John L. Braese
VALE – Vale senior Elise Seals had life figured out after graduation. A current state tennis champion, Seals had already committed to play collegiate tennis with Treasure Valley Community College next season.
Then, the call came.
“I received a call from the Treasure Valley tennis coach stating TVCC was not having a tennis team next season,” Seals explained.
In fact, the NWAC (Northwest Athletic Conference), the conference in which the Chukars compete, had made the decision to drop tennis as a conference sport effective next season. This season, only two NWAC schools placed tennis teams on the court.
With about one month before her graduation, Seals started to make plans. First was to make some phone calls. Second came the assistance of Vale coach Shannon Steele. Third was to make a quick weekend trip with her grandmother, a jaunt that would produce a new future, a new team and a new variation of a game Seals has loved.
“Corban has a beautiful campus and the beach volleyball team was super friendly,” said Seals. “The University also aligns with my beliefs and values and it just seemed like a great fit.”
After talking it over with family and the Vale coaches, Seals made the decision to accept the offer to play beach volleyball for the Warriors.
The soon-to-be Vale grad joins a successful program that includes a second place showing at the national championship. In the past four years, the Warriors have returned home with hardware from the national tournament and consistently has team members named as All-Americans. Beach volleyball, unlike traditional indoor volleyball, relies on speed rather than height, a perfect fit for Seals.
“Elise is an amazing player and easy to coach,” said Steele. “She has the skill set to play at Corban and the culture on their team mirrors what we do in Vale. Elise will be greatly missed.”
When not in the sand, Seals will be pursuing a degree in forensic psychology.
“I am able to pursue this offer because of my coaches, parents and family and my teammates at Vale,” Seals said.
