By Gary R. Rasberry
grasberry@dailystandard.com ST. HENRY -- It won't be likely that Lindsay Puthoff will be walking to New Orleans, as Fats Domino once sang, or riding along on the City of New Orleans, as the late Steve Goodman once wrote in the song of the same name made famous by Arlo Guthrie and Willie Nelson.
Spiking down in the Crescent City, though, will be on the itinerary.
The St. Henry graduate will continue her volleyball career down at the University of New Orleans after signing a national letter-of-intent for the Division I NCAA program.
How Puthoff and the Privateers got together is a unique story.
"They started contacting me about a year ago," said Puthoff, who is considering either business or sports management as a major. "At first, I wasn't interested because it's so far away from home. Then I kept looking into it and they kept calling me. It just worked out. They also saw me in club volleyball. "Club helped me out a lot more with college. Coaches are really recruiting through club now. It got me out there (Puthoff participated in five Junior Olympic tournaments with club teams)."
Once Puthoff went down to Louisiana and toured the campus, she was hooked.
"I liked the whole atmosphere of being in the big city," said Puthoff. "It's only a half-mile or mile from the city. I liked everything about it. I liked the coaches and my teammates."
Puthoff put up stellar numbers her senior season with St. Henry, being among the Grand Lake area leaders in kills (3.42 kpg.) and blocks (1.87 bpg.) while helping the Redskins to the state Division IV title.
Postseason honors abounded for the Redskins' middle hitter, earning first-team honors in the MAC, District 8 and the state while also being named the Redskins' Gatorade Player of the Year.
The Privateers are coming off a solid 20-11 season while going 8-7 in the Sun Belt Conference.
"They are pretty young. They only had two seniors last year," said Puthoff. "They only have 2-3 (seniors) this year, maybe. They seem a lot like me. Real easy to get along with."
Puthoff has a chance to make an impact, but will be moving from the middle hitter spot that she dominated with the Redskins.
"They think I can play right away," said Puthoff. "I'm playing right side because they have two returning middle hitters." |
