By TOM MURPHY JR.

Senior Reporter

When Leah Dupuie first joined the Golden Grizzles volleyball team three years ago, she was already a champion.

During her senior year of high school, Dupuie led the Romeo Bulldogs volleyball team to an undefeated regular season as well as a league and district championship.

So when she decided to play for Oakland University, she felt that she could help change the losing atmosphere surrounding the team.

“I had other choices [for scholarships] but a lot of them were far away,” Dupuie said. “I just wanted to go to a really good Division 1 school and Oakland had a lot to offer me. I knew their program wasn’t the best but I thought I could come in and help change it around.”

Indeed, Dupuie had an immediate impact. She was named team captain as a freshman.

“I was definitely shocked,” Dupuie said. “I think it was that I was good in the classroom and focused on the court.”

In many cases, a freshman being named captain would cause a lot of animosity amongst a team. But Dupuie said that her teammates were supportive and helped her through her freshman year.

However, the transition from winning all the time to losing all the time was not something that Dupuie dealt with easily.

“It was really hard to come into a program where losing was so accepted,” Dupuie said. “Where I came from, losing absolutely was not accepted.”

Things became worse in Dupuie’s sophomore season. The team only won one game.

If there ever was a point in her career where she could have lost her desire to play, that would have been it. But Dupuie said that even though the team was losing, the joy of playing volleyball never left her.

“I always knew that we definitely could have a winning team. I knew that we just need the right coach to tell us that we could and instill in us the confidence,” Dupuie said.

They found that coach after her second season. Head Coach Rob Beam came to OU after coaching Illinois State to a 35-25 record over two seasons, and Dupuie said that the difference under his tutelage was like night and day.

“Rob came along and saved the day my junior year,” Dupuie said. “I think the administration knew that something needed to change. They let us have a big hand in hiring the new coach. We loved him right off the bat.”

In her junior year, Dupuie helped lead the Grizzlies to a school record of eight wins. Dupuie said that she has recognized an even bigger difference in the team this season.

“We’re definitely more confident,” Dupuie said. “In the past, we were down a point or two points it would’ve been devastating to us. But now it’s like we don’t care because we know we are going to win.”

Beam said that the turnaround in team attitude has much to do with Dupuie and how she carries herself.

“You can tell that people really gravitate toward her, people really like her,” Beam said. “That personality type sets up very well for being a captain and being a leader for our program. She has high expectations for herself.”

“She’s a great student, she works really hard in the weight room and on the court. So, she is a leader by example in every facet of being a student athlete.”

Dupuie said that her journey over the past three years has made her a more confident person. She has become more mature mentally and is as motivated as ever to play volleyball.

Beam said that he has seen Dupuie become an even better player this season.

“The first thing that you notice is that she is so much more under control with her skills,” Beam said. “She’s really refined her game. It’s made a huge difference in how effective she is for us.”

Dupuie said that while she loves being a student athlete, it can be very challenging.

“It’s tough traveling a lot. I don’t like upsetting professors because of missing so much class,” she said.

But for Dupuie the positives of being a student athlete far outweigh the negatives.

“I love competing for the school,” Dupuie said. “I love going to the classroom wearing my Oakland Volleyball clothes. I like to show my school pride. There is a lot more to this school than people think.”