Marquette’s women’s lacrosse coach Meredith Black has a young team on her hands — of the fifteen total players, ten are freshmen. As such, sophomores Jennifer Zandlo and Meredith Donaldson provide much needed experience as transfers.
“Getting girls with Division I experience was huge, because we knew we were starting the program from scratch,” Black said. “Having someone with some idea of what’s going on was helpful.”
Zandlo hails from Coon Rapids, Minn., and decided to join the Golden Eagles after one year at Niagara. She grew up behind the plate as a catcher playing softball. Zandly credits this experience with putting her in the net in lacrosse, because she did not want to play on her high school’s fast-pitch softball team.
She earned All-American academic honors while playing three years of varsity lacrosse for Totino-Grace High School. Her leadership did not go unnoticed with a third place finish at the state tournament as captain in her junior year.
Teammate Meredith Donaldson feels that Zandlo’s leadership is present in the same way now as the voice of the defense.
“(Zandlo) definitely stays composed and keeps her poise,” Donaldson said. “The goalie has to be the voice of the defense. She harps on doing that and does a very good job of leading the defense, which is key.”
Donaldson also made a name for herself before coming to Marquette as a member of the varsity lacrosse team at St. Andrew’s School from eighth grade through her senior year in Boca Raton, Fla. She started playing basketball when she was five years old, and her goal was to follow that through for her career, but a lacrosse All-American title changed that thought.
“At the end of my junior year, I ended up getting named an All-American for lacrosse, and that’s when I thought, ‘Well, this lacrosse thing can work for me,’” Donaldson said. “That fueled me because I had a passion for the game, and it related a lot to basketball.”
Being a multi-sport athlete in high school has worked in Donaldson’s favor as her quickness and ability to bait defenders is what makes her stand out on the field. Zandlo believes her teammate brings more to the team than just her athletic attributes.
“One strength is her intensity when she’s on the field,” said Zandlo. “She’s definitely focused in, and she expects a lot of everyone else when they’re on the field as well.”
Donaldson was a member of the Quinnipiac team that posted a 13-5 record and won its first division title in school history in 2011. Zandlo started seven games at Niagara and recorded 75 saves in eight games. It has almost been a year since the team was brought together for the first time, and Black feels that they have done an excellent job of taking the freshmen girls with no experience under their wing.
“From day one, (Donaldson) took the reins of leading the team and helped them out any way she could. (Zandlo) is more of a leader by example and keeps the team settled,” Black said. “They’re both no-nonsense great leaders.”
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Top Songs on their iPods
Donaldson: Smile Back by Mac Miller, Brighter than the Sun by Colbie Caillat, Out of Your Mind by Lil John and the Ying-Yang Twins
Zandlo: Everything by Michael Buble, The World’s Greatest by R. Kelly, All the Above by T-Pain and Maino.
Celebrity Look-a-like
Donaldson: I used to get Cameron Diaz, but not much anymore. I just think I have my own face.
Zandlo: Rachel McAdams
Bucket List
Donaldson: Skydive, white water rafting and, lastly, one of my ultimate career goals is to be in the military as a fighter pilot.
Zandlo: Bungee jump, fly an airplane, run a marathon.
Celebrity Crush
Donaldson: Taylor Lautner or Channing Tatum
Zandlo: Taylor Lautner
Advice for Aspiring Athletes
Donaldson: Work hard and when you think you’re working hard, work harder.
