Colonial Forge graduate on the go with volleyball

The Colonial Athletic Association, a Division I college league based in Richmond, expanded a few years ago. The CAA, with long-time ties to Virginia schools, grew to include such schools as Hofstra on Long Island and Northeastern in Boston.

The move was made with an eye on basketball, and the reputation of the CAA in hoops has increased since the expansion. But the addition of new schools such as Hofstra and Northeastern has trickled down to women's volleyball, much to the delight of Colonial Forge graduate Emily Mohrman.

Mohrman is a freshman middle blocker this season for North Carolina-Wilmington, and already during the fall season the Seahawks have played on the road at Hofstra and Northeastern. That road trip allowed the Stafford native to visit New York City and Boston for the first time.

“It was really exciting,” said Mohrman, 18, who helped lead Colonial Forge to the state semifinals during her junior year of high school. “We visited Times Square and Canal Street in New York.”

UNC-Wilmington flew to Long Island, via Charlotte, then took a bus to Boston after losing 3-0 at Hofstra on Oct. 17. The team arrived late at night in Boston. While in Beantown the team enjoyed an Italian meal with the relatives of freshman teammate Marissa Marzilli of Maryland.

Mohrman, a second-team all-region player and academic standout at Colonial Forge, is looking forward to another CAA road trip this season: Nov. 14 at George Mason University in Fairfax.

She expects her parents, Frederick and Toni Mohrman, to be in attendance, along with older sister Kolby and her family that lives in Stafford. Kolby was a cheerleader at Brooke Point High School. Some of Emily's former high school teammates also plan to attend the Mason match.

Emily Mohrman had scholarship offers from UNC-Wilmington and Northern
Kentucky after she attended a camp at the North Carolina school the summer before her senior year of high school. Mohrman said she heard about the camp when her mother saw something on a website that noted UNC-Wilmington was looking for an outside hitter.

The school is just minutes from the Atlantic Ocean but Mohrman has been to the beach just three times since school began.
“The campus is very pretty. Everyone down here is very nice,” Mohrman
said.

She played in eight of the first 23 matches for the Seahawks, who were 6-17 overall, 0-9 in the CAA and 0-6 on the road in game through Oct. 26.

“Our season is not going as we had planned,” she said. “Everything is a lot faster in college volleyball. But it is the same basic concept. I think my blocking has improved. I am faster and jumping higher.”

Her team practices most days from 3:30 to 6 p.m. The players are required to take 10 hours of study hall a week.

“My time was more structured in high school,” Mohrman said. “Sometimes I will stay up all night to study.”

David Driver is a contributing writer at The Stafford County Sun. Reach him at info@staffordcountysun.com.