Wake Forest Athletics
Deacon Sports Xtra: Dostal Found Unexpected Home at Wake Forest
8/26/2021 12:00:00 PM | Field Hockey
A last-minute visit brought the Hall of Famer and three-time national champion a life-changing experience as a member of the Demon Deacon field hockey program.
This piece is the first of a series of stories to celebrate 50 Years of Women's Intercollegiate Athletics at Wake Forest, presented by Blue Cross NC.
Kelly Dostal already made up her mind that she wasn't going to attend Wake Forest, but took advantage of the recruiting trip to get away for the weekend, take in some high level college field and visit fellow New Englander Kelly Doton, who had become a Demon Deacon the previous year.
"I visited Wake Forest and I loved it," Dostal said. "Meeting with (head coach) Jen Averill — she really epitomized what I was looking for in a program. One of the things that helped narrow my school choice was that I wanted a really phenomenal academic experience and I wanted that to be coupled with a strong athletic program as well. Wake Forest was really turning the corner at that point, creeping into the rankings and making the postseason.
"The staff was really confident in the direction the program was headed in the coming years. I ultimately committed to Wake Forest and it obviously was a phenomenal decision."
The staff's confidence came to fruition. Dostal and the Demon Deacons made it to the Final Four all four seasons of her career — claiming three-straight National Championships from 2002-2004. That started an incredible run of nine-straight Final Four appearances for the program.
"That first fall, my freshman year, we went to the Final Four and lost in the semifinal game," Dostal said. "Any team that goes to the NCAA Tournament — that's a dream come true. But then getting to the Final Four in my freshman year, I just really knew that I made the right decision.
"We were one of the top four teams in the country, and I knew we were going to continue to be really good. You just hope you can repeat it the next year, and little did we know we were going to have this really special run of several years."
Getting so close to a national championship opportunity fueled the program during the ensuing offseason, as they collectively decided to put in the work to repeat and advance even further in the NCAA Tournament.
"When you come out losing in overtime in the national semifinals — you hold onto that for a while," Dostal said. "Those are moments that can really fuel how your team trains in the offseason. We did a great job of eliminating distractions and staying as focused as we could to make the Final Four the next season and make it to that championship game. The biggest motivator for us was feeling that burn and having a group of people all focused on the same thing."
The run of three-consecutive titles was something that Dostal didn't completely appreciate until later in life.
"I went to the Final Four all four years I was at Wake Forest," she said. "You're kind of in the moment, and don't realize what's going on until you're almost done with school.
"Jen and her staff — you have to recruit the right student-athletes, and not just the players, but their family. You want a family that is supportive of the program and the decisions the coaching staff is making. You really want to build a culture that is striving toward consistent excellence. Jen and her staff did a great job of setting up a team that year after year embodied a lot of that. You bring that group of talented people together who have similar goals and work ethic. You get focused on a common mission and goal, and you're going to have a positive outcome."
While each championship run had its special moments, the first and final one meant even more to Dostal.
"Doing it for the first time is always going to be special, and then the first time winning a national championship is always going to be special — that's something it's worked for since its inception," she said. "That was also the first women's national championship at Wake Forest from any sport. That carries such significance. What does this mean for the history of the school and the history of women's athletics at Wake Forest? It also impacts the future while honoring those who came before us and paved the way.
"The first one was incredibly magical and this special run. But you could say some of the same things about the second and the third ones."
The 2004 National Championship was claimed in Winston-Salem on the campus of Wake Forest.
"You have that hometown crowd. Not many student-athletes get to end their career on a win," Dostal said. "If you end your career on a win, then you're pretty much winning a national championship. To be able to end your career on a win, end on your campus with your home crowd and be able to give back to your school that way — that's incredibly special. All three of them hold special memories."
Now in senior leadership at Dell Technologies, Dostal is committed to give back to help future student-athletes achieve their dreams of competing at the Division I level at Wake Forest.
"You leave a better person than you came in," she said. "I'm in a position now because of some of the skills I gained at Wake Forest, to be able to give back. I give back my time as well as more from a philanthropic position.
"I just want to make sure Wake Forest student-athletes have the best-possible experience that they can. That doesn't happen without the support of people who came before them. You don't realize or graph that until after you're gone. So giving back has been really important to me. It's an amazing place for me to give back both time and money. We had tremendous success in the program during that time, and it was a life-changing four years for me."
The entire personal and professional journey for Dostal, who was inducted into the Wake Forest Hall of Fame in 2016, started as a result of a weekend recruiting trip to a school in which she was convinced she wouldn't attend.
"I went into it with no expectations, and sometimes that can open up some special and unique things," Dostal said. "I had a great recruiting trip. The coaching staff was great. The team was phenomenal. The campus was beautiful and everything aligned for me. It was a special weekend that turned into an incredible four years for me.
"During my time at Wake Forest, I believe I developed as an athlete, a student and a person. I left Wake Forest as a better person than I was when I entered school."
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