Student Life: Thousands were left feeling lost and in the dark. We all thought it would be for just a few minutes or a few hours, but it lasted well over a day. Where were you when the great Washington University internet outage occurred?

Colleen Winter: Well, I don’t even have a computer, actually, so I was probably at practice that night. But I guess I first realized we were out of power at Small Group Housing.

SL: TNN, despite the protests of one angry director, recently changed its name to Spike TV. Where does this leave volleyball’s other less-heralded shots? Is it wise to ignore common volleyball convention and bypass the bump and set entirely as the network appears to have done?

CW: Well, spikers always get the glory, quote unquote. But for anyone who plays volleyball, you know that you couldn’t spike without a pass or a set either.

SL: You’ve lost Rebecca Rotello to graduation. She had it all – talent, championship pedigree, leadership, alliterative name/surname combination. An irreplaceable package. That being said, how will you replace her?

CW: Well our team certainly has a lot of depth and the two players we have now are doing a fantastic job.

SL: Well, who is that?

CW: Kara Liefer and Megan Delcourt. Obviously she’s a good friend of ours and a stud, I mean we have a lot of returners and all the players on the team are excellent.

SL: We all know your accomplishments in volleyball at the college level, but what we want to know is how badly did you dominate in high school volleyball in gym?
CW: You mean like high school gym class? Gym class, that’s the worst. I hate gym class volleyball. Because it’s always awkward like you don’t want to try your hardest ’cause then people are like, “Who do you think you are?” But at the same time you can’t not try ’cause people are like, “Well, you play volleyball.”
SL: Better volleyball sequence in a movie: Maverick and Goose vs. Iceman and Slider in “Top Gun” or Greg Focker vs. His Future In-Laws in “Meet the Parents”?

CW: Oh, God…depends what mood you’re in. I’d go for the Focker vs. Future In-Laws.

SL: Oh? You’re going to go over Tom Cruise?

CW: It’s a hard decision, but humor always dominates.

SL: You recently recorded your 1,000th career dig on your way to being named part of the All-Tournament team at the Elmhurst Invitational. Tell me, what is a dig? I was under the impression that dig had died out with those other antiquated ’70′s beatnik expressions like “solid,” “groovy,” and “daddio.”

CW: Well, a dig is passing a really hard hit.

SL: So it’s good?

CW: It’s fun. It’s not as infamous as the spike, but to me it’s more fun.

SL: How did you guys do in that tournament, the Elmhurst Invitational?

CW: We won the tournament but we lost our last game to Elmhurst. We won on number of wins.

SL: Alex Winter played Bill in “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.” Your last name is Winter. Are you two related in any way? Be honest with me, as I will not hold you personally accountable for “Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey.”

CW: You’re going to kill me, but I haven’t seen that movie. What’s he like in that movie?

SL: I don’t have any words to describe him.

CW: Is he an idiot?

SL: Kind of.

CW: Yeah, well, people on my team would say yes, I’m very much related to him.

SL: Last year your team finished the season at 41-2 losing in the national title game. What is the team’s goal this season?

CW: To win the national title game.

SL: So anything short of that is no good?

CW: Correct. This is the year.

SL: Any particular match-ups you are looking forward to this season?

CW: Wisconsin-Whitewater. That’s the team we lost to in the finals. Absolutely them, Trinity, Emory.

SL: When do you guys play Whitewater?

CW: This month. I think they’re coming to one of our tournaments. We have a real tough schedule this year, but it’s good.

SL: It must be tough to maintain such a high level of play all the time. How does Coach Luenemann motivate you?

CW: Well one practice he said we need to have bulldog attitudes to go after the ball a lot, you know. Sacrifice your body, all that stuff. One of the analogies he said was that if we worked all day at ramming our bodies into the wall, we could break a hole into the wall. So Cindy McPeak started to try – I’ll just say that – tried to break through the wall.

SL: But it’s not just coach Luenemann that helps prepare you. What do you guys do to prepare for a big match?

CW: Well, we tried the conventional pep talks and all that mental visualization, all that stuff. We like to play four-square all the time. We bring a ball everywhere we go. Even our SID Chris Mick plays along.

SL: Have there been any changes in your preparation technique since last year’s loss in the finals?

CW: Well last year, besides four-square, we’d often dance to “Beat It,” but considering we were featured on CBS Sports’ Road to the Final Four special and they taped us doing that dance and we lost to Wisconsin-Whitewater, we’ve since retired the “Beat It” dance.

SL: Are there any plans to add new dance numbers to your preparation routine?

CW: Nah, just four-square right now.

SL: What’s your career ambition after school?

CW: I want to be a physical therapist.

SL: Do you plan to continue playing volleyball too?

CW: Yes, and coaching. I mean playing – there’s some competitive leagues in the area – and certainly coaching. Maybe more fun stuff, like sand.

SL: What’s your outlook for this season?

CW: The team is so close to winning the national championship and getting closer and stuff. We’re super-motivated and focused this season to actually win it. The depth of talent on our team and the fact that we all get along so well that we’re literally all best friends and we have a great time while we’re on the road. We know when to focus and motivate each other. I think this is the year, hopefully.

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