Eva Borrowdale - A New Home Across the Atlantic
9/30/2019 2:35:00 PM | Volleyball
When Lindsey Devine took over as head coach for the Alabama volleyball program at the end of December, she looked at her roster and saw some missing pieces. One of those pieces was a tall outside hitter.
Around that same time and more than 4,200 miles away in Sheffield, England, a 20-year-old outside hitter was looking to make the move from the United Kingdom to the United States to continue her dream of playing volleyball in the hope of trying to make a professional team the following year.
Eva Borrowdale was in her last year at Sheffield Hallam University and decided she wanted to make volleyball her profession. While at Sheffield Hallam, she was named the University's Sports Woman of the Year and played in the top league in the United Kingdom. She also has experience on the United Kingdom's national teams, playing on the U14, U16, U18 and U23 teams.
"She comes equipped with a lot of experiences that not all the U.S. players have coming out of club," Devine said.
She started to weigh her options on how to make a professional roster, and she started talking to different people to help her decide. One of the people she talked to said that she had a year left of eligibility in the United States.
She then got in contact with a recruiter, who normally brings over Brazilian players to the US.
"I was his first English student-athlete he was helping," Borrowdale said.
That recruiter started to get Borrowdale in touch with Devine and assistant coach Ladislav Lelkes, who had previously brought in players from Canada, Serbia and Italy while coaching alongside Devine at East Tennessee State.
Devine and Lelkes started to watch film on Borrowdale and noticed what they were searching for in early January.
"She's a graduate student, so she understands all the discipline and sacrifices that are needed to be a student-athlete," Devine said. "She's done it. After watching her, we knew she had some definite athleticism. We wanted to compete and she's a competitor."
When the three started talking, it was an easy choice for all three of them. Devine's pitch was simple and honest.
"It's about being real. I don't want to be someone I'm not," Devine said. "I try to give them a little insight to the volleyball, but I try to give an understanding of who I am and understand who they are. For relationships to work, it's all about trust and communication."
Borrowdale committed soon after she talked to Devine.
"I didn't really know a whole lot of what I was getting into, but I was excited about it," Borrowdale said.
The food was one of the biggest differences. The United Kingdom has made several efforts to reduce its sugar consumption, while only select cities in the United States have made that choice. While at home, she mainly would cook her own meals. Now that she's at Alabama, Borrowdale is living in a dorm and is eating at the dining halls or out at restaurants more.
"It's just a bit different," Borrowdale said. "It made me feel a bit weird for a couple of weeks."
So far, her favorite food has been the different types of chicken.
Alabama's heat also takes an adjustment for the 56.7% of its student population that comes from out-of-state and the 3.2% that are international students. In the month of August, the average high of Borrowdale's home of Sheffield is about 69 degrees. Tuscaloosa averaged a high of 96 degrees.
"It is just ridiculous," she said. "I think I've been here for about 16 or 17 weeks and I've started to get used to it."
Borrowdale is listed at 6-foot-3, but Devine believes that she is probably an inch taller, making her the tallest player on the 2019 roster by two inches.
"She has been able to use her athleticism and her height as weapons that have created some challenging moments for our opponents," Devine said.
Alabama has yet to play Kentucky, Florida and Missouri this year, the three SEC programs ranked in the most recent top 25. Each team has at least one player over 6-foot-3, with Florida having three players over 6-foot-6.
Borrowdale should make a difference when the Crimson Tide takes continues through its SEC schedule, which resumes this Wednesday at Auburn.
