The U’s Defensive Gem
Six years ago, Paula Gentil (Jen-SHU) wouldn’t have dreamt about playing volleyball for the Minnesota Gophers. At 16 years of age, Gentil left her hometown of Fortaleza, Brazil to add English to her native Portuguese. Gentil traveled to Orlando, Fla. and enrolled at Lake Highland Prep School. She planned to spend six months there, learn English and come back home to her family. Six years later, Paula is still in America, she’s merely moved from Florida’s southeast tip to Minnesota’s Land of 10,000 Lakes.Gophers head volleyball coach Mike Hebert stumbled onto a volleyball gem he refused to lose sight of. …