For many Nicholls athletes, the balance between going to class and studying while playing and practicing is quite difficult.Most student-athletes choose one sport to play at the collegiate level, but after a two-year hiatus from the volleyball team, senior Chelsea Dockery chose to return for her senior season while still participating on the Colonel track team.
“I missed the sport and the game of volleyball,” Dockery said. “I wanted the opportunity to play again and feel what it was like to be on a team. Track is kind of individual, and I just missed that.”
During her freshman and sophomore seasons for the Colonel volleyball team, Dockery played in 63 matches. She finished fourth on the team in kills per set with 1.94 during her sophomore year. As a freshman, she recorded 108 kills, 14 assists, 16 aces, 170 digs and 10 blocks.
This season she has played in 28 sets, starting two matches for the Colonels. Being away from the game for two years has had some effect on her.
“I had to adapt to the game,” Dockery said. “It took me a while and now that the season’s winding down, it’s all starting to make sense again.”
As a freshman on the track and field team, she set the indoor and outdoor high jump record, which she broke her sophomore year. She was also a member of the 4X400 meter relay team that set a school record at the Southland Conference Indoor Championship.
When asked if she liked one over the other, she wouldn’t hint, but she did note some differences.
“I wouldn’t say I enjoy one over the other, they both have their pros and cons,” Dockery said. “In volleyball, you get to be with other people, and it’s more exciting. Track is more of an individual sport; you have to motivate yourself, and it’s a little less demanding in the fact that you do it yourself.”
With the re-emergence of her volleyball career, Dockery believes it will benefit her greatly in the upcoming track season.
“I’m definitely going to expect more out of myself at track now, I took a year off from track and training, but it’s not the same as volleyball,” Dockery said. “I’m in season with volleyball; I’m constantly training and playing games. It is a different type of keeping me in shape than I am used too, and I think it’s going to prepare me for track.”
The Colonel volleyball team currently ranks fourth in the Eastern division. They will return to Stopher Gym on Nov. 11 and 13 to play Central Arkansas and Northwestern State in their final two home games of the regular season.
