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James Madison University | Official Athletics Site
Hall of Fame Spotlight: Volleyball's Karla Gessler
1/18/2017 10:00:00 AM | Hall of Fame
James Madison will welcome its newest class into the Athletics Hall of Fame on Saturday, January 28th. Tickets for the event are on sale now at JMUSports.com. As we approach induction day, JMUSports.com will feature members of the new class each week.Â
Today's article highlights former volleyball star Karla Gessler Holmes.
The only four-time First Team All-CAA selection in JMU volleyball history, Karla Gessler Holmes led the Dukes to two CAA Championships and two NCAA appearances during her JMU career (1997-2000).
Prior to the 2016 season, Gessler ranked first in career hitting percentage (.342), seventh in career kills (1,157), eighth in kills per game (2.70), ninth in career sets played (428), second in solo blocks (112), seventh in block assists (275), fifth in total blocks (387), eighth in block average (0.90) and 10th in aces (115). She also ranked first in season hitting percentage with a .384 average in 1999.
In 1999, the Dukes went 26-7 overall, winning the CAA regular season and tournament before advancing to the Stanford Regional of the NCAA Division I Tournament. Gessler was named First Team All-CAA and ranked 11th nationally in hitting percentage (.384) during the season.
In 2000, Gessler's senior season, JMU again won the CAA Tournament and made an NCAA Tournament appearance. Gessler was named CAA Scholar Athlete, CAA Championship Tournament MVP, All-CAA First Team and All-State First Team member and led the CAA in hitting percentage (.352).
Q&A With Karla
1. When you think about your time as a student-athlete at JMU, what highlights or memories stand out?
Winning JMU's first ever CAA volleyball championship with eight beautiful, talented, strong, hilarious and fantastic teammates and our coaches. Â We had a group of fans who usually came to our home games and heckled and painted themselves. They showed up at William &Â Mary and cheered us to victory. Â We had a small but fierce team.
2. What memories stand out about JMU as a university?
That cliche people always mention about JMU students holding doors open for each other is so true. I don't know why or how it started, but that friendly attitude is so contagious and students seem to embrace it no matter where they come from.Â
3. What team rituals or traditions do you miss the most? Â
I loved riding in our team vans through the beautiful fall foliage on the way to away games and listening to mixed tapes some of the players put together. I still picture it when I hear some of the songs by the Beastie Boys, Violent Femmes, Cake and Prodigy. Â My senior year, we started chartering buses and everyone had their own row on the bus and put on their headphones and it just wasn't the same. You really get to know your teammates when you ride together in an old non-airconditioned 12-passenger van!
4. What kept you motivated on a daily basis as a student-athlete? Â
I just loved volleyball and my team. There were very few practices where I didn't have fun the whole time. Â We were lucky enough to have the best and most motivational strength coach I've ever met, Greg Werner. Â He used a lot of powerful imagery to inspire everyone to work our hardest and turned us into pseudo body-builders. Â We ran through campus in the rain singing military style cadences and one time, did a blindfolded walk through a field of cow patties near Massanutten while our teammates guided us. We had an enthusiastic Curt Dudley announcing all of our home games with great gusto and remarkable annunciation. Â His familiar voice was always great to hear at the games and he was a fun guy to travel with. Our coach, Chris Beerman, was a man who made things very personal. It wasn't just a game. It was a game where we were out to conquer those people on the other side of the net. He'd go over our opponents' strategies and personalities at length during our pregame film sessions to get us all psyched up. Â Jeff Bourne was also someone who regularly stopped by practices and games, which made us feel like an important priority to the athletic program.Â
5. If you could go back in time to your time here at JMU as a student-athlete, would you do anything differently?Â
I'd sit in the front of class and get to know my professors. I got good grades, but I think I could've gotten a little more out of it if I had made an effort for it to be more personal.  They were accessible, but most of the time, I was more worried about getting to D-Hall!  If I could redo any sports moment, it would be on match point in the last home game of my teammate, Lindsay Collingwood's senior year (my junior year). I was up to serve right after a time out where Curt Dudley told us she only needed one more kill to break the all time kill record. She was in the front row and all I really needed to do was serve an easy ball so it would come back to us and she'd get an opportunity for a kill (or serve it into the net).  I served a really weak ball thinking it would hit the net. It hit the top of the net and fell just on their side and we won the game.  If I could go back, I'd wait until the ref blew the whistle to serve and I'd serve the ball straight into the ground so we'd be on serve receive and Lindsay would get that one kill on our home court. I'm sure balloons and confetti would have fallen from the ceiling and it would have been the game-winning and record-breaking kill witnessed by all her friends, fans, and family.  Instead, she went on the break the record at an away match without any fanfare.  It would have been a joyous moment to celebrate her record at home, not to mention a really cool thing to serve the ball straight into the floor on purpose.
6. How would you compare being a student-athlete in your time vs. today? Â
Back when I played, we didn't have liberos and unlimited substitutions, so players were less specialized and you had to be a more well-rounded player to have success (in my humble opinion). Â Big hitters would also play in the back row (today, many get subbed out and a specialist plays the back row). We played games to 15, which was fun because it was more possible to beat a team without them scoring many points. Â We also had printed media guides with cool action shots of us. Most of that stuff is online these days.Â
7. How well have you stayed connected to JMU since your time as a student-athlete? Â
I was a member of the chapter of the DFW Dukes while living in north Texas. Since moving to California, I haven't gotten involved with alums locally. I've gone back for a couple alumni weekends to watch the team play and meet up with old teammates.Â
8. What was your greatest achievement individually and as a team during your time at JMU? Â
Individually, it is so hard to say since volleyball is such a team sport. Â One game that sticks in my mind was when American University came to play us at home, thinking they were going to crush us. We beat them in three games easily and, during one play, I was a little off balance, but I stuck my hand up and one-handed blocked on of their most cocky player when she thought she was hitting on an open net. Â It was fun to watch that during our postgame film review as Coach Beerman kept rewinding and replaying it. As a team, we won back-to-back CAA championships, which are still among my fondest memories and what I consider to be my favorite accomplishments to date.Â
9. What are you doing today in your professional career?Â
 I'm a stay-at-home mom to twin girls who are three and a half and an 18-month-old boy currently. Previously, I was an IT program manager. Â
Today's article highlights former volleyball star Karla Gessler Holmes.
The only four-time First Team All-CAA selection in JMU volleyball history, Karla Gessler Holmes led the Dukes to two CAA Championships and two NCAA appearances during her JMU career (1997-2000).
Prior to the 2016 season, Gessler ranked first in career hitting percentage (.342), seventh in career kills (1,157), eighth in kills per game (2.70), ninth in career sets played (428), second in solo blocks (112), seventh in block assists (275), fifth in total blocks (387), eighth in block average (0.90) and 10th in aces (115). She also ranked first in season hitting percentage with a .384 average in 1999.
In 1999, the Dukes went 26-7 overall, winning the CAA regular season and tournament before advancing to the Stanford Regional of the NCAA Division I Tournament. Gessler was named First Team All-CAA and ranked 11th nationally in hitting percentage (.384) during the season.
In 2000, Gessler's senior season, JMU again won the CAA Tournament and made an NCAA Tournament appearance. Gessler was named CAA Scholar Athlete, CAA Championship Tournament MVP, All-CAA First Team and All-State First Team member and led the CAA in hitting percentage (.352).
Q&A With Karla
1. When you think about your time as a student-athlete at JMU, what highlights or memories stand out?
Winning JMU's first ever CAA volleyball championship with eight beautiful, talented, strong, hilarious and fantastic teammates and our coaches. Â We had a group of fans who usually came to our home games and heckled and painted themselves. They showed up at William &Â Mary and cheered us to victory. Â We had a small but fierce team.
2. What memories stand out about JMU as a university?
That cliche people always mention about JMU students holding doors open for each other is so true. I don't know why or how it started, but that friendly attitude is so contagious and students seem to embrace it no matter where they come from.Â
3. What team rituals or traditions do you miss the most? Â
I loved riding in our team vans through the beautiful fall foliage on the way to away games and listening to mixed tapes some of the players put together. I still picture it when I hear some of the songs by the Beastie Boys, Violent Femmes, Cake and Prodigy. Â My senior year, we started chartering buses and everyone had their own row on the bus and put on their headphones and it just wasn't the same. You really get to know your teammates when you ride together in an old non-airconditioned 12-passenger van!
4. What kept you motivated on a daily basis as a student-athlete? Â
I just loved volleyball and my team. There were very few practices where I didn't have fun the whole time. Â We were lucky enough to have the best and most motivational strength coach I've ever met, Greg Werner. Â He used a lot of powerful imagery to inspire everyone to work our hardest and turned us into pseudo body-builders. Â We ran through campus in the rain singing military style cadences and one time, did a blindfolded walk through a field of cow patties near Massanutten while our teammates guided us. We had an enthusiastic Curt Dudley announcing all of our home games with great gusto and remarkable annunciation. Â His familiar voice was always great to hear at the games and he was a fun guy to travel with. Our coach, Chris Beerman, was a man who made things very personal. It wasn't just a game. It was a game where we were out to conquer those people on the other side of the net. He'd go over our opponents' strategies and personalities at length during our pregame film sessions to get us all psyched up. Â Jeff Bourne was also someone who regularly stopped by practices and games, which made us feel like an important priority to the athletic program.Â
5. If you could go back in time to your time here at JMU as a student-athlete, would you do anything differently?Â
I'd sit in the front of class and get to know my professors. I got good grades, but I think I could've gotten a little more out of it if I had made an effort for it to be more personal.  They were accessible, but most of the time, I was more worried about getting to D-Hall!  If I could redo any sports moment, it would be on match point in the last home game of my teammate, Lindsay Collingwood's senior year (my junior year). I was up to serve right after a time out where Curt Dudley told us she only needed one more kill to break the all time kill record. She was in the front row and all I really needed to do was serve an easy ball so it would come back to us and she'd get an opportunity for a kill (or serve it into the net).  I served a really weak ball thinking it would hit the net. It hit the top of the net and fell just on their side and we won the game.  If I could go back, I'd wait until the ref blew the whistle to serve and I'd serve the ball straight into the ground so we'd be on serve receive and Lindsay would get that one kill on our home court. I'm sure balloons and confetti would have fallen from the ceiling and it would have been the game-winning and record-breaking kill witnessed by all her friends, fans, and family.  Instead, she went on the break the record at an away match without any fanfare.  It would have been a joyous moment to celebrate her record at home, not to mention a really cool thing to serve the ball straight into the floor on purpose.
6. How would you compare being a student-athlete in your time vs. today? Â
Back when I played, we didn't have liberos and unlimited substitutions, so players were less specialized and you had to be a more well-rounded player to have success (in my humble opinion). Â Big hitters would also play in the back row (today, many get subbed out and a specialist plays the back row). We played games to 15, which was fun because it was more possible to beat a team without them scoring many points. Â We also had printed media guides with cool action shots of us. Most of that stuff is online these days.Â
7. How well have you stayed connected to JMU since your time as a student-athlete? Â
I was a member of the chapter of the DFW Dukes while living in north Texas. Since moving to California, I haven't gotten involved with alums locally. I've gone back for a couple alumni weekends to watch the team play and meet up with old teammates.Â
8. What was your greatest achievement individually and as a team during your time at JMU? Â
Individually, it is so hard to say since volleyball is such a team sport. Â One game that sticks in my mind was when American University came to play us at home, thinking they were going to crush us. We beat them in three games easily and, during one play, I was a little off balance, but I stuck my hand up and one-handed blocked on of their most cocky player when she thought she was hitting on an open net. Â It was fun to watch that during our postgame film review as Coach Beerman kept rewinding and replaying it. As a team, we won back-to-back CAA championships, which are still among my fondest memories and what I consider to be my favorite accomplishments to date.Â
9. What are you doing today in your professional career?Â
 I'm a stay-at-home mom to twin girls who are three and a half and an 18-month-old boy currently. Previously, I was an IT program manager. Â
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