U-Hi Grad Well-Traveled In Burgeoning Volleyball Career
Angel Whalen is no stranger to spur-of-the-moment decisions.
Which explains how she came to be a volleyball All-American this fall at a Texas junior college 1,500 miles away from home. And how on Monday she enrolled to play at the University of Wyoming, a Western Athletic Conference Division I school.
The 1996 University High School graduate has been willing to pack her bags and travel on a moment’s notice to further her volleyball career.
Whalen had flown, sight unseen, to Galveston, Texas, at the behest of then-coach Diane Wilson.
While on a visit home, she took to the air again when coaches asked her to come to Wyoming.
“I was talking to the coaches this morning,” Whalen said last Friday. “I had a plane ticket to go back to Galveston, but they want you as soon as possible for spring ball. Hurrying is not new territory for me.”
A case of chicken pox set in motion Whalen’s two-year whirlwind volleyball odyssey.
The three-time honorable mention all-Greater Spokane League setter at Central Valley and University high schools originally had given up a dream of playing Division I volleyball and planned to enroll at Whitworth College.
The summer following high school graduation she was to attend a national tournament in California, where Wilson, in need of a setter, arranged a meeting.
“Angel was pretty much overlooked,” said current Galveston coach Jennifer Pyle. “Diane found her name on an unsigned list. It was a great present for me the next year.”
Chicken pox kept Whalen home from the California tournament, so Wilson encouraged her to fly to Galveston instead.
“It was kind of crazy. She told me to come on down to this resort island on the Gulf of Mexico,” Whalen recalled. “I brought all my stuff with me and if I liked it I’d stay. If not I’d fly home.”
Whalen fell in love with the city on the gulf 50 miles east of Houston. Galveston College reciprocated.
She played her entire freshman season and recorded 940 assists for the 40-19 national qualifying Whitecaps, despite having broken her wrist nine months earlier. The wrist injury required surgery and five months in a cast.
“The scathoid bone had deteriorated and I had to have bone grafts from my hip,” she said. “From Dec. 12 to May 5 I didn’t touch a ball.”
Fully healed this year, Whalen was fourth nationally in assists among junior college players and set a school record with 1,459, an average of 12.24 per game.
“She basically turned bad passes into an offense and put hitters in the best position possible,” said Pyle. “That’s what set her apart.”
She was also named team captain both seasons and was on the school’s academic President’s List.
Despite the fact her 45-6 team did not make a repeat trip to the National Junior College Athletic Association tournament, Whalen was one of 12 players named All-America.
“Actually I was kind of stunned,” said Whalen “It’s unprecedented because if you don’t go to nationals it’s hard to get on the team.”
At 5-foot-7-1/2, Whalen is short for a Division I setter. But Pyle, who assisted for three years at Texas A&M, insists that she can play at that level. The position, she said, requires more all-around skills which Whalen possesses.
“It will take her an adjustment period,” said Pyle. “It’s a much faster game and a lot higher above the net. But for us, she blocked better than some of our hitters.”
Whalen, who improved under a national team setter’s coach, considers the position more cerebral, anyway.
“I think my strength is leadership,” she said. “Setters are a quarterback on the court. That’s what the girls look forward to. If you don’t have leadership you don’t have anything.”
It was enough to earn Whalen national recognition and catch the eye of Wyoming, where Whalen quickly decided to cast her lot.
“I’m looking forward to playing Division I,” she said. “That’s always been my dream.”
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