鈥淢y faith is extremely important to me and was the biggest deciding factor in choosing a college,鈥� said Fitton, a member of Divine Unity Community Church in Harrisonburg. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 want to go to a big party school, but instead wanted to grow in my faith and use my testimony to inspire others.鈥�

Fitton, who enjoys leading Bible studies, praying over people, and bringing others to Christ, said she鈥檚 excited to become a part of 91短视频 campus ministries this fall. 鈥�91短视频 offers campus worship, Bible studies, and more opportunities that you can鈥檛 find on other campuses,鈥� she said. 鈥淢any players on the volleyball team also openly express their passion for Christ, which is important to me.鈥�

The volleyball star was named Region 1B Player of the Year and received honors as a first team selection at the All-District, All-Region, and All-State levels this past season. She will play for the Royals this fall and said Coach Casey Steinbrecher was another major reason for her choosing 91短视频. 

鈥淚 remember one of my first conversations with him, he just wanted to get to know me outside of volleyball,鈥� Fitton said. 鈥淥ther coaches wanted to know my interests and that kind of thing, but Casey stuck out to me by wanting to get to know what my family was like, my background, and more before getting to know me as a player.鈥�

When she鈥檚 not on the court, she plans to pursue a bachelor鈥檚 degree in business management. She said she will graduate high school with a cosmetology license and plans to earn her esthetician license either during or after college. Eventually, she said, she hopes to own and manage her own spa. 

A 鈥榣ife-changing鈥� opportunity

Fitton said her decision to attend 91短视频 鈥渇elt right.鈥� When she visited the campus early last year, she was struck by everyone鈥檚 friendliness toward her. 鈥淓veryone I walked past asked me how I was, without even knowing me,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he atmosphere on campus is refreshing. It鈥檚 quiet and peaceful while also being welcoming.鈥�

She said she looks forward to forming close connections with classmates and professors and taking advantage of 91短视频鈥檚 distinctive intercultural program. 鈥淚 love to travel and expand my understanding of the world,鈥� Fitton said. 鈥淚 believe an experience to study abroad is life-changing and opens doors for opportunity. When I visited, I knew 91短视频 was a place I could see myself for the next four years.鈥�

Read more about Reese
: Fitton named Region 1B Player of the Year and headed to 91短视频
: Luray’s Reese Fitton used faith, love to lead team during special season

91短视频鈥檚 cross-city neighbor James Madison University is celebrating a string of sports successes on the national stage.

Its football team finished the season ranked in the top 25 and will play in its first-ever bowl game. The men鈥檚 basketball team remains undefeated and is ranked No. 18. And the volleyball team competed as a No. 7 seed in the NCAA Championship before losing its first-round match. Much of the success can be traced back to the work of the at JMU, which caters to the needs of its athletes and teams. 

Fortunately for 91短视频, between the two Harrisonburg, Virginia, universities provides 91短视频 Athletics with many of those same resources at no cost. JMU doctoral students from the McMillin Center are working with athletes, teams and coaches in counseling sessions and mental performance workshops at 91短视频 while earning hours of valuable practicum experience for their graduate studies.

The McMillin Center, led by Director Dr. Bob Harmison, offers programs on how mental skills can increase performance both on and off the field. Some of its workshops teach athletes how to prepare for competitions, manage performance anxiety, enhance focus and maintain motivation.

Casey Steinbrecher, head coach of women鈥檚 volleyball at 91短视频, lauded Harmison as 鈥渙ne of the most prominent people in the nation for what he does.鈥�

鈥淭o have him and the McMillin Center just down the road as a resource, we are super lucky to have that, and we鈥檙e grateful,鈥� he said.

Steinbrecher, former associate head volleyball coach at JMU, left the Dukes to join 91短视频 in 2020. He said his volleyball players meet with JMU doctoral student Tahlia Wilson-Nealy every other week during the season. They work together on building confidence and being relentless as well as on in-match strategies for performing better, Steinbrecher said.

鈥淭hey just love having someone to talk to,鈥� he said. 鈥淗aving someone teach us and work with us on mental performance is huge. And, at the end of the season, I was a little upset because we were still improving, we hadn鈥檛 peaked yet, and it was exciting to watch how we were performing better in bigger matches.鈥�

For the past several years, graduate students from the McMillin Center have offered sports psychology services to 91短视频 Athletics through a team-by-team partnership. But, this is the first time a student from the program is fully embedded on campus in 91短视频 Counseling Services and is available to all student-athletes. The partnership officially began on Oct. 27 and is set to run through the end of the academic year.

Lauren Shoss, a first-year JMU doctoral student in the program, said the McMillin Center has worked with other colleges, but not to the same degree as 91短视频.

91短视频 Director of Athletics Carrie Bert agreed: 鈥淚 know that, at least within our ODAC colleagues, having free access to sports psychology services does not seem to be the norm.鈥�

Shoss meets with athletes and teams for about 10 hours each week. She conducts workshops for teams on topics such as bouncing back quickly from mistakes, setting goals and preparing for performance.

鈥淟et鈥檚 say a team has a big competition or tournament that weekend,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e can cater our discussions to getting them in the right headspace to perform their best.鈥�

Shoss has a space in the counseling center where she can meet one-on-one with athletes and coaches. She can also meet with them virtually through Zoom. Some of her work with individual athletes might focus on achieving their performance-related goals or tackling their stress, anxiety or mood fluctations.

鈥淢aybe an athlete is having trouble feeling like they can鈥檛 focus when they鈥檙e in a game,鈥� Shoss said. 鈥淪o, we do a lot of work around attentional control.鈥�

Throughout the past month, Shoss has worked with 91短视频 softball players to help them process their grief after the loss of teammate Sara Monger, Bert said. Monger, a first-year student from Elkton, Virginia, died in a car accident in October.

Bert, head coach of the 91短视频 women鈥檚 volleyball team from 2015 to 2019, recalled her players meeting with someone from the McMillin Center about once a week during the last two seasons she was coach. 

Over a couple years, she said, they continued to get better, win more and finish games in ways they had not been able to before.

鈥淚 think what it did, most concretely and immediately, was help with the way the team interacted with each other in our communication both on and off the court,鈥� Bert said.

She expressed gratitude for JMU and the McMillin Center for their role in the partnership.

鈥淚t鈥檚 an extra resource for us to make sure that we鈥檙e doing everything we can for student-athletes here to find success in a variety of ways,鈥� she said.