Berkshire junior Madison Chapman helped lead the Badgers to a Chagrin Valley Conference Valley Division championship and a district title during the fall sports season.
She closed out the year by recording another accomplishment when she recently committed to continue her education and volleyball career at Edinboro University in Pennsylvania.
“I am very excited to have made my college decision this year,” Chapman said. “My goal has always been to commit my junior year. I felt that it would eliminate as much stress as possible so that I can enjoy senior year.”
Edinboro head coach Missy Soboleski began recruiting Chapman during the summer after her sophomore season.
Chapman attended a camp that summer and felt comfortable with the coaching staff and the current Edinboro players. She also fell in love with the campus.
“My decision to choose Edinboro was an easy one after I experienced the campus and met the team,” she said. “The coaching staff and girls on the current roster, as well as future commits, all helped confirm that I would be a good fit. The small, beautiful campus was amazing and it made me feel like home. I will be studying Sports Performance and once I found that a couple of the girls on the team have the same major, I knew that I would have a good support system. Coach Soboleski has been great. She is easy to talk to and I feel like we are on the same page with both my athletic and academic future.”
Edinboro projects Chapman as an outside hitter.
“Of course, I still need to continue working hard to earn and keep the position, but this is our plan,” Chapman said. “When I was playing with the team during the summer I felt like I was already part of the team. The girls were very accepting of me and were willing to guide me to learn their plays. The pace was pretty fast, but it was amazing and I felt like I was right with them quickly.”
Chapman is confident she’ll fit in at Edinboro.
“I met the coaching staff as well as the entire 2017 roster,” she said. “They all had a lot of energy, which is very much like me. I love when teams have energy because it helps the team to jell together. They were all very nice and it was great to talk with them to be able to get a good feel for fitting in. One thing that really confirmed that I wanted to commit to Edinboro was watching the team play in the (Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) Final Four. Although they lost to the team that won the championship, I loved watching the way the girls were coached and how they played together.”
With her college decision behind her, Chapman is eager to work hard this offseason to prepare for her senior year.
“I have two goals for my senior year: one, having fun repeating a CVC championship, hopefully with my sister by my side, and two, academics. I want to be as prepared as possible for college–academically and athletically–so this will be a good time for me to learn time management as well as additional ways to excel academically.”
As a junior, Chapman recorded 202 kills, 46 service aces, 21 blocks, and a team-high 221 digs in 84 sets played for the Badgers, who finished 23-3.
