In early May, Eastwood volleyball coach Jeff Beck and his staff pulled Courtney Rolf aside and asked her which Eagles player was going to take control of the team in 2011.

“Since we'd lost six seniors, they told me they're looking for me to step up and take the leadership role,” said Rolf, a 5-foot-11 senior middle hitter. “I said I would work hard and push the other girls. They pulled me aside in the coach's office and told me what they expected of me and what the team could do and what they were looking for.

“It definitely motivated me that the coaches were looking for that and they felt I could bring that to the team, plus more.”

Rolf, a four-year varsity starter, was voted the team's captain by her peers.

“It meant a lot to know the girls could lean on me and I would be there, in the good and bad times, that they trust me to be there,” she said. “I was a captain as a junior, which was really big since we had six seniors on the team. Captain or not, I always wanted to be a leader on the court, the one girls could look for and look up to.”

Rolf, the unanimous Northern Buckeye Conference Player of the Year, is this year's Alan Miller Jewelers All-Press Volleyball Player of the Year. For the second straight year, Beck is the Press Coach of the Year.

Rolf led the Eagles (22-3) to the outright NBC crown after the squad tied for the Suburban Lakes League title the previous two years. Eastwood rose to No. 15 in the state coaches' poll.

Beck, who just completed his third season, said Rolf took the coaches' talk to heart back in May.

“We knew we had volleyball talent,” he said, “but you always have to have somebody who is going to take charge. We discussed, 'is this going to be you?' Ever since that meeting in May, she was dedicated to the offseason. She was in every open gym and every conditioning session. Even if only two eighth-graders showed up, Courtney was still there. That just proved to me she wanted this badly her senior year.

“She really was like an extension of our coaching staff. If there was a rough practice or a great practice, or what time curfew was on a Friday, she always supported us. She was a really good leader.”

Rolf recorded 267 kills this season and had a .302 kill percentage with 35 aces, 97 digs and a school-record 95 total blocks. Former teammate Katie Primeau, who is now a setter at Baldwin-Wallace, was last year's All-Press Player of the Year.

“You can just tell Courtney wants the ball; she's very aggressive,” Beck said. “You like that as a coach. She likes to hit the ball and she likes to attack. Her sophomore year she was a little more timid. She wasn't as fast to the ball so she tipped and rolled the ball more. We really got her to be aggressive. She really developed that her senior year.”

Rolf said her main goal this season was to lead Eastwood to the inaugural NBC championship.

“As a senior, I wanted to win it outright,” she said. “We had good team chemistry and I liked how we came together as a team. That was cool.”

Eastwood's 22 wins was the most since 1992. On Nov. 9, Rolf signed a letter of intent to play volleyball at the University of Findlay next season.

“I really liked the campus, the size,” said Rolf, who will start for the Eagles' basketball team this winter. “It's a smaller school, not very big. The girls were really close and I liked the coach (Wick Colchagoff). Everything just seemed really right.”

Rolf plans to major in education and become a teacher.

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