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© St. Petersburg Times, published September 10, 2002
SAINT LEO -- After dominating in high school volleyball, former Hudson teammates Alison Baker and Nikki Prack went their separate ways upon their 2001 graduations. Now, their paths have crossed again.
The former All-Sunshine Athletic Conference players who led Hudson to the 2000 Class 4A state final have been reunited at Saint Leo.
In the gym, they are teammates. Off the court, they're in even closer quarters as campus roommates.
"At first, I thought it would be a good thing to room with someone I know," said Prack, an all-state second-teamer as a senior outside hitter. "We would hang out anyway, even if we didn't do all this stuff together."
"Nikki was coming back," said middle hitter Baker, an All-State first-teamer in 2000 as well as the Times and SAC Player of the Year. "That sealed the deal."
Prack, a University of South Florida transfer who did not go out for volleyball as a freshman, was a volunteer assistant coach at Hudson last season. She also was a regular at open volleyball this summer at Hudson.
"I really missed playing," Prack said. "I was bored."
Baker, who last season saw limited playing time at Florida Southern, sees Saint Leo as a second chance as well being closer to home.
"I liked it (at Florida Southern), but I missed my family," Baker said. "By the second semester I wanted to come home."
"I think they'll do equally as well, because they play different positions," Hudson coach Linda McQuade said.
"They have their physical skills, certainly," Saint Leo coach Bill Lent said. "They both play really hard."
Baker and Prack are among six newcomers Lent feels will help the Lions rebound from a lackluster 15-17 season. With both in the starting lineup, Saint Leo is off to a 6-2 start.
Baker's best game came in a win over Carson-Newman. She had 8 kills, 5 aces and 6 blocks.
A defensive specialist, Prack does not have Baker's offensive statistics. But the former Cobras' stats are only part of their value to Saint Leo. Because of their championship and club experience -- both played for Lent's North Bay Juniors -- Baker and Prack already are looked up to, the coach said.
"They both have stepped in as leaders in a way, as far as giving the team a little swagger," Lent said.
At 6-foot-1, Baker relied on intimidation to set Hudson single-season records in kills (226) and blocks (225). She said her aggressiveness stems from confidence. Prack, 5-foot-7, led Hudson with an 84.3 passing percentage as a senior.
EVEN UP: Saint Leo's women's soccer team, coming off a four-win season, evened its record at 1-1 last Tuesday with a 4-0 win over Webber International University. Helen Brady scored the first and last goals for the Lions with Caron Lumbra and Kate McKenna scoring in between. Sarah Wright, Kristin Stephens and Charlotte Edwardson had assists. Defender Kim Ciliberto helped limit Webber to three shots on net as goalkeeper Amber Ferrol earned the win.
ROSSO FINALLY SCORES: Leading the Saint Leo men's soccer team in scoring last season did not help Tony Rosso in the first two games. Rosso, who scored 10 goals last season, broke out of his mini-slump with a pair of goals and an assist in Sunday's 4-1 win over American International College. John Semeraro and Claus Hagedorn also scored with Neil Laxdal, Federico Polo and Giancarlo Conte adding assists for the Lions (2-0-1).