By Ed Morrone
Amid all the success the Pride volleyball team has had this year, Julie Tatar is still trying to take it all in. As one of the two seniors on the team, Tatar still has not come to grips with this, her last year, on the team that she has devoted so much to over the past four years.
“I absolutely love being a part of this team,” said Tatar, a 6-foot-1 outside hitter from Kettering, Ohio. “Every single person on this team has so much athletic potential. They’re all great people to be around and they really make me look forward to every match, especially since I don’t have many left. So I just try to enjoy the people and the time I have left on the court.”
Tatar began playing volleyball in seventh grade after she moved to a new neighborhood and her mother encouraged her to play sports to meet new people before the school year started. From there, she played four years at Fairmont High School and on various club teams.
Pride head coach Fran Kalafer and assistant coach Elaine Roque discovered Tatar at a tournament in Maryland, where the recruiting process began. Tatar made an official visit to the University during her senior year and liked the school and volleyball program so much that she chose it over Temple University, Georgetown University, and Northern Kentucky University.
This season, Tatar has hands-down had her best season, leading the Pride to a 16-6 overall record heading into the season’s final month. She is second on the team with 236 kills and 234 digs. Over the previous three seasons Tatar tallied 179 kills and 261 digs combined. So what has allowed her to step-up her game?
“Well, I switched positions this year,” Tatar said. “The past three years I played in the middle and this year I was able to move to the outside, but I really just think it came with experience and the three years of practicing and playing. It all just came together for [this] my senior year.”
Along with Tatar, the Pride as a team has one of its better seasons in recent memory. It opened up the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) season on Sept. 29 with a close loss to the University of Delaware, but has since won seven straight conference matches, including a revenge victory over Delaware and a thrilling 3-2 victory over Towson, which was picked by many experts to win the conference this year. Tatar has been a key to the Pride’s successes this season, but she is quick to deflect credit to her coaches and teammates.
“I definitely think that this is the ultimate team sport,” Tatar said. “You can’t set a ball unless you have a pass and you can’t hit one unless you have a set so you definitely can’t do anything without the team. Even if you have one outstanding player…one person can’t do it all. I think with the six of us on the court and the substitutes ready to play off the court-we have it all.”
The Pride is currently on Towson’s heels at the top of the conference standings (the Tigers have an 8-1 record, the Pride 7-1), and the two teams will meet again on Nov. 13 as Towson looks to get revenge on the team that it feels upset them.
Delaware, James Madison, and George Mason are also contending in the CAA. The ultimate goal for all teams is unquestionably the CAA Championship Tournament, which will be held on Nov. 19-20, with the winner earning a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Last season, the Pride upset Towson in the semifinals before falling to George Mason in the final 3-1. That loss left the Pride with some unfinished business, and Tatar said that the team is determined to win it all this year.
“That’s definitely what we’ve been focusing on throughout the season,” she said. “As a group none of us have won the conference or gone to the [NCAA tournament], so that’s always in the back of my mind. It would really be a great way [to end my career] to win the conference championship.”
Whether the Pride wins or not, Tatar’s volleyball career will be over within a couple weeks. Tatar, a public relations major, plans to stay in New York and work in the city, perhaps in sports. But will volleyball be a part of her life after this season?
“Eventually maybe down the line,” she said with a smile. “But not right away. It’s been such a big part of my life that I think I want to take a break from it for a while.”
Until then, she will surely savor the rest of the year, and, hopefully, go out with a conference championship.
Senior Julie Tatar (center) has seen her Pride career improve each year, culminating in a standout senior year in which she has been the focal point of 400 attacks. (Staff Photo)