ECU Volleyball Receives International Infusion
August 16, 2017 | Volleyball
By Joe Corley
ECUPirates.com
As fifth-year head coach Julie Torbett continues to push the East Carolina volleyball program forward, she also has broadened the Pirates' recruiting scope in a way none of her predecessors did.
This season, ECU has players from North Carolina, Texas, New York, Colorado, Hawaii, Maryland, California and Georgia. And for the first time in their history, the Pirates also have an international player.
Stephie Andrušková, a 6-foot-1 freshman outside hitter, left her home in Bratislava, Slovakia in June, in time to get an early start in college as she enrolled in summer school. She fulfilled a longtime goal in the process.
"It was always my dream to come to the United States and play volleyball here," said Andruskova, whose team will open its season at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 25 in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum against William & Mary.
"The conditions in Slovakia to play volleyball and also to study in college are not very good. If I had stayed at home I couldn't do both, and I really wanted to do both -- play volleyball and also go to a really good university like ECU."
Andruskova made the process of leaving home and traveling more than 4,000 miles to go to school and play volleyball sound easy, but there were many hurdles that had to be cleared. It helped that she stayed on top of it on her end, and that ECU is accustomed to bringing in foreign athletes, having done so in some other sports.
"Admissions does a great job," Torbett said. "They have a person who helps out greatly with international admissions."
Essentially, Andruskova's family, at their expense, hired a recruiting agency. Part of that process included putting together a video, which was posted to Youtube. That got the ball rolling.
"(Torbett) really liked the video, and she reached out to me," Andruskova said. "That is how we started to communicate."
Torbett, who had coached international players before at previous stops at Winthrop and UNC Asheville, believed Andruskova could fill a need for the Pirates.
"We needed an outside hitter, so after watching the video we thought she could be a good contribution to the team" Torbett said. "I've had good success in the past with foreign players. This is our first here at East Carolina, but I've had foreign players at previous schools where I coached who were really good players, but also brought a new perspective to the game. International volleyball is a little different than the way we play here, especially collegiately."
The style of play is something that likely will take some time for Andruskova to pick up. Most players moving from high school to Division I college volleyball notice the increased speed of play, but she faces additional challenges.
"It's much quicker," Andruskova said. "Sometimes I have trouble keeping up with everything. Signals, everything is different for me.
"Also, the passes are a little bit lower than I'm used to because I was used to really high passes. Here, you have to go all the time, 100 percent."
It's something Torbett expected.
"These kids play club volleyball here in the states, so that helps them a little bit," she said. "But it's still not the speed of Division I volleyball, especially at the level we play in the American Athletic Conference. They all have to adjust to that.
"(Andruskova is) used to a higher, slower ball on the outside, and we want her to try to adapt as much as possible in a really short window. We may have to compromise some this season, then train her more in the spring to the pace that we play."
As Andruskova makes those adjustments, she'll do so in a warm, welcoming environment. She said her teammates and the coaching staff have made the move to East Carolina more seamless than she expected.
"I thought it was going to be really bad the first few weeks, but the girls did a really amazing job," Andruskova said. "They just involved me in everything, so I didn't even have time to think about my home, parents, friends."
During the break after summer school, one of those teammates, freshman setter Shelby Martin, took Andruskova home with her to Texas.
"I really enjoyed that," Andruskova said. "So, I got to travel to at least some part of the United States."
There are plenty more trips on the horizon, as ECU has road trips scheduled within the AAC along with non-league visits to Stetson and North Carolina Central.
"I think it's really cool for people to see something for the first time, taste something for the first time. Those kinds of experiences are special," Torbett said. "She's never been to the states, so everywhere we go is going to be the first time for her. So that'll be fun, and I'm looking forward to that on trips."
ECUPirates.com
As fifth-year head coach Julie Torbett continues to push the East Carolina volleyball program forward, she also has broadened the Pirates' recruiting scope in a way none of her predecessors did.
This season, ECU has players from North Carolina, Texas, New York, Colorado, Hawaii, Maryland, California and Georgia. And for the first time in their history, the Pirates also have an international player.
Stephie Andrušková, a 6-foot-1 freshman outside hitter, left her home in Bratislava, Slovakia in June, in time to get an early start in college as she enrolled in summer school. She fulfilled a longtime goal in the process.
"It was always my dream to come to the United States and play volleyball here," said Andruskova, whose team will open its season at 7 p.m. Friday, Aug. 25 in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum against William & Mary.
"The conditions in Slovakia to play volleyball and also to study in college are not very good. If I had stayed at home I couldn't do both, and I really wanted to do both -- play volleyball and also go to a really good university like ECU."
Andruskova made the process of leaving home and traveling more than 4,000 miles to go to school and play volleyball sound easy, but there were many hurdles that had to be cleared. It helped that she stayed on top of it on her end, and that ECU is accustomed to bringing in foreign athletes, having done so in some other sports.
"Admissions does a great job," Torbett said. "They have a person who helps out greatly with international admissions."
Essentially, Andruskova's family, at their expense, hired a recruiting agency. Part of that process included putting together a video, which was posted to Youtube. That got the ball rolling.
"(Torbett) really liked the video, and she reached out to me," Andruskova said. "That is how we started to communicate."
Torbett, who had coached international players before at previous stops at Winthrop and UNC Asheville, believed Andruskova could fill a need for the Pirates.
"We needed an outside hitter, so after watching the video we thought she could be a good contribution to the team" Torbett said. "I've had good success in the past with foreign players. This is our first here at East Carolina, but I've had foreign players at previous schools where I coached who were really good players, but also brought a new perspective to the game. International volleyball is a little different than the way we play here, especially collegiately."
The style of play is something that likely will take some time for Andruskova to pick up. Most players moving from high school to Division I college volleyball notice the increased speed of play, but she faces additional challenges.
"It's much quicker," Andruskova said. "Sometimes I have trouble keeping up with everything. Signals, everything is different for me.
"Also, the passes are a little bit lower than I'm used to because I was used to really high passes. Here, you have to go all the time, 100 percent."
It's something Torbett expected.
"These kids play club volleyball here in the states, so that helps them a little bit," she said. "But it's still not the speed of Division I volleyball, especially at the level we play in the American Athletic Conference. They all have to adjust to that.
"(Andruskova is) used to a higher, slower ball on the outside, and we want her to try to adapt as much as possible in a really short window. We may have to compromise some this season, then train her more in the spring to the pace that we play."
As Andruskova makes those adjustments, she'll do so in a warm, welcoming environment. She said her teammates and the coaching staff have made the move to East Carolina more seamless than she expected.
"I thought it was going to be really bad the first few weeks, but the girls did a really amazing job," Andruskova said. "They just involved me in everything, so I didn't even have time to think about my home, parents, friends."
During the break after summer school, one of those teammates, freshman setter Shelby Martin, took Andruskova home with her to Texas.
"I really enjoyed that," Andruskova said. "So, I got to travel to at least some part of the United States."
There are plenty more trips on the horizon, as ECU has road trips scheduled within the AAC along with non-league visits to Stetson and North Carolina Central.
"I think it's really cool for people to see something for the first time, taste something for the first time. Those kinds of experiences are special," Torbett said. "She's never been to the states, so everywhere we go is going to be the first time for her. So that'll be fun, and I'm looking forward to that on trips."
Players Mentioned
Outside Hitter
/ Volleyball
Setter
/ VolleyballSunday, October 20
Thursday, August 31
Sunday, November 07
Friday, November 05
