Bio

Patricia Gandolfo had the size and the skills to be an impact player for the Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Volleyball team when she arrived from Porto Alegre, Brazil, in fall 2006. What made her one of the program’s great players, however, was her consistency and her ability to connect with her teammates.

“Pati was a player who made an immediate impact because of her size and skill, but what made her great was her consistency,” Grizzly Volleyball Head Coach Paula Wiedemann recalled. “At 6 feet, 2 inches, she was a presence on the front row, but she also was skilled enough to consistently be a solid passer and defender on the back row. Her ability to adapt as an attacker was a huge strength, and her blocking just added to it.

“But even more valuable than the way she played the game, was her ability to connect with her teammates and others,” the coach added. “She was a great teammate whose personality became a part of who we were as a group. As a coach, you see how a team develops around certain players, and Pati gave her teammates a fun – but competitive, determined – but not too serious, positive feel they loved.”

Gandolfo, who won several state championships with her Monteiro Lobato High School teammates in Brazil, quickly made her presence known during her freshman season in 2006. She earned all-tournament team honors at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith Invitational with a team-leading 67 kills, .361 attacking percentage, 60 digs and 78 points earned. It was the first of many accolades she would receive over the next two seasons.

Her MVP performance at the First National Bank Grizzly Invitational, where she recorded 58 kills, a .393 attacking percentage, 21 blocks, seven aces and 87 points earned, garnered her Player of the Week recognition from the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA).

And, her composure under pressure, such as during the NJCAA Division I Women’s National Volleyball Championship Tournament where she helped guide the Grizzlies to a third-place finish on their home court in 2006 (one of Gandolfo’s favorite memories), earned her all-tournament team honors on that national stage.

“Her court awareness and ability to pick apart a defense as an attacker made her a frustrating player to play against,” Wiedemann explained. “She could take a big swing, which gets your attention, but would follow it with finding a hole in the defense and just placing the ball there. She played without having a ‘hit-it-hard ego,’ which can get in the way of a lot of players. In addition, as hard as she worked on offense, she made our team better on defense with her court sense and ability to read her opponents.”

The 2007 season brought more than its share of ups and downs for the Grizzlies as they struggled through a series of injuries, but Gandolfo showed her teammates they could count on her, no matter what. “As Pati matured as a player, she just kept giving more and more confidence to her teammates,” Wiedemann said. “When things would get tough on the court, she was a go-to player you could count on. That is a valuable quality, and she had it!”

She set the tone in 2007 with an all-tournament team performance at the season-opening Iowa Western Community College Invitational, where she recorded 57 kills and a .422 attacking percentage, and she used her skills as a player and communicator to help the Grizzlies keep pace throughout the season as they adapted to different rotations due to player injuries. Although sidelined by injury herself at one point, Gandolfo did what she could through her personality and connections with teammates to keep them relaxed and focused on the games.

“She made a positive impact on the teams on which she played because she made a difference in so many areas,” Wiedemann said. “Not only in the skill with which she played, but also the energy and ‘feel’ she brought to the court. It gave everyone, teammates and coaches alike, something we enjoyed being around. Her sense of humor, ability to draw people toward her and how she played the game was a big part of our success.”

Gandolfo admitted her ability to connect with her teammates may have been her greatest contribution to the program. “I think I can easily connect to everyone on the team, with every personality, so I was able to help a teammate whenever she was struggling,” she said.

The Grizzlies went on to pick up their ninth NJCAA Region 16 championship in 2007, earning their ninth straight trip to the national tournament. Although they couldn’t replicate the previous season’s results, they did reach the third round, thanks in large part to Gandolfo’s performance.

“Pati was a great player who made everyone around her a better player,” Wiedemann said. “She understood the game so well, and her teammates valued her knowledge on the court and didn’t feel threatened by it. Her teammates loved her. They had fun together, they worked hard together, and they were successful together.”

The Grizzlies posted a 72-20 record during Gandolfo’s tenure with the team, winning two Region 16 titles and a third-place trophy at nationals. In addition to numerous all-tournament team honors, Gandolfo received first team All-Region 16 honors both seasons, first team NJCAA and American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-American honors in 2006 and second team NJCAA and AVCA All-American honors in 2007.

She also made her mark on the Grizzly record books. She is fifth in career attacking percentage (.376) for middle attackers and all attackers; sixth in career points earned (1,335); and eighth in career solo blocks (100), career total blocks (321) and career attacking attempts (2,007).

Gandolfo graduated from Missouri State-West Plains in May 2008 with an Associate of Arts in General Studies degree and transferred the University of West Florida in Pensacola to play for the Argonauts. In 2008, she helped guide the team to a 31-8 record, the Gulf South Conference (GSC) championship and a “Sweet 16” appearance at the NCAA Division II National Championships. In 2009, she helped direct the Argonauts to a 23-13 record and another Gulf South Conference championship.

She earned multiple individual honors, including all-region academic team, All- GSC Academic Team, first team All-GSC Team, GSC Defensive Player of the Week, GSC Offensive Player of the Week, GSC Most Outstanding Player, South Region All-Tournament Team, GSC Newcomers Team, and NCAA Division II third team All-American. She also was named to the GSC All-Decade Team.

Gandolfo received a Bachelor of Communication Arts-Advertising degree from University of West Florida in 2010 and is currently an assistant coach with the university’s volleyball team.

She credits her time at Missouri State-West Plains for preparing her for her future success. “All of the relationships I built in West Plains were phenomenal. The tough training and matches that we played all season long taught me that if we don’t give our all, we won’t win the match. The conditioning helped me get in better shape to perform better on the court. And the support from the community was unbelievable! It was a very humbling experience for me, and it helped me grow as a player and as a better person,” she said.

The community support, Gandolfo said, is another of her fondest memories as a Grizzly. “The gatherings with the Grizzly Booster Club members, I always loved talking to people after the matches and socializing. Anywhere we went people were nice, and everybody followed Grizzly Athletics. That was something I would always tell my family, about how much support we always got from the people of West Plains,” she said.

“I really appreciate everything that Missouri State-West Plains did for me as a player and especially as a person,” she added. “The support that every athlete has there is amazing. I am seriously humbled and beyond honored to join the Grizzly Hall of Fame!”

Grizzly Career Statistics

•  2006-2007
• Total Games Played 280
• Kills 956 * 3.41/set
• Attack Attempts 2,007
• Attacking Percentage .375
• Assists 67 * .23/set
• Blocks 321 * 1.15/set
• Aces 58
• Digs 614 * 2.19/set
• Points Earned 1,335

University of West Florida Career Statistics

• 2008-2009
• Games played 259
• Kills 738 * 2.85/set
• Attack Attempts 1,727
• Attacking Percentage .312
• Assists 22 * .08/set
• Blocks 244 * .94/set
• Aces 73
• Digs 208 * .80/game
• Points Earned 1,055