On a victorious 36-assist night against Johnson & Wales University, junior setter Aislinn Lanigan cemented her name in Suffolk University volleyball history by securing her 1000th career assist, the seventh player in program history to accomplish this feat.
As a member of the 1000 assists club, Lanigan’s name will permanently be etched on a banner in the Ridgeway Gym, a celebration to the legacy of Suffolk’s greatest athletes.
“It’s a big honor, especially being up there with people I played with,” said Lanigan. “I think it’s awesome to have my name up there forever and be honored like this.”
Head coach Scott Blanchard had high praise for Lanigan, noting that he believes she has a chance at breaking the program assists record despite a two-setter scheme that often splits assists between the two setters.
“She’s already on the banner but she could make some real noise on the banner,” said Blanchard.
He explained that he believes the selfless play of athletes like Lanigan is a pivotal piece to the success of this program since taking over as head coach of the team.
“It’s the way she moves the ball around, she’s athletic, she’s very creative when the ball isn’t in a perfect situation. She’s not afraid to make that tough decision,” said Blanchard.
Lanigan credits the help of teammates like Jayla Martinez with how much she’s improved over the years at setting for this team.
The pride Lanigan feels in getting her teammates involved has led to her reaching the historic 1000-assist mark in under three seasons.
“I really want to give everyone a chance to get kills and score a point for the team,” said Lanigan. “Being able to do that for the hitters is really important.”
As a junior, Lanigan is having the best season of her Suffolk career so far. Halfway through the year, she set a career-high in assists for the season and had a game against Rhode Island College where she notched 52 assists in a single night.
To add onto her selfless playstyle, after her 52-assist game, Lanigan wanted to highlight the success of her teammates rather than her own career milestone.
“I never thought I’d be able to get that high, but it wasn’t just me who was able to get those points. It was also the other people on the team who helped me get those,” said Lanigan. “Every hitter who played that game got at least 10 kills, it was a team effort. We all pitched in to let that happen and we won that game which was also pretty great.”
The story of how Lanigan got to Suffolk starts all the way down in her hometown of Savannah, Georgia, where she first discovered volleyball towards the end of elementary school.
“I played basketball, tennis, and ran track a bit. It didn’t really compare to volleyball for me because of the team dynamic and how the game works,” said Lanigan. “I fell in love with it.”
Heading into college, Lanigan knew she wanted to go to a city and eventually decided on Boston, choosing to attend Suffolk while joining the volleyball team. It was here where she found everything she wanted in a university.
Travelling across the country came with its adjustments, but being on the volleyball team helped Lanigan get settled into Boston and meet people who she’d spend the next three years with.
“Being on a sports team helps to make friends. You already have built-in friends with your teammates, so that helps a ton,” said Lanigan. “All of my friends now are on the volleyball team and that definitely helped me.”
With the amount of change that occurs every year in college sports, through graduations and transfers, Lanigan highlighted how the team always seems to remain close even through all the change.
“About half of the team are new this year and the fact that we’re all so close is very inspiring,” said Lanigan.
Three years in, with the 1000-assist milestone met, an even more prestigious milestone of two thousand assists is still in sight. Blanchard believes she has a genuine shot at following in the footsteps of Suffolk volleyball legends like Harmony Johnson and getting to two thousand.
“We’ve had a lot of great players on this team and she’s another one in a long line of them. We’ll be anxious to see what she finishes up with assists-wise,” said Blanchard.Regardless of what Lanigan ends up with at the end, Blanchard noted that he’s been proud to coach her over the years.
To Blanchard, milestones set by players like Lanigan are what made the program as successful as it has been over the past few years. Blanchard shifted all of the credit for the program’s success directly to the players.
“Good coaches are made by good players,” said Blanchard.
