BATON ROUGE - Once former Acadiana High Lady Rams volleyball player Jamie Sinegal's high school career came to an end, she quickly turned her attention towards her number one goal - playing collegiate ball.

And although Sinegal didn't receive the interest that she thought she deserved, giving up was never an option.

"That's not me," Sinegal said. "I'm not the type of person to give up. When you give up that is when you really lose. Failure to me is to give up."

While she did have junior college opportunities, Sinegal continued to work hard with hopes that a Division I school would take notice.

And finally someone did as then Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns head coach Becky Madden, who has since left to take over the head coaching job at ESA, offered Sinegal a scholarship.

"I knew that I could have gone to junior college for two years," Sinegal said. "But I really wanted to play for Becky Madden. I wanted to stay close to home and I love the fact that my parents will have the opportunity to come out and see me play."

"I'm really excited for Jamie," Lady Rams volleyball coach Anne Roger said. "Jamie made the decision to play college ball late, because a lot of people thought she would go somewhere and run track. So I'm happy for her."

Roger said that the Cajuns are getting quite the competitor in Sinegal.

"Jamie is very confident," Roger said. "But she is also very much a competitor. Jamie is one of those people that on the court will do everything they can do to rise to the occasion. She is not the type of player to lay back when the game is at a critical point. She's the one to step up."

Although she has a college scholarship, Sinegal has continued to work hard during the summer.

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Eric Narcisse
enarcisse@theadvertiser.com