYAC Champion?
King: I will say it hurts a little bit. But honestly, especially our last two years, Carrie I assume you agree with this, the last two years we got to go further than the SUNYACs, and that's really what I think about the most. They were incredible [seasons], making it to the Sweet 16 is what I always think about when I think of those last two years. We actually could've gotten [a SUNYAC title], but I don't know, it's not what I focus on the most.
When you look back at how many games you were able to win during your four years, how much was that 2013 season the epitome of your four years at New Paltz?
Hack: The 2013 season was a bit of a roller coaster season for me, and Marissa a bit too, because we both were battling some things at the time, but we were still so proud. Like Marissa said, to make it to the Sweet 16 again for our senior year and our junior year was also phenomenal, but to do that and to do that with all these girls too, it was really amazing. And a lot obviously was going through our minds after the last game of course. Looking back, we put everything we had out there. We put all of our passion on the court. We fought with our hearts for everything and did the best that we could, so I think always we were super proud of how far we came up and what we were able to accomplish. Yes, we got unlucky circumstances and no, Marissa and I never had a real championship, but we still had other accolades that meant a lot to us, especially to make it as far as we did twice. It still means a lot.
Looking back, how good was that 2013 team?
Borquist: I'm not going to lie I had to go back and I'm looking at the roster right now… we had a pretty phenomenal team. We had Morgan's freshmen class come in. We had Marissa, Carrie, Liz (Hauser '14). The the hard work I feel like they instilled in that team, and then the optimism and the camaraderie that our upper classmen created for us, it really wasn't all about our talent. If you look at the games that we played, and I went through the whole schedule today just to refresh my brain of it all, just to look back. We lost I think a few at the beginning of the year to some really tough teams and that made us so much better. We just continued to get better and we got hot at the right time, and we worked really hard. A lot of it, I think the tone was really set by the upperclassmen and the camaraderie and the team that we had.
I know that last season the team was really hit hard with injuries, especially to Carrie and Marissa. How big was it to have Carrie back from injury late in the season and to just see Marissa fighting through a lot of her injuries and still play throughout the year?
Roessler: When Carrie went out with her head injury we didn't really know if she would come back. That's never easy to come back from, just the testing and the physical testing and even the mental aspect of getting a concussion, it's never easy. So, going into the season so late with that, it's just like, 'oh my God, what are we going to do?' Now we have to move people around, and everyone that has been jelling throughout the season, now it's kind of like we are putting the puzzle back together but with pieces that might not necessarily fit. It ended up working out, like you said, we had an incredible run. We made it to the Sweet 16. That's the furthest I've ever gone with them and honestly, I don't even know if I knew Marissa was injured until after I graduated. [There was] adult nationals and we asked Marissa to be a setter for us because we are now the Old Paltz Hawks. Becca's on it, Melinda (DiGiovanna '14) [and] Anna Paulik ('17). And I was like we absolutely need Marissa, so I reached out and she said she can't because of her hand, and I'm thinking back… I really don't even think I knew Marissa was injured when I was playing.
: No, it didn't. The team, honestly, made it pretty easy. You know, when everyone shows up ready to practice hard, ready to play each game hard, it makes it so easy to power through it. If the team showed up kind of, just, going through the motions, it'd be pretty easy for me to do the same, and be like, 'well, I don't need to waste this right now.' But, I kind of put it to the back of my mind that my hand hurt all that much, and it wasn't until the very end that it was really painful, but again, that's not really the thing that I remember from the season the most.
On top of that, you were sick [with mononucleosis] and still were an All-American setter. Becca, what is your reaction when you see your setter still playing at such a high level with everything that she was going through?
Borquist: First of all, I could not imagine. Although it just goes to show, Marissa's like, 'I don't really remember that,' and Morgan [didn't know] and I didn't even know. I think I would see Marissa and I think the trainers would be doing some sort of thermal heat something rather, and she's like 'no, I'm fine, it's fine.' Just trying to make nothing of it. And I remember when she finally told us that she had mono and we were all like, 'oh my God, you can't be doing this right now.' But she fought through it because she's a frickin' soldier, you know.
I also heard that even through that, between the illness, between your hands, Marissa you still were doing individuals on the side? You held individual workouts with your teammates?
King: I forgot about that. Morgan's class that came in was awesome. They were ready to go. They kind of gave us a second wind. They were like, 'what can we do? How do we get better?' I think we ran a little bit and I think we did extra workouts. We would try and get some more reps with me setting, and getting some more hits in the gym outside of practice, which, I think shows in our season that those types of little things everyone put in a little more effort did really did help.
You and Carrie are always going to be connected by your class and the success that you had during your four years together. Coming in, the program had won a championship the year before you guys entered. Were the standards already set high even when you started as freshmen, and who did you both look up to when you were first coming in?
King: Yeah, they were definitely set high. That was one reason why I looked at New Paltz. I was looking at teams that were winning. I wanted to go into a program that was already built up, something I'd almost have to fight for, you know. I know Carrie is the same way. You don't want something easy coming to you, you want to earn it. So, yeah, them coming off all those wins, that was huge for me and I assume Carrie as well.
Carrie did you and Marissa have a rapport right away? From my understanding your personalities are actually very different, but you worked really well together.
Hack: Marissa and I knew each other before we both came to New Paltz. We played against each other all throughout the State Championship already, and I think in club, too. It's a small volleyball world of course in New York so you all see each other, but we competed against each other. But a nice competition, I always really looked up to her. I don't know if she felt the same, but we loved playing against each other, so when I heard Marissa's coming to New Paltz, actually I think she decided a bit later, so I didn't know until maybe after I already committed. I was super excited.
We clicked right away. We were both wanting to compete, wanting to raise the bar. We knew we were coming into a good program which is why we both chose it. So, yeah, we were both ready to go, and I think we pushed each other and supported each other throughout those four years and worked a lot together to build leadership both in different ways. But I'm so happy to have had Marissa to play with and for the relationship we were able to build because it was super reliable. It was something that was always consistent throughout the four years, and I think it really helped all of our teams grow to already have that in place especially in two positions that are, I mean, I feed the ball to Marissa and she feeds it out to our hitter. So, if her and I have a pattern down, it's super easy for everyone else to come in and move around it. So, it was a really nice thing.
With you both having such individual success, when did it start coming together where you felt like you were the ones to set the example to lead this team into something special throughout your career together?
Hack: Coach put a lot of pressure on us right away as freshmen, but we were both kind of shy to really feel comfortable being a leader I think so young. So, we learned a lot from our upperclassmen on how to lead. We didn't really want to step on their toes either, but try to mix into that as we were filling those roles. I think, I don't know, even by our sophomore seasons, junior seasons for sure, we were a lot more comfortable being in those leadership roles and feeling more comfortable in that place. It became better as time went on.
Morgan, for you, how much did Marissa and Carrie and their class set the table for the program that following year to finally win a conference championship, the first since 2009?
Roessler: Like what Marissa was saying, I looked at New Paltz because they were a winning school. I came from a winning high school and I wanted the competitive aspect, where honestly, I thought I was getting cut my freshman year. So, I saw that, and that's definitely what they built from what they say they came into. They definitely kept it going all four years they were there. They just were great role models, and Liz, too, she was such a great competitor as well. You could just see that they really believed in everything that we were doing, and that's really what it takes to pull a team together. If you're just going with the flow, don't really care, don't want to go to practice. If you kind of just go through the season and hope it ends as soon as possible -- where they just wanted to win, and they instilled the want to win in all of us. I think that really carried into definitely my sophomore year and I tried to carry it into my junior and senior year as well. We didn't end up winning [in 2015 and 2016] but I hoped I helped instill some of that with them.
I think so many people playing together. The whole senior class that year was Alex (Bizub '14), Alli (Coleman '14), and Katy (Herbst '14), and they were just awesome players, awesome leaders -- huge team-building kind of people. I think playing all together for such a long period of time, it really made it easy to flow and jive and be successful together. Like we've all been saying, Carrie and Marissa set that tone and the next year we kept that tone going of hard work, the individuals, doing film, watching your film. A lot of things went into it, and a lot of it was the fact that there were people who played together for a long period of time.
Becca, Morgan, how explosive was your offense when you were able to play those three years together?
Roessler: When we were next to each other, it was very hard [for other teams] to decide 'who should we go double block this time? Are we going to take the guess and stay in the middle and then Becca will pound it down the line, or are we going to go out to Becca and have a single block on the middle and she probably pounds it into the Libero's lap?' But, either way, it was great. We just fed off each other so well. We got along so well on and off the court that I think our friendship also really made it so real on the court. And then once you add Alex (Bizub '15) or Alli (Coleman '15), Brittany (Tyack '17), Anna (Paulik '17), whoever else was hitting, that year we were so close that we just helped pick each other up so much that if Becca got blocked, she would ask for it again. If I got blocked, I'd ask for it again. We'd have so much trust in each other because we were so close and we really all loved each other so much. I think that's why we had so much success in that 2014 season, basically [because of] the trust that we all had for each other.
Borquist: I'd also like to add that Morgan is a frickin' beast. I remember this very distinctly, because we'd get one or two rotations together -- I think it was only one. And whether I was in the front row or the back row, or vice versa, she would always pick it up. If a team was reading the heck out of me, it was like Morgan to the rescue. Here she goes, 27 kills in a game, you know, just lighting it up. If somehow a team, which was very unlikely, if a team was reading Morgan really well and knowing what she is going to do, I might pick up the slack, or Anna might pick up the slack, or Brittany might pick up the slack, and yeah, that's all I have to say. Morgan doesn't give herself enough credit, but she was a beast.
Morgan, coming in and having Becca put up prolific numbers -- I know you play different positions -- but did that add a little something to your game too?
Roessler: Yeah. So, like I said before, I totally thought I was getting cut my freshman year when I walked in that first week. Volleyball was basically a new sport for me, I picked it up as a junior in high school, played modified in middle school, ended up going soccer, and then decided to change. So, I really had no interest in going to school for volleyball until I fell in love with it my senior year. So, I was just doing whatever I knew how to do at that point. If the ball got to me, great. I'm going to hit it as hard as I can and I don't even know where it's going to go. It can go to my right, it can go to my left, I have no idea what I'm doing. So, it was definitely like I wanted to do the best I could do for Becca and help her out, even though I don't really know what I'm doing.
Marissa did you see the potential in Morgan right away? And how fun was it to be able to set to these two?
King: It was so much fun. Honestly, that's why I was able to get so many assists. These two right here they made it easy. But yeah, Morgan, I mean, this is forever ago. I feel so old. I do remember you coming in and you telling us that you hadn't really played that much, and us being like, 'we need a really tall person, sure come on.' And within the first week, you proved yourself. It's more than height for Morgan. She really was a beast and she doesn't give herself enough credit. I think you were one of the players that I saw grow the most. I wish I got to play more with you. But, even that first year, it was amazing.
Morgan's senior year was one of the best in the program. Becca, as someone who played alongside her for three years, how proud were you to see her production as well?
Borquist: Extremely proud. Morgan is, I used to always say this, not only is she a beast but she's like an athletic specimen. When she came in, the terminology is she's super raw, and she had pure athletic ability, so even when she was going up to hit the ball and she was like, 'I have no idea where it's going,' it doesn't matter, nobody needs to know where it's going as long as you get that kill. Ninety percent of the time if you look at her hitting percentage, which was unbelievable, as I read in that article, I remember my jaw dropping for so many reasons. I want to say it was somewhere upwards of 300, and for a middle that's actually pretty typical, but for a middle that gets the amount of reps that she did, it's really unlikely. Morgan got set almost as much as an outside, which is unbelievable for a middle because you have to have a good pass to do that. And you also have to have a fantastic setter to be able to get that ball to her. So, I'm incredibly proud. To come in and then to just turn into All-American, winning SUNYAC, it was awesome. I'm pretty proud of her.
Morgan, as a freshman to have Marissa and Carrie [as seniors] who are arguably the two best players at their respective positions maybe ever to play for the program, having them to look up to, did that help you when you became a senior, [trying to instill the same mindset to your underclassmen]?
Roessler: Definitely. Between Marrisa, Carrie, and Liz, they had such a great work ethic that that's what I grew into and that's what I wanted to see. I definitely modeled how I led the team or tried to lead the team with the rest of the seniors that whole season. It was the senior class who were the leaders of the team. We didn't have captains and that's really what we tried to do. We all played with Carrie and Marissa and we all wanted to win and exactly how they led the team is how we tried to lead the team when we got there into their shoes.
Looking back, how much did your experience at New Paltz playing for the Women's Volleyball program affect you personally, even in your work life and your life now?
Hack: You face so many challenges, so many opportunities by doing this in your freshman year to your senior year. You learn to work with 15 girls on a team all fighting for the same things. Fighting against each other, with each other, trying to do their best. So, you learn very quickly how to work with other people, how to stay focused, how to face adversity or challenges with your classes. You're managing both at the same time, working with coach and what we were exposed to during those four years. I think we all grew so much from each other, but to bring that into work life, you know how to work on a team, you know how to work with people, you know how to win, you know how to get things done. Sometimes [I] have to remember [when] I'm working now, [I'm] not on a volleyball team. Sometimes, I'll be a little bit too, 'come on guys, let's do this,' because I miss the competitive edge. People, they see that too, and they're like 'I don't know where this girl gets the fire from, but yeah let's go.' So, bringing that into a work environment is something you can't get from classes. Really, the experiences we have, they shaped us so much and prepared us. I think beyond what we would have thought, just going in and playing volleyball for our school, but it was really good, I think, for all of us.
Marissa, when you look back at your career do you feel like you maximized everything that you possibly could have done personally and on the court in general?
King: Again, that's a big question. Looking back there are things I wish I did more of, things I did differently. Ultimately, I wouldn't change it because those were big learning experiences for me and I actually, kind of what Carrie said, I feel like I'm able to be successful in life because of what happened on our teams, the good and the bad, everything. Yeah, that was a lot to think about right there.
I just wanted to end on a fun note because I think it's cool that you guys all played different positions, so I was wondering, If you had to make up a Dream Team, I know you have Old Paltz, so you probably have already thought about this in your mind. But, if you had to add two more people to play on your starting six, who would be the two people you would add?
Roessler: I don't know. That's such a hard question, because you think of a Dream Team and you put all of these incredible players together but if there's no relationship with them then they might not even win a game. I left school with some of my best friends on the team, and maybe they are incredible but maybe they aren't the greatest in New Paltz history. We were so successful because of the relationships we had, so I really have no idea who I would put out there.
Borquist: I'm definitely going to go with a similar answer to Morgan. But, as we were just talking before about life and stuff, I was thinking about some of my fondest memories, and I was thinking about the time when we put a banana on coach, and we used to play this really dumb game where you would have to sneak this banana on someone's shoulder without them knowing. For some reason, it still comes up in my memories on Time Hop, and that was the funniest thing I've ever experienced. Mostly because coach reacted and was so upset and angry at us. I think it was after we lost, but it was just the funniest thing. Sorry, had to say that. But I'm definitely going to go with a similar answer to Morgan. I personally feel like I definitely can't put a team together. I wish my brain worked like that. What I would want to say though, is I just am so thankful for the experiences that I had and the people that I was able to play with for what Carrie and Marissa touched on. The good and the bad, the learning experiences, and the memories that were made. The fondness, the work ethic that was learned, discipline, how to deal with people. I guess I'm so grateful for that, I definitely can't pick. But, like I said, I'm just really grateful to be not only nominated for this award with the three of you guys but also to have experienced playing on the court and such awesome memories, both on the court and off the court.
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