By Kim J. Harmon

PROVIDENCE, Rhode Island – Mainly because there was an All-State player by the name of Leigh Hoppmeyer already on the court at the time, Shana Eigen didn’t get a chance to set for the Newtown High School volleyball team until she was a junior.

But even though that gave her just two years on the varsity court, those two years proved to be the gateway to what is turning into a pretty nice Division III collegiate career at Johnson & Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island.

In the two years that the J&W Wildcats have captured the GNAC (Great Northeast Athletic Conference) tournament championship, Shana – a sophomore – has been named tournament MVP (1999) and GNAC First Team All-Conference (2000).

Shana, now 19, may understandably be a little surprised she has accomplished so much so quickly in college. Not only because she had just two years of high school varsity experience, but because the adjustment from high school to college was vexing.

Shana didn’t really start thinking about playing volleyball in college until her senior year (“I knew how difficult it was to play and go to school,” she said) and then Roger Williams University (also in Rhode Island) came knocking on her door asking if she would like to play for them. It was a nice idea, but RW didn’t quite have what Shana wanted.

“I wanted to go to a school in a city,” she said, “and besides being in the middle of nowhere, Roger Williams didn’t have a business major I wanted.”

The idea of going to Johnson & Wales (a team which has been playing volleyball only a short time, six years) instead popped into her mind when she saw them in tournament competition and realized the Wildcats’ program was a bit better off than that of Roger Williams. All that was left was for Shana’s father, Dick, to talk to J&W coach Jamie Murray (two-time GNAC Coach of the Year) and get him to find Shana a spot in the program.

That done, all that was left – and it sounds so simple, but it wasn’t – was adjusting to the collegiate game.

“It’s hard,” said Shana, a business management major, “but you get used to it. I had to adjust and people had to adjust to me at the same time. It took me until the end of my freshman year, I think, to really feel comfortable.”

Shana took over as setter for J&W right away – even though J&W already had a setter at the time. But coach Murray found a better position for that player and turned the reins over to Shana. It shouldn’t be surprising that the adjustment period became frustrating at times since Shana had to learn about a dozen plays while, at the same time, learning how and where each hitter liked the ball to be set.

“It was hard,” she said, “but I had fun. In Division III, you have to have fun with it.”

Back in 1999, Johnson & Wales captured the GNAC tournament championship with a stirring win over St. Joseph’s. It was a testament to perseverance, that day, because the tournament semi-finals and finals were held on the same day with only a short break in between.

For J&W, both matches went to five games.

“I was so tired,” Shana remembered.

But her effort nevertheless helped her earn the GNAC tournament MVP.

So with that out of the way, Shana (who also played basketball as a freshman – but opted out as a sophomore) was able to hit the ground running last August when the Wildcats opened training camp for the 2000 season.

“I knew a lot of the players,” Shana explained, “so I felt more experienced. Things clicked more and I felt like I knew what I was doing.”

J&W expanded its schedule for the 2000 season, starting things off with a couple of tournaments and then scheduling themselves against higher Division III and lower Division II schools. In 35 matches, the Wildcats were 17-18 overall and 17-14 in regional play.

But that was overall. In the GNAC, the Wildcats went 9-1 and captured another GNAC tournament championship. They did that by eliminated Daniel Webster, Western New England, and St. Joseph College.

Shana’s efforts through the season earned her a spot on the GNAC All-Conference First Team and helped lead the Wildcats into the NCAA Division III tournament for the first time ever. But Gordon College (#4 seed) defeated J&W (#5 seed), 3-0, in the first round of the tournament at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts.

“Our goal next year,” said Shana, “is to win at least one match.”

Sounds reasonable, doesn’t it? After all, the Wildcats have come a long way in their short time on the volleyball court.

That seems about right, too, because Shana Eigen has also come a long way in a short time.