Life full of spikes, sets, digs for JBLM airman

  • Published
  • By Tyler Hemstreet
  • The Northwest Airlifter
Despite her unfamiliarity with military service academies, 2nd Lt. Morgan Dolan knew a good opportunity when she saw it.

As a high school senior having just finished a stellar prep athletic career in track and field and volleyball at Capital High School in Helena, Mont., Dolan had options for her future.

The Air Force Academy's recruitment package included the chance for her to compete in pole vault and javelin.

"I have no family military background ... I had no clue what the service academy was," the JBLM-McChord Field airman said. "It was just a really good opportunity."

While Dolan's track and field college career didn't pan out, it opened the door for volleyball, which is still plays a huge part of the 25-year-old communications officer's life today.

The 5-foot-8 Dolan was part of the Air Force women's team that took second place at the 2009 Armed Forces Women's Volleyball Championship at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C. last year. From there, she was selected to play on the Armed Forces' Conseil International du Sport Militaire (CISM) team, which travels the world competing against other countries' military teams.

Although Dolan couldn't attend the 2009 CISM tournament in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil due to a paperwork snafu, she practiced with the team in the weeks leading up to the trip.

"You have to really want to play, and it has to fit into your schedule," she said. "It's a challenge to get the right team chemistry down when you haven't played as a team for very long."

But adapting has been a way of life for the lieutenant.

After her college track career didn't materialize, Dolan earned a walk-on spot on the academy volleyball team after impressing coaches during a tryout session, and even reinvented her game after a broken ankle limited her explosiveness and forced a position change from outside hitter to libero (a defense and passing-oriented position on the back line).

"To be able to make the transition between sports at the college level is big," said Molly Hunsinger, a local rec league teammate of Dolan's who played college volleyball locally for the University of Puget Sound. "You have to have the talent and be willing to work hard."

Dolan earned team defensive MVP honors in 2004 and 2007, and still made time for her studies.

"It was really difficult to juggle volleyball and academics," she said.

Her love of the sport now is as strong as ever, as Dolan plays in a highly competitive rec league in Tacoma, as well as a small traveling team, which plays in local tournaments.
Teammates say she's quite modest about her extensive volleyball background.

"She keeps it mostly to herself," Hunsinger said. "But you can tell when she gets out on the court she has the full package."

The airman is already in the process of submitting her paperwork for another shot at a selection to the CISM team and another chapter in her athletic and Air Force career.


"It's something nice to work toward every year," she said.

(Story used with permission.)