By KEVIN HARRIS
Kevin.Harris@newsandtribune.com
>>SOUTHERN INDIANA — When a collegiate volleyball player ends her career, she usually hangs up her jersey and knee pads for good.
But New Albany native Stephanie Lynch was not ready to give up the sport she loved just yet.
After her All-America career at Purdue concluded in the fall of 2008, the 2004 Indiana Miss Volleyball hired an agent to help her find a professional volleyball team to play for in Europe.
Her agent came through for her.
Since Dec. 31, Lynch has been a middle hitter for a pro squad in Neuchatel, Switzerland, which is a city of more than 32,000 citizens that is located in the northwest part of the European country. Neuchatel has an 11-6 record this season, as it competes in the top league in Switzerland. Neuchatel will be playing for third place in the national playoffs later this week.
“We have had a very successful season and we are probably going to finish third in our league, which is very good,” Lynch said. “We played in the Swiss Cup final in February, which is basically the Swiss National Championship game. Our record is 11-6, but four of the losses came against the No. 1 team in Switzerland.”
Lynch began playing for Neuchatel during the early part of December. She then went back to West Lafayette to finish up her classes and graduate from Purdue with degrees in business management and health sciences.
Lynch’s weekly schedule keeps her busy. After the team has its typical day off on Monday, Neuchatel has one practice on Tuesday and two practices each on Wednesday and Thursday. There is one practice on Friday, followed by a match on either Saturday or Sunday.
Along with practices and matches, Lynch and her teammates assist in coaching a juniors team practice on Wednesday.
Lynch says the practices and conditioning with Neuchatel are not as strenuous as they were at Purdue.
“I would say it is pretty similar to college, maybe even a little less practice and conditioning than what I did at the college level,” Lynch said.
As for the competition, Lynch says there are some comparisons with the NCAA Division I level. But the pool of sound teams in D-I is deeper than in Switzerland.
“Most of the teams in our league are very similar to the teams in Division I. But a few may be a little lower level,” Lynch said.
Lynch says most of her teammates are from Switzerland. But she does have a teammate she is familiar with in Rachel Hartmann, who faced Lynch in her days as a setter at Big Ten-rival Minnesota.
“I have really enjoyed all of my teammates and I’m getting to know them,” Lynch said.
Lynch says that volleyball is not exactly a national pastime in Switzerland. However, she states that the Neuchatel community gives lots of support to her squad.
“The interest is not as big overall as it is in the (United States). But in Neuchatel, we have a good following and have many fans that travel with the team,” Lynch said. “Most of the matches have around 400 people (in other Switzerland communities). But we have had between (up to) 3,000 people at the matches that I have played in.”
Along with getting used to her teammates and European-style volleyball, Lynch has had to get adjusted to Swiss culture.
“It has not been that hard to adjust to the culture in Switzerland, but it is a little different,” Lynch said. “I would say that the biggest difference is that people here are more laid back then those in the U.S. In Neuchatel, they speak French and I have picked up on a little bit of French. But luckily many people speak English as well in Switzerland.”
During her European endeavor, Lynch has visited London and Barcelona, Spain, and she plans on traveling to Paris, Budapest, Hungary, and Germany next month.
Lynch says this will be her last season playing organized volleyball. She has accepted a teaching position with Teach for America in Charlotte, N.C., this coming fall, where she will teach high school science to students living in low-income communities. Lynch will participate in the program for two years.
