Julie Michella was surprised when she got the email that she was being inducted into the Le Moyne College Gold Wave Hall of Fame.

She hadn’t thought about her college volleyball career in a long time.

Michella, who graduated from Le Moyne in 2007, will be one of four former athletes inducted on Sept. 25 during the college’s John “Doc” Joiner Homecoming Weekend. She graduated from Pine Bush High School in 2003.

“It really means so much to me,” Michella said. “I absolutely loved my four years at Le Moyne, and I was so honored and humbled to have been chosen.

She will be inducted alongside Ben Beaury (2018 men’s soccer), Jennifer Feher (2004, women’s basketball) and Matt Stevens (baseball), along with the 2006-07 men’s golf team.

Michella, then Julie McLaud, will become just the third volleyball player in program history to earn induction into the Gold Wave Hall of Fame after compiling one of the most accomplished careers ever by a Dolphins setter, playing under then-coach Ken King, who she described as a second father.

“He just took me under his wing and really made me feel so comfortable to run the team as the setter because the setter is kind of like the quarterback in football,” Michella said. “He gave me a lot of freedom under his offensive scheme to be able to be myself and just allow me to deliver the ball to my hitters who were amazing.”

A three-time Northeast-10 Conference all-star, Michella remains Le Moyne’s career leader with 4,360 assists over 115 matches and still holds the program record with 11.27 assists per set. She added 414 kills, 925 digs, 167 service aces and 193 total blocks during her four-year career from 2003-06.

Michella earned Northeast-10 Third Team honors as a sophomore and junior before being selected to the All-Conference First Team as a senior in 2006, becoming just the third player in program history to receive first-team recognition.

Her name appears throughout the Le Moyne record book. Michella owns the single-season record with 1,358 assists in 2006 and the best single-season assists-per-set average at 11.85 in 2005. She also set the school record with 552 service attempts in 2006 while posting the fourth-most assists in a season (1,149 in 2004) and the ninth-most (1,019 in 2005).

Michella is the only player in program history to average at least 10 assists per set in each of her four seasons and the only setter to record more than 300 digs in a season, finishing with 338 in 2006. Her .360 hitting percentage in 2004 ranks fourth in school history for a single season.

“I definitely wouldn’t have had the stats that I had without all of the hitters on my team because they were incredible,” Michella said.

Michella took the lessons she learned at Le Moyne and translated that into a successful coaching career at Wallkill Senior High School.

“From the start, I instilled in my team some of the values I took away from my college experience at Le Moyne, including just being a great supportive teammate,” Michella said. “I learned a lot of valuable lessons from my head coach about how to treat your athletes and how to get your athletes to buy into what you want to accomplish in your program, and to do it in a way where you make them feel special and valued while also trying to get the most out of their athletic potential.”

The induction ceremony is part of Le Moyne’s annual John “Doc” Joiner Homecoming Weekend celebration on Sept. 25, which is in the middle of the scholastic volleyball season. However, she lucked out as the Panthers won’t have a tournament that weekend and it’s a month short of playoff time.

“I can’t wait to be back at The Heights, which is the nickname for Le Moyne, and see all the changes that have been made,” Michella said. “It’s been a while since I’ve gotten the chance to just be around the campus and see everything that’s new, and go into my old dorm room and where I had classes.”