By Shane Frederick
Free Press Staff Writer
MANKATO —
A year from now, when Hallie Enderle is beginning a Division I college volleyball career at Central Michigan University, she might think she’s stepping into the wrong gymnasium.
Because it won’t be the gym at Mankato East High School.
“It will be weird not coming into this gym,” the Cougars senior said before practice last week. “This has always been my home.”
Enderle has been in the East gym every August since even before she was born. Her mom, Barb Enderle, was the school’s longtime junior varsity coach, including the season in which she was pregnant with Hallie.
“I grew up in this gym,” Enderle said. “When I go and shag balls under the bleachers, I think about the times my sister and I played under them. ... It’s disgusting.”
Enderle, a 6-foot-3 middle, played for her mom as an eighth-grader but moved up to varsity the next season and has been there ever since.
Volleyball consumes much of Enderle’s time. From November to July, she plays for a Burnsville-based elite team, Northern Lights, which has taken her to tournaments around the country as well as to Europe. Her play also caught the attention of Division I coaches. She got full-ride offers from Central Michigan and Wisconsin-Milwaukee and verbally committed to play for the Chippewas after a visit to Mount Pleasant, Mich., in May. She’ll ink a National Letter of Intent when the early signing period begins in November.
“I always thought it was a pipe dream (to play at the D-I level),” she said. “I mean, who does that?”
Third-year Cougars coach Kari Rodman said Enderle deserves the opportunity.
“The great thing about Hallie is she never stops learning about how to better herself,” Rodman said. “She’s gone from a player with raw skill to now being a student of the game.”
Enderle is one of 10 seniors on the East roster. All six of the Cougars’ starters are seniors, including Enderle and Kelsey Moesher in the middle, Piper Timmerman and Allyse Johnson on the left side, Erica Viland on the right and Shayne Johnson at setter.
Moesher and Shayne Johnson are first-year varsity players.
Other seniors include Ashley Boik, Audy Bruns, Kayla Rossow and Heidi Parsons.
“I feel blessed being with this group of girls,” Rodman said. “We have some awesome seniors who love the game and put so much into it.”
The Cougars are hoping to improve on last season’s 12-12 record and second-round exit in the Section 2AA tournament. They were knocked out by eventual section champion Le Sueur-Henderson.
“What we put into it now is what we’re going to get out of it,” Enderle said. “Only time will tell.”
The Cougars will open the season on Thursday at home against Winona.
