By Roscoe Nance
Once a Hornet, always a Hornet.
That’s the Delaware State creed, and Hornets bowling coach Elysia Current is living it.
Current, who stepped down after leading Delaware State to the 2016 Mid-Eastern Athletics Conference (MEAC) championship, is back at the helm and she thrilled to be there after spending the past three years occasionally giving bowling lessons.
“Being able to coach a team and seeing the chemistry and seeing the (team) work together and seeing the communication, that’s a completely different feeling,” she said. “You get to see all of that happening in front of you with a group of young ladies. That’s a completely different feeling at a different level – goals and achieved and working together to get there.
“Being able to coach is something I absolutely love to do. Just to be able to come back and coach a team again in collegiate bowling in the NCAA is everything I worked for. Being able to do that again completes everything. It’s crazy to think about I was able to come back. Sometimes coaches don’t get the opportunity to come back to the program where they were before. I’m really excited about the opportunity and appreciative to help coach and represent the school.”
Current resigned after coaching the Hornets from 2012-16 and relocated to the Pacific Northwest when her fiancé’s job transferred him there. Ironically, he was recently transferred back to the East Coast, and that enabled her to return to Delaware State after her successor, Kayla Stamm, resigned in February.
“Things happen for a reason,” Current said.
Current has been back at Delaware State for a little more than a week, and she has spent most of her time setting up her office. In the process, she came across several plaques and the MEAC championship trophy the Hornets won under her guidance.
“I was like, ‘these are some really great memories,’” she said. “I’m back here now. I feel like I never left. I’m ready to get started and for this team to experience that and win the MEAC.”
In addition to winning the 2016 MEAC championship, the Hornets also qualified for the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) Intercollegiate Team Championships in 2015 and 2016. Current’s return has expectations running high that Delaware State will have the same kind of success the Hornets enjoyed during her first stint.
However, she said those expectations aren’t a source of pressure for here.
“I don’t know if it’s pressure,” she said. “Maybe it’s a little bit of nerves getting back in the swing of things. Pressure never bothers me. I’m ready for that. I don’t feel there is pressure. I know we have a great university and athletics department behind us. They know the talent, skill level and knowledge these young ladies have, and they believe in these 10 young ladies.”
Three seniors from Current’s last recruiting class – Alexis Neuer, Ashley Merritt and Samantha DeLong – are still in the program. Current said having them on the squad is bonus during this transition period. Neuer was the 2018 MEAC Bowler of the Year, 2017 MEAC Rookie of the Year, a two-time All-MEAC First Team selection and USBC Intercollegiate Singles Championship qualifier as a freshman and sophomore.
“I believe it gives us a good honest, true and real clear communication already between us,” Current said of having the trio of still on the squad. “It helps the team overall for them to be the leaders and make sure everyone else is good to go if we’re going to get this done.”
The Hornets were high performers away from the lanes during Current’s previous tenure as well. They were sixth among 17 programs honored as “Exemplary” by the National Tenpin Coaches Association (NTCA). The recognition goes to programs having a cumulative grade-point average of 3.2 or higher. Delaware State had a team GPA of 3.542.
In addition, five Hornet bowlers were among 163 student-athletes earning NTCA All-Academic recognition by maintaining at least a 3.4 GPA for the 2015-16 school year.
Delaware State was 12th on the team list, while four Hornets were NTCA All-Academic honorable mention All-America recognition, during the 2014-15 season.
The MEAC has taken on a new look since Current’s first stint in Dover ended. Monmouth and Alabama Birmingham (UAB) have become associate members for women’s bowling and other members have strengthened their programs.
“The conference is definitely stronger,” she said. “That’s one thing that I remember during the MEAC Championship having discussions (with fellow coaches) about that and how we could get the conference to be better. Overall people perceive us differently as a conference. I think they’re looking at us in a different way again. But in a way that’s, ‘OK, there’s competition here.’ Bowling as a sport is growing. Our conference is truly showing that.”