Published: Dec. 11, 2014
Daily News All-County Volleyball: Germantown’s Carly
Townsend
Senior steps up her game, leads team to state
Don’t let the looks fool you when it comes to Germantown’s
Carly Townsend. Coach Ted Gollakner let it fool him.
That’s what happens when Townsend believes she has something
to prove.
“When you look at her, you’d never guess by the look of her
she’s a tough girl,” Gollakner said. “She’ll dive through a brick wall for you.
I wouldn’t have guessed it even though I knew her mom and dad years ago.”
The team was playing a 6-on-6 intrasquad scrimmage during an
open gym session and a ball went flying off the court. Gollakner looked over
and saw Townsend diving for the ball, banging her chin on the floor and cutting
it.
“There was blood coming out of her chin and she said, ‘I’m
OK,’” Gollakner said.
He stood back in amazement and admiration.
“This was at an open gym before we started (the season),”
Gollakner said. “I could see how much volleyball means to her. She didn’t want
to come off the court.”
She had plenty of reasons to not want to come off the court.
Gollakner couldn’t afford to not put her on the court and leave her there. He
didn’t take her off the court.
The result? Townsend was voted the 2014 Daily News
All-County Girls Volleyball Player of the Year by county coaches and the Daily
News sports staff.
“It’s been a remarkable ride for her,” Gollakner said. “All
the credit goes to her for the amount of work she put in.”
It’s been a ride for the University of Toledo signee.
As a freshman, Townsend was sidelined with an ankle injury,
which required surgery. As a sophomore, former coach Diane Harrod preferred to
play upperclassmen, leaving Townsend to watch from the bench.
In came Gollakner, a former assistant at Divine Savior Holy
Angels in Milwaukee.
Townsend, now a junior, saw a window of opportunity open.
“It was definitely a new start,” Townsend said. “I wanted to
prove myself to him. I think that’s why I became so aggressive.”
“I’m the most aggressive person I’ve ever known, as a girl
at least. I want every single ball. My drive is the best part of me. I don’t
want to lose and my team knows this.”
Outside of her physical toughness, her mental toughness and
confidence are equally impressive.
After the Warhawks lost in the sectional semifinal in 2013,
Townsend calmly walked up to her first-year coach and guaranteed the team will
go to state next season.
“I was so glad she was already looking forward to next year
that I could tell she was going to do something to get us to state,” Gollakner
said. “It made a world of difference.”
Townsend believed she had to do something, knowing she only
had one more chance at leading Germantown to the state tournament for the first
time since 2005.
“I definitely wanted to go to state,” She said. “I wanted to
win. We needed to be on top.”
Townsend put the team on her back and led it through
numerous offseason workout sessions. She also stepped up her offseason
preparation.
Gollakner consistently saw Townsend at the gym and couldn’t
help but be wowed again by her dedication.
Even she impressed herself, improving her vertical leap by 7
inches in three months.
“It was crazy improvement,” Townsend said.
Her teammates followed her without hesitation.
“Her teammates show her the most respect,” Gollakner said.
“Off the court, she’s a great person,” he added. “She treats
everybody with respect.”
Another area that saw a remarkable improvement was her
hitting, especially her power.
“She hits the ball with so much more power than last year,”
Gollakner said. “She has a lot of power and the way she approaches the ball;
she was going up a lot more vertical. When I got here, she’d take her approach
and she was doing more of a long jump than a high jump.”
This year, Townsend made a mark in the state, being named
first-team All-State by the coaches association and was the North Shore
Conference’s Player of the Year.
A lot of that is attributed to Townsend’s versatility, which
made it quite simple for Gollakner to keep her on the court.
Townsend was in the top three on her team in kills, attack
percentage, solo blocks, assists and digs.
“I didn’t know she’d perform at the level she did this
year,” Gollakner said.
As for her chin scrape in practice, Townsend got six
stitches. It’s just a battle scar.
“It’s developed,” Townsend said when asked if she’s always
been tough. “I’ve just had this drive the last two years. I have no idea why. I
guess I just don’t like losing.”
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