Oct. 6, 2006

By Lara Boyko

	Lara Boyko Lara Boyko covers a variety of sports for CSTV.com. E-mail here!

        ---   Column Archive   --- BASKETBALL 1/16: Horsing Around 1/09: All Is Forgiven 1/02: Star Power 12/26: The Women's Basketball Holiday Song 12/19: Tennzaga 12/12: Scrubbing-in 12/05: Aussie Posse 11/28: Big-Name Buffs 11/21: Turkey Tourneys A Way Of Life 11/14: Summer Touring 10/30: Sophomore Jinx? 10/22: Texas A&M Locked And Loaded 10/18: Cardinal Law In Pac-10 10/18: Superwoman Ready To Fly Once More 4/3: Parker Leads All-Tournament Team 3/31: Changing It Up 3/28: LSU Surviving Whatever Comes Its Way 3/22: Playing With Heart 3/21: How Sweet It Is! 3/14: It's Showtime in L.A. 3/7: Viva Las Vegas and the MWC 2/28: Running Down A Dream In San Jose 2/21: Thanks For the Memories 2/14: And The Award Goes To… 2/7: A Long Day 01/31: Mrs. College Basketball 01/27: Putting In Overtime 01/26: ASU Comes Up Smelling Like A Rose 01/23: Traditional Values 01/17: When Things Go Bump In The Night 01/10: It's A Family Affair 01/03: Go West, Young Woman 12/31: UCLA Lights Up Firecrackers to End 2006 11/2: Wiggins Is Hungry For A National Championship SOFTBALL 5/20: Hawai'i Says 'Aloha!' To Their First Super Regional Trip 5/19: LMU Upsets Balance of L.A. Regional 5/18: Hawai'i, UCLA Win With A Little Drama 4/17: Arizona: College Softball's Hotbed State 2/16: Opposites Attract At ASU VOLLEYBALL 12/8: Powerhouse Regional Final Matchup Shaping Up 12/8: Big Ten Comes West 12/8: Getting Back to Omaha 12/8: L.A. Showdown In Hawai'i Looming 12/2: UCLA Has Edge To Get To Hawai'i 12/1: Staying Focused in Crunch Time 12/1: Experience Tops Emotion 11/30: Women of Troy Come To Play 11/30: BYU Libero Serves Up a Shift 11/30: Finding Her Voice 11/7: Handle With Care 11/2: Playing With A Purpose 10/26: Back to Basics in Albuquerque 10/21: USC Re-Closes Chapter in History 10/12: Stanford Crashes the Party 10/6: Packing Again? Not Yet at Least 9/29: Striking A Pose 9/29: Game Notebook: Washington at UCLA 8/21: Nittany Jackpot 8/16: Huskies Are Still Hungry WOMEN'S WATER POLO 5/13: Stanford Advances to Championship Game 5/13: USC Runs Out of Time and UCLA Moves On 5/12: LMU Is Livin' The Dream With Win 5/11: Bruins Drown Sagehens 5/12: USC Swims Into Winner's Bracket 5/12: Stanford Advances, But Wagner Surprises 5/12: Aztecs Use Confidence To Move On

Special to CSTV.com

After traveling half-way around the world, Janine Sandell, a 5-11 senior outside hitter on the Washington women's volleyball team, has finally found her place in the world.

"During home football games at Washington, they pick someone out of the stands to do push-ups on this platform that is being held up by the male cheerleaders," Sandell described, who is majoring in Business with an option in Accounting. "You have to do as many push-ups as points Washington has on the scoreboard at the time while the fans are counting out each push-up. Christal Morrison (a 6-2 junior outside hitter on the Washington women's volleyball team) got me to do it and at first I didn't know how many I had to do until I got down on the field and I was getting onto the platform. That's when they told me I had to do 22 and after being taken-back at first it was fun. It didn't really intimidate me to do this in front of the crowd. The board moved when I did them which was weird, but I would do it again."

Along with finding her place on that platform, Sandell has landed at Washington with two feet firmly planted on the ground after a chaotic tour that started in London, England.

"My mom is Jamaican and my dad is English," Sandell said, who lived in London until she was 11 years old. "Since my mom's parents had already moved from London to Phoenix, AZ, my parents decided to move there as well. It was a good move for me and my brother as we ended up getting a full ride scholarships to college, but because of all the problems my parents had in getting visas and being able to work in this country, it wasn't a good move for my parents as they ended up separating during my sophomore year of high school."

Despite the price the family paid in moving to the U.S., it turned out to be great for Sandell as she found the sport that was going to take her to new places.

"I had just moved to the U.S. from England and while playing basketball in my PE class, my PE teacher, who was the head coach for volleyball at the nearest high school, suggested I try playing intramural volleyball," said Sandell who was in the seventh grade at the time. "She also taught me to do a lay-up behind the setter and that was the first thing I learned about volleyball."

After learning how to play, Sandell then wanted to learn how to win at the college level.

"When I was a junior in high school, I played high school volleyball, basketball, track, and club volleyball so I was stretched thin and would miss basketball practices and games for club volleyball practice," Sandell said. "A lot of schools wanted me, but by the time they saw me, they didn't have any scholarships left and I needed a scholarship to be able to go to college. I was deciding between Santa Barbara, Baylor and Arizona State. Santa Barbara was an awesome opportunity. Also, I went there because Liz Towne-Gilbert was the assistant coach at the time and I really liked her."

Sandell excelled at Santa Barbara as she capped off her playing career there by earning American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-America honorable mention, All-West Region first team honors and was the 2005 Big West Conference Player of the Year in her junior year. Yet she realized that there was something more she wanted to accomplish in this sport.

"I realized that I wanted to experience playing in the Pac-10 and wasn't satisfied with just winning the conference title," Sandell said, whose Santa Barbara teams lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament all three years she was there. "I wanted to work and compete for a National Championship and then be able to play on the AVP tour after I graduated. Once I decided to leave, I had to decide where I wanted to go and I had to get the word out that I was looking to go somewhere else. It was a crazy six months of my life."

Those crazy six months led her to her next stop in her tour of life - Seattle.

"It came down to Arizona and Washington at the end. I had to take campus visits as a senior and it was weird," Sandell described. "After being on both sides, during the visits I would ask them to be straight with me instead of putting on the normal recruiting visit show. It would have been easier for me to go to Arizona as it would be close to my mom, but my main reason for transferring was volleyball. Everything I had heard about Jim (McLaughlin) was that he was straight forward and the staff is amazing. When I went on my visit, he talked about how he was going to help me become a better player, what the process would be and why they do things a certain way. I liked hearing this and decided to go the uncomfortable route in coming to a city where I did not know anybody and had not been there until I went on my recruiting visit."

This next move would come at with a price tag for Sandell as well.

"I had to decide whether I was going to forfeit my scholarship for the spring semester and pay for a semester of expenses on my own or stay put," Sandell said. "I decided to use money I had in savings to be in Seattle early. I may have lost money on one side of the transaction, but I was in a better place. One of my friends pointed out that this was my only chance to try for a National Championship. I don't regret it at all even though the transition has been of the most difficult things in my life. I have learned so much about the game, enjoy playing in the Pac-10 and love being in a big school atmosphere with a football team. I had to step out of my comfort zone to do this and it has been difficult, but I don't regret it at all."

McLaughlin is also happy that Sandell, who has made nine starts for the Huskies this season and averages 1.93 kills per game, 0.83 digs per game and 0.98 blocks per game, decided to use her last year of eligibility at Washington.

"She is unbelievable," McLaughlin said. "What impresses me the most about her is that she will do whatever it takes to improve. She is a senior who is beginning to grow as a player and understanding the game. She is making improvements in the game that I haven't seen in many players. She shows up early for practice, works hard, is the last one to leave the gym and watches game film because this is important to her. She understands what is important and I love coaching her."

Sandall's whole journey is like that soon to be college memory of doing push-ups at football game and delivering kills on the volleyball court. No matter where Sandell ends up after graduation, next year, she knows her place is where people are cheering her on.