Her time to shine

Denise Van de Mortel is the quarterback of the Gonzaga University volleyball team.

Van de Mortel, the starting setter for the past three years, led the Bulldogs in 2010 with 8.98 assists, 2.14 digs per set, and a team-leading 19 service aces.  Van de Mortel has recorded 3,149 assists in her time at Gonzaga, which places her sixth in the Gonzaga career record book.

Van de Mortel played volleyball at Murrieta Valley High School in California. Part of the reason she decided on Gonzaga was its location and conference. 

 "I wanted to get out of California, believe it or not. I wanted somewhere with four seasons, so that was my initial decision. I wanted to play in a conference that still played California schools; and I wanted to come in and start right away because a lot of teams have their setters come in and they won't actually play until the last two years," she said.  "So I wanted somewhere where I could start all four years and help turn the program around."

Van de Mortel believes that the more she was able to play at a high level of competition, the more she is able to slow down the game and run the Gonzaga offense to the best of her ability. 

"I think the main thing is being comfortable playing all the time so I can shift my thinking to more complicated stuff in being able to run the offense instead of taking in everything about the game. I am used to all that and just become more calm on the court so that I can focus on running our system," Van de Mortel said.

Van de Mortel attended open tryouts for the U.S. Women's National A2 Program and said it made her more critical of her own game and realize parts of her game that could be strengthened.

"It helped me because I played with a lot of good players; I just got to see things and experience a wider spectrum of the game," she said.  "It made me play my best all the time and made me play better and think of all of the things that I need to improve on."

Van de Mortel also spent the month of June playing in China, which gave her a new perspective of being a backup.

"It was good because I got to see from what other players see and see the other side of it.  By the end of the trip I actually started, so it was working my way up, just doing what I had to do to make a difference," she said.

"It was also really cool playing with those players from schools all over and they are all in the Top 25.  It is cool to watch them and be like ‘Yeah, I played with those girls this summer.' "

The Zags have had an impressive start to the 2011 season going 3-1 at the UniWyo Wyoming Invite.  The Bulldogs won four games last season.  At the UniWyo Wyoming Invite the Bulldogs defeated South Dakota, DePaul and Oregon State. This season, Van de Mortel has continued her momentum from last season, racking up 136 assists and 31 digs in the first four games.

The Bulldogs' only loss was to the host team, Wyoming, which also finished with a 3-1 record, but was given the tournament title due to its victory over the Zags.  Van de Mortel was named to the All-Tournament Team along with fellow senior Laura Day.

"I know that we are capable of making the tournament; I know that we are capable of winning conference if we play like we did this past weekend.  We have a really good dynamic, and as long as we are in our system we can beat anybody," she said.

Van de Mortel is grateful for the people that have surrounded her at Gonzaga.

"I think just having the support of the coaching staff and having the drive to turn the program around and make it better.  I just focused on giving whatever I could to the program, hoping it would be returned by everyone else and it was.  Working harder for the team to push them even further to make the team better."   

Van de Mortel has recently begun writing blogs to allow fans to get an inside look at the Gonzaga volleyball team. The blog can be viewed on GoZags.com.