Stephen Trinkwald
Equinox Staff
KSC sophomore Sammy Dormio recently moved from libero to outside hitter. With the switch, Dormio doubles her rotations, a move Coach Bob Weiner said was critical to the team’s success.
“In Sammy’s case, we have to have her on the court. She has the highest volleyball IQ of anyone we have. So she’s got to be on the floor,” Weiner said.
Dormio is short for her position, Weiner said, but her talent level more than makes up for her lack of height.
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“Of course she’s our best outside hitter. It’s like apples and oranges,” he said. Dormio said she adjusted well to her new position.
She said she played outside hitter in high school. Though Dormio is physically capable of playing the position at a high level, Weiner said the change has put an additional toll on Dormio’s body.
“Right now, she’s as good of an outside hitter as anyone in the conference. We know she’s small, we know that it takes a lot of wear and tear on her body to do things that bigger kids do. She jumps better than anybody else, and she’s stronger physically, but still we’re beating the crap out of her. As long as she’s able to go, we’d like to keep her there,” Weiner said. Noelle Dormio, Dormio’s mother, said Dormio is used to the toll volleyball takes on the body.
“Actually the college level, it’s hard, but she used to play year round volleyball for her high school and club team, so this is actually kind of a break for her, she gets to rest a little more,” she said.
Besides for her physical talent, Dormio brings experience to a very young KSC team. Dormio said that playing with last years’ team gave her a newfound toughness.
“I had to become a tough person because they were seniors, they wanted to win. I had to be perfect for them, or it wasn’t good enough, so I was definitely able to handle a lot more pressure than I ever could before,” Dormio said.
Dormio said she wants her younger teammates to know that it’s okay to make mistakes but it’s important to grow as the season progresses.
“This year is a lot different because I don’t want to pressure the freshmen because they’re like puppies. You don’t want to bop them on the nose every time so it’s a lot different having them realize how important winning these games are, but it’s also important that they learn that it’s okay to make mistakes, and that’s how you learn to get better,” Dormio said.
Dormio’s decision to come to KSC was a surprise to her mother and herself. An unforgettable recruiting visit and a strong foundation sealed the deal for Dormio.
“I was definitely not wanting to go up north, I wanted to go down south. But, I had the best time of my life up here; it was the best recruit visit,” Dormio said. Dormio’s mother said Dormio was looking for key elements when choosing her school, and KSC had all of those elements. Even though other schools had offered Dormio scholarships, she chose KSC because of what it could offer.
“She actually turned down some money, a lot of money actually for volleyball down south, in South Carolina. [She’s found a] great coach, great girls, and a great biology department… She’s found lifelong friends in Keene, and that’s what she was looking for,” Noelle Dormio said.
Stephen Trinkwald can be contacted at strinkwald@keene-equinox.com