By JOSHUA NATOLI
Sports Editor
Reasons for starting a new sport vary from person to person, but normally all are along the same lines; it could look fun, a way to stay in shape, or you could just be built for it. Senior outside hitter for the Golden Knights Volleyball team Christina Strezenec began her illustrious career for an entirely different reason. Upon an extensive snooping in her grandmother’s attic at the age of nine, Strezenec came across an old volleyball trophy which belonged to her late aunt, who happened to share the same name. “I can’t tell you why, but holding that trophy meant a lot being that she was gone and I was still living,” says Strezenec. From that moment Strezenec began attending a few volleyball clinics in her native Long Island, New York, and was convinced by the head coach of Hofstra University to play for their junior club team upon being called up from a massive amount of attendees.
Such high praise would continue for the defensive specialist in middle school. As an eighth grader, Strezenec as encouraged by her coach to make the jump to junior varsity, “I was definitely kind of hesitant because that was a big jump to make, and I didn’t feel like I would be as strong as the other girls,” says Strezenec. She became even more hesitant when she showed up to tryouts only to have the varsity coach tell her that middle school athletes jumping to junior varsity was prohibited by the district, so Strezenec would have to try out for varsity instead, “At that point, I was absolutely terrified because these girls were big and I was not,” says Strezenec. “For some odd reason, my coach had a lot of faith in me and gave me a spot on the team that year.” The odd reason turned out to be that Strezenec would be very good. She earned all- conference and all-county honors, three MVP awards, was captain for three years, and gave a speech at the end of the year honoree banquet.
During her high school years Strezenec was being looked at by numerous college programs, some even at the NCAA Division I level. The appeal of attending and playing at a DI program was enticing and led Strezenec to a few visits to meet players, and attend closed practices. “For the most part, it’s cold, demanding, and they own you from the moment you say ‘yes,’ says Strezenec. “After looking, I knew I wouldn’t do well with all of that. Then Saint Rose came into the picture.” Despite hearing a bad review of Saint Rose from a teammate, a year later the school was on Strezenec’s radar while she was searching for DII colleges with solid art programs. “The coaches were quick to contact and meet me at tournaments and showcases in the region,” says Strezenec. “They even went out of their way to arrange time for me to visit the studios and have one-on-one time with art department faculty. At the end of my college searching journey, it just made sense to come to Saint Rose because it was the best fit.”
From there, Strezenec helped the Golden Knights to an overall record of 60-45 during her four years of play. She was also named as a co-captain and contributed to a few runs at the Northeast-10 title. This success is attributed not to any particular skillset, but Streznenc’s mentality towards the game and her teammates. “I think the most important things that I did here was picking people up when they were down, getting everyone pumped for practice or a game, being that someone who was there when people really needed, and anything that fell outside of volleyball,” says Strezenec. “Don’t get me wrong, I was trying my best to get better to become more efficient in every skill that I could.”
Although her Golden Knights career is over, future volleyball endeavors remain options for Strezenec. She has received coaching offers from various beach volleyball programs along Long Island. Coaching the sports she loves while doing some art teaching as a substitute or aid is ideal for Strezenec, but only after she takes a year off to unwind after four straight years of juggling volleyball with being an Art Education major. Strezenec also hopes to save up enough money to attend graduate school for Special Education, something she has found a calling in.
Even after four years of competing, Strezenec’s most memorable moment as a Golden Knights remains the call she received from head coach Brian Goodale asking her to come to The College of Saint Rose. “With some doubt, I said yes,” says Strezenec. “And looking back I believe that moment was what really started a beautiful experience as a Golden Knight that ends with this: ‘Somewhere behind the athlete you’ve become and the hours of practice and the coaches who have pushed you is a little girl who fell in love with the game and never looked back… play for her’ a quote from Mia Hamm.”
