SOFTBALL
SWITCH HITTER
Maria Van Abel was set to play volleyball until a chance encounter brought her to Wisconsin and back to softball
T BY MIKE LUCAS • UWBADGERS.COM
he banquet speaker got Maria Van Abel's immediate at- tention. "The presentation was well put together,'' she said. So much so that Van Abel allowed her mind to wan- der during the speech.
"How cool would it be to play softball for the Badgers?'' she posed rhetorically.
But surely that was out of the question; a pipe dream. Van Abel was on her way to UW-Stevens Point to play volleyball. "I was more interested in that (sport) at the time,'' she said.
There was another factor in her decision-making process which elimi- nated Wisconsin. "With the old coaching staff there,'' she said, "I just decided to go elsewhere.''
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