By Mel Greenberg
Wilmington's Elena Della Donne out of Ursuline Academy continues to make progress as a budding collegiate volleyball star at Delaware even if life is a little different than it would be at the moment if she had enrolled at Connecticut as the nation's top high school basketball recruit.
For example, for now, one must go a little deeper into the Blue Hens' match account to find a first mention of Delle Donne, as opposed to a first sentence notation that was part of the package that came with her other talent.
And a packed house at a match near Delle Donne's front porch means some 280 as opposed to some 10,000 in the Huskies' Gampel Pavilion or 16,000 in the XL Center in downtown Hartford.
But based on accounts -- the Guru will be in Newark, Del., on Tuesday live for the Temple match -- the nation's player of the year in the other sport appears to be fitting in quite nicely.
In fact, if the Guru is reading a boxscore correctly, she may have even earned a start.
Incidentally, while in Springfield, Mass., on the scene for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame induction events, the Delle Donne change of venue drew inquiries to the Guru from USA Basketball executive types, who had been out of the country harvesting gold medals in Beijing, China,
And traffic continues to run through here on Guru non-performance days because of high interest that remains across the country on Delle Donne's activity.
You don't think the Guru would be writing volleyball news otherwise, do you?
Oops, just joking, Bonnie.
Anyhow, to bring things up to date, the Blue Hens went 2-1 at their own tournament this weekend, Delle Donne's first appearances in front of the home folks.
Delaware beat New Hampshire, Friday night, 3-2, with match scores of 15-25, 25-21, 25-15, 19-25, and 15-9. Her stats featured six kills and five blocks.
On Saturday, the Blue Hens beat Syracuse, 3-0, with match scores of 25-23, 25-19, and 25-17 in the early event as Delle Donne tallied six kills and a block.
Michigan State eventually took the tournament, however, 3-0, with match scores of 25-19, 25-23, and 25-8, as Delle Donne's statistics showed four kills and three blocks.
-- Mel
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