Strange indeed are the stirrings of fate. Christopher Newport volleyball player Jessie Heavenrich recalls being emotional and perhaps a bit angry when, on the eve of her senior year at Coast Union High School in California, she was asked by her parents to pull up stakes and move 2,500 miles to a new town (Midlothian), a new school (James River) and a new culture.
Today, four years later, she describes the move as one of the best things ever to happen to her.
"I'll be honest: At first it was hard. Really hard," Heavenrich said. "For a long time, I was very negative about it. I begged my parents to let me stay and graduate with my friends."
And now?
"Oh, wow. It's been such a great experience. I wouldn't change anything. I mean it: I wouldn't change a thing."
Nor would CNU.
Heavenrich, a 5-foot-8 senior setter, has steered the Captains to the elite eight of the NCAA Division III tournament three consecutive years. En route, she has piled up 3,657 assists and 943 digs. The past two USA South player of the year trophies are engraved with her name.
Heavenrich, a two-time second-team All-American, saluted her parents, Sandy and Kate, for knowing best on two levels.
The first: "California is so very competitive when it comes to (high school) volleyball and let's face it — I'm not exactly the tallest person out there. They felt like it might be better for me to play on the East Coast."
The second: Her parents "came to Richmond about a year before the move to look at schools. They fell in love with James River and they fell in love with (former Rapids coach Micah White). They said, 'We promise. You're going to like this guy. He's good.' "
She did. And still does. White "is such a great coach," Heavenrich said. "I can't even begin to put into words how much he helped me."
Another change, less dramatic but no less significant, awaited at CNU. Before Heavenrich played her first match as a freshman, Captains coach Lindsay Birch moved her from outside hitter, the position at which she earned All-Metro and all-Central Region distinction at James River, to setter. Heavenrich offered no resistance.
"You know what? I didn't care. I just wanted to play," she said. "I just wanted to do something to help the team. Wherever you want to put me, I'm happy — as long as I'm on the floor."
She said she learned quickly that the sensation of setting up a teammate for a dent-the-floorboards kill "is absolutely the best feeling."
Better than the kill itself?
"Sure, the kill gets the attention, but I don't necessarily want a lot of attention," she said. "I just want to be out there. I just want to be a part of it all."
She was immediately comfortable at CNU.
"Good volleyball team, close to the water and the beach — I said, 'Hey . . . this is sort of like California.' "
At no time, she said, has she wondered how she might have fared at a more glamorous, more ambitious Division I program.
"I never think about it," she said. "What I think — what I know — is that I'm blessed to be here. I've got an amazing coach and amazing teammates. Why would I think about changing?"
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