There was a moment when Crown Point outside hitter Elisa Algozine suddenly realized she could see like never before.
After competing in the high jump, Algozine discovered that the volleyball net disappeared from her line of sight when she leaped to spike the ball.
“I did notice that once when I came back to volleyball,” she said. “It was like, ‘Whoa, I’m jumping higher.’ I could actually feel it too. I was above the net, and I could see. It was really cool to go from track into volleyball and see the development.”
The 5-foot-10 Algozine, who qualified for the state meet in May with a third-place high jump of 5-1 at the Portage Regional, enters her senior volleyball season with a spring in her step. But the benefits of her multisport experience go beyond an improved vertical leap.
“There’s a lot of speed and core strength in her approach, and it really shows,” Crown Point girls volleyball coach Alison Duncan said. “She’s gotten that skill and muscle memory from track, and she can use that with her hitting in volleyball.”
Algozine recorded 200 kills last season, ranking second behind Purdue commit Elle Schara, who had 558 as a sophomore. They helped the Bulldogs (22-13) finish as the Class 4A regional runner-up. Algozine had 186 kills during her first varsity season in 2022.
Duncan said she first saw Algozine play during a Crown Point youth volleyball match seven years ago.
“She’s always worked to get better every year,” Duncan said. “She’s always made an impact for us on the floor from a hitting perspective, and she’s made herself into a great role model for our younger athletes.”
Algozine has been playing volleyball since she was little, according to her father, Dave.
“Her older sister, Sidney, played, and we’d leave from those games, and then we’d be peppering in the living room, and she was doing really well for a 2-year-old,” Dave Algozine said.
Both of Elisa Algozine’s parents and her sister have multisport backgrounds. Her extended family includes 2014 Valparaiso graduate Morgan Algozine and 2018 Valparaiso graduate Jenna Algozine, both of whom won state championships in gymnastics.
“It was a good start, just having people around who were already in sports and know how it goes,” Elisa Algozine said. “My sister was a club coach, and she was the one who pushed me into doing it. That really jump-started my volleyball career.”
But Dave Algozine said Elisa has been the driving force in that career ever since.
“She’s taken it to the next level,” Dave Algozine said.
Elisa Algozine hasn’t decided whether she’ll continue participating in sports in college. But she does know she has a large role to play in the short term if the Bulldogs, whose season starts Saturday, are going to win their first regional title since 2019.
“As a team, we all want to go to semistate,” she said. “Not that we aren’t doing it right now, but if we can all keep working together as a team and continue meshing, we’ll go far.”
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter.
