Team mom, and proud of it

Senior Jenny Senske could be described as an Energizer Bunny — she has played in all of the women's volleyball team's games. Or she could be called a natural leader — she was elected a co-captain for the 2005 season. Yet her teammates and coaches feel there is a much more fitting way to characterize her: "team mom."

"She's the team mom, no doubt," head coach Glenn Nelson said without skipping a beat when asked about Senske's role this year on the team. His four-year starting setter doesn't shy away from the title, either.

"I consider the freshmen my little babies," Senske said. "I want them to be comfortable and have a good time. Part of my role is taking care of them. [Being team mom] probably originated because I bring food to the team meetings — the Bent Spoon is usually involved."

That doesn't appear to be unusual for Senske, who seems to wholeheartedly embrace everyone and everything about Princeton women's volleyball.

"My favorite part of playing volleyball at Princeton is the team, that's easy," Senske said. "We have such a great time together. It's amazing, the dynamic when you are actually friends with your teammates. We are so fortunate to be able to play together, be friends with each other, confide in each other, go out with each other and study with each other. That just doesn't happen very often."

Her spirit and excitement are contagious. While she is quick to share the credit of being a leader with her fellow seniors, Brittany Wood and co-captain Lauren Grumet, everyone points to Senske as the morale leader on the team.

"Jenny is optimistic overall and gives off an optimistic feeling no matter what," freshman Lindsey Ensign said. "Any time I feel down, I just look at her, and I feel happy. She's so happy and so upbeat."

Senske seems to embrace this role as well.

"My biggest role is to keep the morale of the team high," Senske said. "It is important because, as we learned last weekend, regardless of how great our talent is on the court, no victory is possible without confidence, passion and drive."

Senske's role does not stop with her spirit, though. As the setter, she is the "quarterback" of the team, according to Nelson.

"She is the one who decides where to play the ball and who, of the many options, should hit it on every point," Nelson said. "She's been running our offense for four years."

While she has grown into her role as team leader gradually, the position of the setter is one she has maintained throughout her four years on the team.

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"It was hard starting as a freshman," the modest Senske said. "It was a lot of responsibility, but hopefully the last three years of experience have prepared me for this year. I only hope I learned a little along the way."

Though the season is less than halfway over, in Princeton's 37 games so far, Senske has 441 of Princeton's 493 total assists, nearly personally out-assisting the Tigers' opponents, who have 453 total assists against the Orange and Black.

And the Princeton students are coming out to watch Senske and her teammates compete.

"We are really lucky to get great fans," Senske said about the boisterous and rowdy crowds that show up for the Tigers' games, pointing to the time the team had "party buses to go to Penn."

"We brought 100 to 150 Princeton students to the Penn match," Senske said. "We were losing, but when the first bus arrived, the Penn crowd was silenced by this huge wave of Princeton students. And then there was another, and then the football team came in after their practice was over. We ended up losing, which was so hard, but it was amazing. It was awesome to play for all of them."

The fans will undoubtedly return this weekend as the Tigers take on Harvard on Oct. 7 and Dartmouth on Oct. 8.

"We have cleared our heads from last weekend and are ready to take on Dartmouth and Harvard," Grumet said. "We have restored our confidence in ourselves and in each other, and there is no reason why we should not take care of business as usual this weekend."

There is no doubt that Senske was central in helping the team regain its confidence and rebound off last weekend's losses.

"The wonderful thing about Senske as a player is the confidence she holds in each of her teammates, which is one of the most important qualities a setter can possess," Grumet said.

Freshman Kelli Grobe summed up Senske when she said, "She's so sweet. She's definitely the person who keeps our spirits up all the time, on and off the court. She's totally the team mom, just ask anybody. She's always keeping us smiling."

Senske will never be a spiking giant or intimidating force. When it comes to the women's volleyball team, it is much more characteristic of her to be assisting her teammates.