On Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020, Pennsbury senior Izzy Marinelli was recognized for signing a letter of intent to continue her volleyball career at East Carolina University. (Photos provided courtesy of Pennsbury High School)
Izzy Marinelli – East Carolina University (Volleyball)
Major: Undecided
Final list of colleges: East Carolina, University of South Florida, Stephen F. Austin University, Elon, Rhode Island
Reasons for choosing East Carolina: “The one thing I knew going into it was that I wanted to go somewhere warm. The two coaches that are
now at East Carolina were coaches I had talked to – one of them came from Stephen F. Austin and the other came from Wake Forest. They were both the coaches I had bonded with the most, and it just happened that they ended up at East Carolina, so once I found that out, I was like, ‘I definitely have to go there now because of the coaches.’ Once I saw the school when I visited, it was so nice, and the team’s really nice. It started with the coaches, but it turned into that I really just liked the school.”
What was the progression that led you to competing in volleyball at the collegiate level? “I played soccer and basketball before I started volleyball, and I have just always loved sports. In eighth grade, I was like, ‘I’m playing soccer in college. That’s what I’m going to do.’ I went to high school, and I just really loved volleyball. I just love the sport and everything about it. I think it was probably sophomore year I was like, ‘I really want to push myself and play in college and try and play at a high level.’
“I always wanted to play a sport in college – I didn’t know what the sport was, but I always wanted to. It just turned out that volleyball was the sport. I just love playing it, and I always have fun. Even at practice when we’re running and doing things that are really hard, I still love it.”
Coach Tim Paulson says: “Izzy is a happy, positive person and always seems to make the best of everything, rolls with the punches. She’s a tremendous athlete, she’s physically gifted, and you do not come across athletes with that kind of ability often – boys or girls – that innate athleticism to jump through the roof, to jump so high. It’s a huge plus for volleyball. She was good in a lot of sports. I first met Izzy and her parents _0.jpg)
when she was eight. She played soccer with my daughter in Yardley, and right away you knew Izzy was one of the fastest, best girls there. She’s been a fast, athletic person for a long, long time. She’s not perfect – she struggles with some ball control skills, but she’s an exceptional talent with athleticism that you couldn’t pass up - club teams wanted her, colleges wanted her.
“We worked tremendously to get a more balanced offense all year round, but when it came crunch time and things were on the line, it was ‘All right, set Izzy every ball.’ We tried to be balanced, but when the game was on the line, Carissa (Van Veen), our setter – we’d talk, and she knew it was time to set Izzy every time. All of our big matches where we came back – that huge match against Archbishop Carroll, the last two sets we needed to win, Izzy got every ball. For such a talent, she was just incredibly humble. She is just another one of the girls on the team. Everyone knows she’s special, but she brings no attitude, has no expectations – ‘you have to set me every ball.’ She totally understood that we wanted to try to be balanced. Every team she’s been on she basically hit and blocked, but we needed her to go all the way around. She worked as hard at passing as anyone on our team and ended up one of our better passers. She continues to grow, and part of that is she loves the sport.”
About Izzy:
Favorite food: “For healthy food, I like smoothies, but for regular food, I love vodka rigatoni on pizza.”
Favorite movies: Harry Potter movies
Favorite TV show: Gray’s Anatomy
Favorite music: “Before volleyball, I listen to rap, but I also listen to a lot of Daniel Caesar when I’m not trying to get excited for volleyball.”
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