Abington Heights junior Madison Zalewski gave her verbal commitment Jan. 2 to accept a National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I field hockey scholarship to continue her academic and athletic careers at Old Dominion University in Virginia.
Zalewski was a second-team, all-state selection in Class 2A this season for her role as one of the leaders of an Abington Heights team that captured the Wyoming Valley Conference Division 2 title for the program’s first division championship in 14 years.
After making an official visit to Louisville and unofficial visits to Old Dominion, Albany and Rutgers, Zalewski made up her mind in December and revealed her commitment Jan. 2.
“I started the recruiting process early from my freshman year and just going to a lot of tournaments and trying to get myself out there,” said Zalewski, who also plays for the Electric Surge travel team out of Luzerne County. “Playing basketball makes it a little hard because I’m not able to go to indoors (tournaments), but just being able to connect with schools and connect with coaches on a personal level, I just knew this fit me the best.”
Zalewski said she saw similarities between the Old Dominion coaches and the Electric Surge coaches.
Since starting her high school career, Zalewski aspired to play on the college level. She didn’t zero in on the Division I level until coaches were allowed to start contacting her directly June 15 going into her junior year and she was able to determine how many high-level schools were interested.
While playing midfield, Zalewski was the top scorer at Abington Heights with 18 goals and a team-high 14 assists.
Old Dominion went 15-3 and reached the Big East final in 2022. One of the nation’s premiere field hockey programs, it has made 31 NCAA Tournament appearances and won nine national titles.