The Seattle University volleyball program has recently acquired four new additions to their squad via the transfer portal.
Adee Butler joins the Redhawks after spending two years at Utah Tech where she was named to the All-WAC Freshman Team during her first year.
Madyn Cervellera returns to her home state after playing her freshman season at Cal Poly-Humboldt. In her first season, the Lake Stevens native racked up 116 kills in 17 matches, while also picking up 129 digs and 16 total blocks.
Teagan Melton spent time with her twin sister at Marshall University. During her freshman season with the Herd, Melton amassed 17 kills, including a career best 10 in one match versus James Madison.
Finally, Kaitlyn Gotsch is no stranger to the portal and has ties to the WAC. Gotsch spent her freshman season at Grand Canyon University and would then end up transferring to Chattanooga, where she made two appearances.
The following is an excerpt from an April 25 interview. Initials indicate speaker.
DD: Why Seattle U?
AB: “I wanted to be at a program where I felt like the coaches valued me as a person… So that was something I was really looking for, where do I feel a good connection, like a good connection with the coach, or I just feel like the coaching staff is good people that care about me, and I feel like that was something I found here and I just think it’s a cool city and a cool opportunity to be able to play volleyball and experience living here.”
MC: “I was really looking for a coach that really would value and listen to me as a player and one of the coaches I played with before college kind of brought me here too, and I had a couple of people I knew on the team, because I’m from Seattle. So, it’s definitely nice being here and it’s really nice having the feeling of being home and having such a good support system and I just felt like it was a good fit for me here when I came on my visit.”
TM: “I chose Seattle just because I was looking for a supportive coaching staff and a program that put an emphasis on culture and when I was talking to the coaches, I felt like they really understood that goal and were gonna help me work to get better as a person and a player.”
KG: “I was looking for a place that I could kind of grow into as the program was still growing. I didn’t wanna just feel like, oh like you’re just a number, just a player, I wanted to feel definitely seen as a person outside of the court too, and it helps that Seattle puts a lot of focus on like high academics because I feel like for me it’s like I wanna have a balance of all the different buckets in my life.”
DD: How was it navigating the transfer portal?
AB: “It’s hard, I have so much respect for anyone that goes into the portal… you’re putting a lot of faith in your ability to read a couple conversations and a couple situations in regard to what you wanna do with the next couple years of your life.”
MC: “It is really, really, really scary and a lot of people kind of joke around about it, but I really do think it’s really serious… It’s a really constant thing you have to stay on top of, and it’s really hard too because you have such a tiny window to do it in.”
TM: “It’s similar to the first time around, but then this time you’re aware of what you want in a more defined way, because when you’re in high school you don’t really know what college is like. Then you’ve already been to a program and you can take what you learned at your old program and use that to build a new list and find the program that matches what you need.”
KG: “I would definitely agree on the fact that it’s incredibly overwhelming… with this, a lot of the time, they’re [coaches] jumping right into it and they’re like, here’s what we got, yes or no. And it’s like, oh, okay hello? How are you? What’s your name?… You don’t have the time to make it your timeline, it’s more on the coaches.”
DD: What are your goals for the upcoming season?
AB: “We get the opportunity to be the first team that’s gonna compete for Seattle U in the West Coast Conference… We have the opportunity to set the standard.”
MC: “We’re definitely kind of in this stage of rebuilding, so the group we have right now, we’re trying really hard to set the stage and make sure everyone’s on the same page… and obviously we want to get some wins too.”
