Volleyball
The creation of the women’s volleyball program, likely in 1985, was also Maureen’s effort to expand women’s sports. Before the formation of the volleyball team, Poly did not have any other all women’s sports team other than the short-lived cheerleading team. In a school newspaper article from November 21, 1988, Maureen, as the volleyball coach, expressed her faith that the women’s volleyball team had a bright future as it expanded to include more energetic and enthusiastic athletes as the team progressed. In addition to the hopes, she also discussed the limitations the team encountered, since Poly did not have courts for training.
Despite the limitations, Poly valued the volleyball team, still managing to train the team toward victorious seasons. The team kept its first win in the season started in the fall of 1990, documenting the date and location of their victory. Unfortunately, the archival sources did not have a record of the 1990-91 season volleyball team photo. A photo labeled 1990 volleyball team photo is likely a photo of the players from the previous season. Likely most of the players that participated in the win were the same, but no exact evidence can prove that assumption.
As I looked through the archival sources to find the progression of the women’s volleyball team, one interesting fact I found was that in the early years of the women’s volleyball team at Poly, the players were predominantly Asian. Even though the origin of volleyball traces back to Massachusetts in 1895, the sport gathered steam in Asia (“History of Volleyball”). In early 1910, “the growth of the game in the continent was evident” and the setting and spiking strategies in modern days emerged in the Philippines (“History of Volleyball”). Based on the history of volleyball, volleyball seems to be a popular sport in Asia, gaining more popularity after the first volleyball World Championships for women in 1952. In addition, Poly at the time had populations of Asian students. Both of these factors possibly contributed to the dominance of Asian athletes in the team at that time.
The women’s volleyball team, representing NYU-Poly, took a significant step in the institute’s athletics history. The team made it to the NCAA, National Collegiate Athletics Association, and played against NYU in the NCAA finals in 2009 (“The Making”). Making it into the NCAA was a seminal moment for the volleyball program and the entire NYU-Poly athletics department. Making it to the NCAA tournament was no longer a goal, but a reality. Athletic director Maureen Braziel commented on the progress of the volleyball team, bringing “pride to the school” (“The Making”). This advancement made by the volleyball team and the expansion of varsity sports teams led to a change in the athletic culture, bringing hope and excitement to the future of the athletics department.