AMBITIOUS: Coach Dana Fulwider takes on the Poly Volleyball team in hopes to take home league championships title.
By Samantha Flores, Staff Writer
This school year brought many changes to Poly’s campus: from a new principle to new faces all around. Poly also welcomes Dana Fulwider, the new head of poly volleyball and varsity coach, onto campus as she looks to grow the program in hopes of winning League Championships and take the girl’s volleyball team to the top.
Before arriving at Poly, Coach Fulwider found herself as the top recruit of her year, graduating from Eisenhower High School, ultimately deciding on the University of Virginia in hopes of, what she describes, “building something and being part of something new and positive.”After a rather disappointing two years at the University of Virginia, she wrote letters to the top 20 schools in the U.S. where she felt she could play to her full potential. This led her to attend Long Beach State University.
Coach Fulwider’s experience at Long Beach State “shaped [her] even more as a person, as well as an athlete,” she describes. In this transformative era, her team rose to number one in the nation and trained under Olympic team player, Debbie Green. It was here she realized that if she “wanted to be excellent here (volleyball), [she] had to be excellent in school” as well as in her relationships with other people.
Her experience with Long Beach State set her up for her time playing professional volleyball with SSK Feldkirch, an Austrian team. In her four years in Austria, Fulwider led her team to the finals in the Austrian Cup, as well as the second round of the European Cup. From there she returned to California and began teaching in 2005 at Rancho Verde High School.
Here at Poly, Fulwider describes her primary goal as “getting the girls to believe in themselves.” She believes the girls have the talent and skill needed to win League Championships; the only thing missing is the mentality and self-confidence. “I’m their biggest cheerleader. I believe in each and every one of those girls,” Fulwider explains.
With this year’s hashtag being #thismeansmore, Fulwider hopes to help her players realize that aside from being number one on the court, they also have to strive to be number one in the community and classroom.
Coach Dana Fulwider’s college and professional experience has more than prepared her for Poly’s own courts. Her philosophy and vision will hopefully carry Poly’s Volleyball team far, not only this year but for years to come. With their eye on League Championships, our volleyball team needs all the support they can get. From the Poly community, welcome Coach Dana Fulwider!