In the middle of a three-hour conference volleyball match, Jennifer Leier was losing morale.

Former volleyball coach Greg Castillo revived the team by promising that if they win, he would take them all to Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse.

“It was one of those games you just want to be over. He definitely gave us an incentive,” Leier said.

If it has to be mentioned, they won the match.

Leier was middle hitter for the Wolfpack from 1996 to 1999 and remains one of Loyola’s most accomplished athletes. As a senior, she took the team to the NAIA National Tournament for the first time in the program’s history. On Feb. 10, she will be the second woman and the first volleyball player inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame.

When Leier was a freshman, the volleyball program was only two years old. However, the recent instatement of the program didn’t have a huge effect on Leier’s expectations.

“Coming in as a freshman, everything was new anyway,” Leier said. “You have to adapt to your surroundings.”

The teams from previous years laid down a solid foundation, but Leier’s talent and leadership thrust the program into a higher level of competition. When she became captain, the team won a record eight consecutive matches. When they beat Grambling State University, a NCAA Division I school, people noticed.

“We started getting bids to play in conference tournaments. That was probably the most memorable, because in the years before, we weren’t regular conference,” Leier said. “If we wanted to continue our season, we had to fight our way through.”

Beginnings

Although she helped set several important precedents, Leier was already a recognized athlete before attending Loyola. She made the All-State high school team, the All-Metro team and was named River Parishes MVP while playing for St. Charles Catholic High School in LaPlace.

“I can’t remember a time when sports weren’t a factor in my life,” Leier said. “My dad was always involved in sports, and so was my brother, so naturally I did, too.”

For Loyola, 1996 was a particularly serendipitous year. Not only did the program gain Leier as a key player, but it was the same year that Castillo began coaching.

“Greg was one of those people who always tried to be nice, but always stern and constructive in terms of teaching us discipline,” she said. “Even when we were doing something wrong, he still couldn’t get mad at us.”

Castillo, who left to coach for Xavier University in 2003, amassed a 31-11 record and four consecutive GCAC Championships, two straight NAIA Region XIII Championships and a NAIA National Tournament appearance. Leier keeps in touch with her former coach, as well as many of her teammates. She and her best friend, Cristin Favre, met though the volleyball program.

“If I hadn’t gone to Loyola, I wouldn’t have made the friends I did on the team, who are still great friends to this day,” Leier said.

After graduation, Leier and Favre went to several games, but Leier hasn’t been to Loyola since.

“Eventually, work and reality set in, and I haven’t been able to go, but I read about them online,” Leier said. “They’ve had some fantastic girls, which is always a plus to the program.”

Leier majored in business and marketing and now works in Harahan. She lives in the New Orleans area with her fiancé, whom she met through mutual friends.

“He played football for Nicholls State, so we met by talking about sports,” Leier said.

The wedding is set for October, and Favre will be her Maid of Honor; Castillo and her former teammates are invited.

Nicole Mundy can be reached at [email protected].