Throughout the 2009-2010 academic year, the Northeast-10 and its member institutions will be featuring student-athletes across the conference in the brand new ‘Student-Athlete Spotlight’ section on the Northeast-10 website. Our fifth installment, submitted by the David Alexander, Sports Information Director at the College of Saint Rose, features women's volleyball player Mary German.


By David Alexander, Saint Rose

Imagine a baseball player being asked to be the designated fielder as opposed to the designated hitter. Furthermore, envision a basketball player being told that he or she was allowed to defend an opponent and block shots, but was not allowed to dribble, shoot or even worse, dunk.

In essence, that person was expected to be the consummate team player and tackle those responsibilities that most of us believe are synonymous with winning. The more glorified and attention getting aspects, and in many ways more enjoyable components, would be left to others. Few would welcome such a role, and fewer still would thrive in it.

However, senior libero Mary German of The College of Saint Rose women’s volleyball team has done just that with aplomb throughout her stellar four years donning a Golden Knights uniform. You know that uniform although you may not realize it, for it’s the jersey that is a different color than those of her teammates.

“The libero position is definitely difficult to define. It basically provides a mechanism for a player to stay in the back row all the time without having to sub out. The others have to play three rotations in the back and then three more in the front in order to remain in the game,” said German.

Hence, the different color jersey allows the officials to recognize the player who is not required to follow the same rotation pattern as the rest of her teammates.

German, who hails from Canandaigua, NY about 30 miles southeast of Rochester, has found a home both near the end line and at Saint Rose during her time on the urban Albany campus. A team captain, she is the lone player in school annals to amass 2,000 digs (2,071). She was also a Northeast-10 Conference All-League pick following her sophomore season when she set a school record with 5.98 digs per-game. She furthermore was chosen to the NE-10 Commissioner’s Honor Roll last spring in recognition of academic excellence.

As a freshman, she appeared in all of the team’s 32 matches and averaged 5.42 digs while helping the Golden Knights put together an historic season. German played in all 32 matches in 2006 for Saint Rose, which wound up 26-6 overall and went 14-0 in NE-10 play en route to the regular-season league title.

“I remember how nervous I was going into some big matches back then, but now I like to consider myself a leader. I really want to be a leader in the back because you play with so many different teammates. Thus, I have taken it upon myself to take charge by calling out the hitters and encouraging my teammates to get to every ball,” said German.

It was those very same qualities that became apparent to Saint Rose head coach Brian Goodale when he first saw German play.

“Mary was a setter coming out of high school who we recruited as a libero. We saw in her an instinctive ability to lead, which we wanted for our defense,” said Goodale, who is in his 11th year at the helm of the Golden Knights. “She has simply proven herself to be one of the best defenders in school history and one of the top liberos in the NE-10.”

Regardless of such praise and her defensive prowess, the 5-4 communications major admits that she does miss being up front on occasion. German after all was a first-team All-State setter at Canandaigua Academy, which she helped lead to the 2005 state championships as a senior.

“I do miss playing up front somewhat although just being on the court and making an impact is great. I think any player would say that. Volleyball is such an interesting sport because each position is so different,” said German. “I am sure that every short player in the game would love the opportunity to switch positions and come up with at least one block. I did have a block once although it didn’t exactly go straight through the floor, but it was a block nonetheless.”

As her senior season is winding down and the Golden Knights take aim at a final push towards a potential NE-10 postseason berth, German said she realizes the end of the 2009 campaign is going to be bittersweet. Her commitments do take her beyond volleyball and her academic pursuits. German serves as secretary of Upsilon Iota, the communications honor society at Saint Rose, and also helps tutor Albany area teenagers who are studying for their GED. However, the absence of volleyball will certainly leave a void.

“The end of the year usually provides a sense of relief because it affords you a chance to catch your breath, but this is going to be different because I know there will not be a next season for me. I have made so many friends. It’s going to be hard to leave my teammates,” said German.

Especially those rotating to the back row looking for her leadership and guidance.