"Requiem for All Saints and All Souls" (Houma)
November 2, 2010
Karl Frazier
November 4, 2010
The Southland Conference Volleyball Player of the Week award.
It’s an award that an average player will likely never win and a good player would be fortunate to win just once.
Nicholls State junior libero Danielle Daigle has now won it five times – and counting – in what has become a magical season and career for the former Assumption High School standout.
“I got one my freshman year and one my sophomore year,” Daigle said. “I definitely wasn’t expecting three this year, but it’s a great achievement and I’m very excited about it, so hopefully I can keep it up.”
Daigle is the Colonels’ libero. For one not familiar with volleyball terminology, that means her primary job is to dig opposing teams’ kill attempts before they hit the floor, thus starting a transition from defense to offense for the team.
So far this season, Daigle has more than 500 digs, a number that ranks among the best in the country.
In college’s rally-point scoring system where one team scores in every point played, that makes Daigle’s skill set a “perfect fit” for Nicholls first-year coach TeAna Tramel’s new defense-first system.
“She’s one of the top liberos not just in the conference, but in the nation,” Tramel said. “She puts herself in a great position to make the digs, not only the easy ones, but the hard ones, as well. She’s able to run down balls, and she just makes plays. She just doesn’t let any balls next to her hit the floor. That’s just the way she plays.”
One of the players who benefits the most from Daigle’s play is junior Rachel Yezak, who is one of the Colonels’ primary offensive players.
Yezak said having a libero as talented as Daigle makes the game easier for everyone, because a smooth transition to offense gives the Colonels’ hitters chances to make plays.
“She makes a huge difference out there,” Yezak said. “Whenever the balls go to her, we all have complete confidence, which helps the team, because we can all feel comfortable playing our positions.”
And with a full season still under her belt, Tramel marvels at how good Daigle might be during her senior season with a slightly polished game.
“We’re going to work on her serve/receive game a little bit,” Tramel said. “We’ve also been able to make a few adjustments in the way that she does a few things defensively.”
But for a player as decorated as Daigle, she’s not a vocal leader, according to Yezak and Tramel.
There are no rants or screaming sessions to tongue-bash her teammates when they’re out of style.
That’s just not Daigle’s style, who prefers a more quiet approach to leadership.
“Dani is one of our silent leaders,” Tramel said. “She doesn’t talk a lot, but she comes out and she takes care of business on the court. She’s definitely a go-getter. She leads by example.”
But Yezak warned that Daigle’s quiet demeanor does become more forceful when it’s what’s best for the team.
“She is quiet until we start not blocking so well, then she gets onto us,” Yezak said with a laugh. “She holds everyone accountable. She’s quiet, but she has her moments when she needs to tell everyone what to do to make the team better.”
Daigle landed at Nicholls with volleyball roots deeply entrenched into her DNA.
The standout’s mother, Sandy, played volleyball at LSU, thus putting a ball and net into Danielle’s vision from an early age.
“I started playing at 6-years-old,” she said. “From my mom playing in college, that made me a part of volleyball ever since.”
Was the All-Conference libero a natural from day one? Not quite.
“I don’t think anyone’s good at anything at first,” she joked.
Somewhere along the line, she caught on, as she landed at Nicholls State following a very decorated career at Assumption, where she was a three-time District MVP and three-time First-Team All-State selection.
But volleyball isn’t the only rabbit in Daigle’s hat, as she has also spent the past two seasons on the track and field team throwing the javelin.
For now, though, track and field is in the peripheral and volleyball is front and center with the season drawing to its apex.
Nicholls is currently well on its way to scoring a solid seed in the conference tournament, thanks in part to Daigle’s fine play.
And the Colonels want not just to make it, but to win once they get there.
“Every year, our goal is to make it to the conference tournament,” Daigle said. “But this year, that goal has shifted a little and we want to actually win there and get to the next level to further what we’ve already done, and we’ve definitely got the potential to do it.”
The conference tournament is in mid-November, and the Nicholls community will wait to see if Daigle can dig her team to the conference title and possibly a few more Player of the Week awards along the way.
How does Danielle Daigle pass the time: “I like to catch up on sleep and hang out with my friends.” Her best sporting achievement so far has been getting five Southland Conference Player of the Week awards.
