Freeport grads enjoy trip to Ireland
They saw the Cliffs of Moher. Explored Blarney Castle and kissed the stone. Took in the quaintness of the sea-side town of Lahinch and the bustle of Dublin.
For 10 days in May, Freeport graduates Zoe Soilis and Jenna Manke toured Ireland with their Allegheny College women's basketball teammates and played three games against international competition.
But what Soilis and Manke got most out of the trip didn't show up in pictures or in box scores.
“Honestly, it was a great team-building trip,” said Soilis, who will be the only senior on a young Gator roster this coming winter. “Yeah, we played games and saw a lot of Ireland, but we hung out with each other a lot and got to know each other all a whole lot better. I got to get to know a lot of the younger players who I probably wouldn't have hung out with a lot.”
That was the goal of the trip from the start.
“A lot of people don't get this kind of experience,” Manke said. “We learned so much about each other. I even learned more about Zoe.”
The games didn't go Allegheny's way on the court as the Gators lost all three.
But they played against some top-notch talent, including the Ireland U20 National Team.
“It was pretty cool playing against the best players from the whole country,” Soilis said. “We held our own against them a little bit.”
The games were played by international rules. The 3-point line was farther back and the shot clock was 24 seconds instead of 30.
Soilis said there were a few interesting moments as the team adjusted to the different rules, including Soilis herself.“Once you pass half-court, you can't pass the ball to someone in the back-court on inbound plays,” Soilis said. “In the first game I caught a ball inbounded into the back-court and they said, 'You can't do that.'”Once they adjusted to the rules, Soilis and Manke both said the team got invaluable experience playing together.It was a bonus three games for a program coming off a tough season in 2018-19.The Gators went 6-20 and just 2-14 in the conference.“I think it was really tough. We lost one of our best players in graduation,” Soilis said. “But we have some incoming freshmen who I'm told are very talented and I think we'll get better.”Soilis has remade herself at Allegheny College.A prolific scorer in high school — she surpassed 1,000 career points and is the all-time leader at Freeport in 3-pointers — Soilis has now become a well-rounded player for the Gators.It wasn't easy to get there.“When I got to the college level I realized, 'Holy cow, I'm terrible at defense,'” Soilis said. “It was just the speed of the game that was completely different. Even in the first practices when we'd play pick-up, I got super winded. I thought I was in good shape, but I wasn't.”
Soilis dedicated herself to becoming better defensively. Now she's one of the best defenders on the team.“Last year I was guarding the best players on the other team,” Soilis said.She said she owes a lot of her improvement to Knoch boys basketball coach Ron McNabb, who she saw for private workouts at Legends of Pittsburgh Fitness at the Pittsburgh Mills Mall.“He just does a ton of drills,” Soilis said. “He pushes you. Tons of dribbling. Tons of shooting. Tons of moves. His workouts are like an hour and a half and I'm so tired at the end of them, but they are so good.”Manke is also in the process of reinventing herself.Heading into her sophomore year, Manke is trying to make the full transition from undersized forward in high school to shooting guard.At Freeport, Manke was a formidable inside presence, averaging 12.2 points and 8.3 rebounds during her senior year.In Ireland, Manke found a shooting groove.“In high school I was nervous to shoot,” Manke said. “When had 10 players who could do that. In Ireland, I definitely got some confidence. Once I took some shots and made them, I was like, 'Oh, I can do this.' It became much more natural.”
