ASHLAND – For 11 days in July, thousands of miles from the Buckeye State, Ashland University volleyball player Alli Cudworth had the opportunity to play the game she loves surrounded by dozens of top American and international players.
Cudworth, 20, took part in the 12th Annual Global Challenge Tournament in Pula, Croatia. The tournament ran July 10-14 but Cudworth and her teammates also visited Hungary, Slovenia and Italy during the trip.
“It was the coolest thing I’ve ever gotten to do. It was so beautiful over there,” Cudworth said of her first trip overseas.
The 5-foot, 11-inch outside hitter was invited to play in the tournament through Bring It Productions, a program that organizes the tournament by connecting international teams, giving them the opportunity to play against each other. The U-22 tournament included teams from the U.S., China, Russia, Croatia, England, Italy, Slovenia and Hungary.
BIP Southeast, the team Cudworth played with, was made up of top Division II volleyball players from across the county. BIP SE finished 8th out of 13 teams in the four-day tournament, a finish Cudworth felt good about given the circumstances.
Cudworth said the international game was played with a different ball and some different rules, which took some time to get used to, but time was not something the team had in abundance. The team only had a few practices and a few warm-up games together before taking part in the tournament.
“It’s tough because the girls are from all over the country. There’s girls from Alaska, Florida, Texas, California, Ohio, all over,” Cudworth said. “When we all have different coaches that we’ve had that have taught us different things that we’ve been accustomed to for three or four years, it’s hard to adjust to now a new coach and playing with new girls.”
Cudworth, who is a history major, said getting the chance to see historical sites while playing the sport she loves made it an amazing experience. Her favorite site was the Pula Arena, a 2,000-year-old Roman amphitheatre in Croatia that is the best-preserved example of Roman architecture. “It was a win-win situation no matter what,” Cudworth said of the trip.
The experience overseas taught Cudworth a lot that will help her in the coming season.
“I am a leader on the (AU) team most of the time, so I had a different leadership role on this team and I had to adjust to different players,” Cudworth said. “I’m used to certain players on my team doing things that make up for my mistakes, and when I’m not with those same players, it’s hard to adjust and realize, ‘Oh, I don’t have someone to back me up on that one. I have to do it myself now.’”
“We got to have a really good experience to see if this (playing volleyball overseas) is something we want to do in the future,” Cudworth said. She said she is interested in possibly pursuing her master’s degree while playing volleyball in Britain.
“It went quick, but I felt like I was gone forever and it’s nice to be home now,” Cudworth said.
Now that she’s home, Cudworth had to jump right back into things at AU. Last week, Cudworth helped at volleyball camps AU hosted. In just over two weeks, on Aug. 12, the Eagle volleyball team will start practicing for the upcoming season, a season that the standout senior has high hopes for.
“We want to make it as far as we can, and I think this year will be really good for that,” Cudworth said. “We have some really good talent coming in.“
Among that new talent is Cudworth’s sister, Sophi, who is joining her at AU this year.
“I like having her here,” Alli said of her sibling. “I think if she went somewhere else it would be weird.
“It’s like another support system. I can help her, she can help me. So I’m pretty excited to have her here.”
Cudworth’s list of accomplishments in her first three years at AU place her in the upper echelon of all-time Eagle greats.
In her freshman season, Cudworth earned GLIAC Freshman of the Year honors, recording a team-high 461 kills on 1,171 attempts. She ranked second in the GLIAC in kills and third in kills per set. She led the Eagles in points scored and was named GLIAC Player of the Week three times. She was chosen for the Midwest All-Regional Team. In her sophomore year, Cudworth lead the team with 299 kills (fifth best in the GLIAC), was named GLIAC Player of the Week once and earned All-Academic Excellence Status in the GLIAC. Last season, she was named to the All-GLIAC first team for the third time and was named GLIAC Player of the Week three times. She also earned third-team CoSIDA Academic All-America and second team AVCA All-America honors.
AU volleyball coach Cass Dixon is excited to see what Cudworth can do in her senior season.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever coached anyone like Alli before. She’s very talented athletically but she’s also a very intelligent person and that carries over into her play. That transfers over onto the court,” Dixon said. “She’s fiercely competitive, which sometimes can be misinterpreted but she really wants nothing more than for the team to be successful.”
Coach Dixon, entering her sixth year on the bench at AU, believes the experience overseas will add another dimension to Cudworth’s game.
“It’s been a joy to coach her,” Dixon said. “We’re really looking forward to having her back on the team for her senior year and the leadership that she can bring and the experience that she can bring, especially now having been overseas for a little bit.”
The Eagle volleyball season opens Sept. 1 in the Angelina Miele Memorial Tournament in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. Besides Cudworth, top returners include Casey Clark, a senior outside hitter who was second-team All-GLIAC in 2015, and junior defensive specialists Melanie Aguayo and Jacqueline Tanguay.
“My hope for this season is that every day we get better. And we go out there and it’s one step closer,” Dixon said of her goals for the 2016 season. “Ultimately, everyone would like to win a national championship and that’s the main goal, but if we don’t take care of the little things on a day-to-day basis, we’re never going to get there. So making sure that we can maintain that consistency of getting better every day and learning from our experiences, whether good or bad.”
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