Posted 9/1/06
Dana Alf is a senior middle hitter for the UW-Platteville Pioneer volleyball team. This Eleva-Strum graduate earned an all-American honorable mention, all-Midwest Region honors as well as all-WIAC honors in the 2005 season. During the last season, she also led UWP with a .334 hitting percentage, the second- highest average in Pioneer history. The Pioneers make their home debut in the UW-Platteville Tournament Friday and Saturday. The six-team tournament begins Friday at 4 p.m. and Saturday at 10 a.m. in Williams Fieldhouse.
Last year, the Pioneers won the conference tournament. How exciting was that and what experiences can that bring to the team this year?
"It was very exciting, especially beating UW-Whitewater to get there. It gave us a lot of hope, because usually with Whitewater we're always saying 'oh, well they’ve been to nationals how many times,' so usually we've always been skeptical getting there but when we did it, it was like we can do it now, so we can do it again, hopefully."
Besides hopefully getting there again, what are your predictions for this season?
"I think that we are going to do very well because a lot of us girls have already had camps together over the summer so we're pretty close already."
Do you have any personal goals for the season?
"Yeah, I actually do. It would be to get that record that I'm only 200 and something kills away from beating." (Dana is 263 kills away from the school's career record of 1,384.)
Why did you choose to come to UW-Platteville?
"It was between here and UW-Stout and Coach Schulman showed interest in me so that kind of tipped the scale."
Handling school, volleyball, and I hear you have an upcoming wedding, how do you think that's going to go? Congratulations by the way!
"Thanks! It's stressful, but for the wedding at least everything is done already, basically all we need is a DJ at this point. We started right away because I knew with school and volleyball I wouldn't have anytime so we started everything right away. For me it's easy to handle both school and volleyball because I don't have a problem with it. Some people can't sit down and do their work because they want to do something with their friends but I've always made sure school comes first."
What comes after volleyball for you? Do you have a job offer? You're in criminal justice right?
"I don't have a job offer yet. I still probably have a semester or maybe a year left, I'm not positive yet. I just really don't want to rush it. Yes, I'm in criminal justice and I want to be a CSI, at least that's what I hope.”
Interview by SID student assistant Heather Schaufenbil