Completed Event: Women's Volleyball versus Cornell on October 31, 2025 , Win , 3, to, 2
Final
Women's Volleyball
vs Cornell
3
2
Spotlight on Nadine Parris
9/30/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Spotlight on
Women's Volleyball
Middle blocker Nadine Parris of the women's volleyball team is not your typical, conventional student-athlete. Not only did Parris travel to Hanover from a state not known for volleyball, she took a year off to concentrate on her academics and she has been a dual-sport athlete for the Big Green.
Parris hails from Plymouth, Minnesota, a town of 70,000 in an area more identified with hockey.
“I happened to see Nadine play at a national tournament in Minnesota,” said head coach Ann Marie Larese. “After seeing her play I knew she was what we were looking for.”
“Being in New Hampshire is not much more of a transition from where I live,” Parris laughed. “At least I'm used to the snow.”
She goes on to explain that the decision to come to Dartmouth wasn't a hard one.
“I came because of the academics. I knew that graduating from an Ivy school would put me ahead and because of that I knew how important my grades were.”
With that emphasis, Parris took a year off between her sophomore and junior seasons to go home and concentrate on just academics before coming back to play two more years of volleyball.
“I'm not going to lie. It was difficult not being here that year, and I feel I missed out on a lot,” Parris said. “I came back determined to be at the level I was when I went home. I clicked well with everyone on the team and I had a good idea what I was coming back to. I had kept in touch with everyone and I followed the results so I didn't feel like I had to start over.”
Luckily for the Big Green, Parris didn't stumble once as she came in for the 2005 season and played in all 89 games, averaging 2.16 kills per game while racking up 68 total blocks.
“I know she's very committed to her athletics,” Larese said. “Taking time away from school allowed her to reset her priorities.”
Parris is currently in the Dartmouth record books sitting in third place for career blocks with 205. She is just 75 out of the top spot held by Danra Kazenski '99.
“That's been a goal of mine since I got to Dartmouth, to see my name in the record books,” Parris said. “I do pay attention to that stuff and I've seen my name creep further and further up the list. I am also looking to improve my skills and that's a tangible way to see the improvement.”
“Nadine has always been a good player but she's become much more skilled,” Larese said. “She still has so much potential and I expect her to become a better and smarter player in this, her last year.”
Along with her volleyball skills Parris was also a member of the Dartmouth track and field team competing in sprints and jumps.
“I've always loved both volleyball and track,” Parris explained. “I knew I wanted to give both sports a try when I came to Dartmouth. I enjoyed the time I was able to compete in both and I've missed being on the track team. It wasn't difficult in terms of training, but it was just hard balancing life with two sports on top of everything else.
“There are so many transferable skills,” Parris said. “I really feel like working with one sport helped keep me in shape for the other.”
“Participating in two sports really helped Nadine get better physically,” Larese said. “Running track while playing volleyball made her a more complete athlete.”
Parris realizes that she might have taken a different route to her college athletic experience but she also knows she wouldn't trade a minute of her unconventional journey. (Heather Croze)
Nadine Parris' recruiting trip to Dartmouth was made possible by the generosity of Otho E. Kerr III '79 and John D. Jenkins P'05 through the Athletic Sponsor Program.
Women's Volleyball
Middle blocker Nadine Parris of the women's volleyball team is not your typical, conventional student-athlete. Not only did Parris travel to Hanover from a state not known for volleyball, she took a year off to concentrate on her academics and she has been a dual-sport athlete for the Big Green.
Parris hails from Plymouth, Minnesota, a town of 70,000 in an area more identified with hockey.
“I happened to see Nadine play at a national tournament in Minnesota,” said head coach Ann Marie Larese. “After seeing her play I knew she was what we were looking for.”
“Being in New Hampshire is not much more of a transition from where I live,” Parris laughed. “At least I'm used to the snow.”
She goes on to explain that the decision to come to Dartmouth wasn't a hard one.
“I came because of the academics. I knew that graduating from an Ivy school would put me ahead and because of that I knew how important my grades were.”
With that emphasis, Parris took a year off between her sophomore and junior seasons to go home and concentrate on just academics before coming back to play two more years of volleyball.
“I'm not going to lie. It was difficult not being here that year, and I feel I missed out on a lot,” Parris said. “I came back determined to be at the level I was when I went home. I clicked well with everyone on the team and I had a good idea what I was coming back to. I had kept in touch with everyone and I followed the results so I didn't feel like I had to start over.”
Luckily for the Big Green, Parris didn't stumble once as she came in for the 2005 season and played in all 89 games, averaging 2.16 kills per game while racking up 68 total blocks.
“I know she's very committed to her athletics,” Larese said. “Taking time away from school allowed her to reset her priorities.”
Parris is currently in the Dartmouth record books sitting in third place for career blocks with 205. She is just 75 out of the top spot held by Danra Kazenski '99.
“That's been a goal of mine since I got to Dartmouth, to see my name in the record books,” Parris said. “I do pay attention to that stuff and I've seen my name creep further and further up the list. I am also looking to improve my skills and that's a tangible way to see the improvement.”
“Nadine has always been a good player but she's become much more skilled,” Larese said. “She still has so much potential and I expect her to become a better and smarter player in this, her last year.”
Along with her volleyball skills Parris was also a member of the Dartmouth track and field team competing in sprints and jumps.
“I've always loved both volleyball and track,” Parris explained. “I knew I wanted to give both sports a try when I came to Dartmouth. I enjoyed the time I was able to compete in both and I've missed being on the track team. It wasn't difficult in terms of training, but it was just hard balancing life with two sports on top of everything else.
“There are so many transferable skills,” Parris said. “I really feel like working with one sport helped keep me in shape for the other.”
“Participating in two sports really helped Nadine get better physically,” Larese said. “Running track while playing volleyball made her a more complete athlete.”
Parris realizes that she might have taken a different route to her college athletic experience but she also knows she wouldn't trade a minute of her unconventional journey. (Heather Croze)
Nadine Parris' recruiting trip to Dartmouth was made possible by the generosity of Otho E. Kerr III '79 and John D. Jenkins P'05 through the Athletic Sponsor Program.
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