Isabel de Koninck, a second-year rabbinical student at the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, is not only a talented student, but also an accomplished athlete. She was the only rabbinical student to compete on the U.S. volleyball team at the 2005 World Maccabiah Games. In fact, she was the only such student on the entire USA delegation to that Olympic-style competition, which attracted 7,000 Jewish athletes from more than 60 countries.

De Koninck, who has played volleyball for about ten years, says the blending of her spirituality and competitiveness come together on the court in a way that makes the experience unusually fulfilling.

"For me, playing volleyball is more than just a game. All the adrenalin that makes you play well also helps create a spiritual experience," she says. "Really combining the Jewish experience with the athletic experience - infusing the spirit of athletic competition with Judaism - totally excites me."

De Koninck played on the women's volleyball team each of her four years at Brandeis University, a Division III school, where she graduated in 2004 with a bachelor's degree in Near Eastern and Judaic studies. In three of her four years as a defensive specialist, her team competed in the ECAC tournament. In her senior year, when de Koninck was co-captain, the team tied the school record for wins and placed as an ECAC runner-up. That was the year the team ranked among the top 10 in New England.

Overall, her team's career record at Brandeis was 85-66. CoSIDA (The College Sports Information Directors Association) named her an NCAA District 1 Academic All American in 2004, an honor that recognizes both her athletic and academic accomplishments.

De Koninck, a native of Montclair, NJ, is a Wexner Graduate Fellow at RRC. While at Brandeis, she received a number of academic honors, including a Presidential Scholarship, the David and Henrietta Chassler Prize in Judaic Studies, the Weissman Prize in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies and the Brandeis Alumni Leadership Award. Her honors thesis, Social Networks and the Expression of Jewish Identity on the College Campus, merited highest honors.