VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — "I don't know how to convey how much playing at William & Mary meant to our girls."
The sincerity of this statement from Women's Volleyball Head Coach Tim Doyle was palpable. A long pause, a search for the words he never found, preceded the exclamation point on how his players felt regarding the discontinuation of there program next season.
Playing Division 1 college athletics is a full-time job, but one that comes with passion and a family by default. And it was technically gone in an instant for 118 student-athletes, following an open letter mid-week announcing the dismissal.
Not gone are the relationships built and work put in, and that is what will carry the athletes as they move into this uncertain future.
"Everyone has the same reaction in terms of being heartbroken, but we're gonna land on our two feet," Coach Doyle says, no pause, the words present and clear.