How long have you been playing volleyball, and what motivates you to keep playing?
“I’ve been playing since I was in fifth grade, so that’s seven years. I’ve been playing select for four years.”
What position do you play, and what do you enjoy most about it?
“I’m a middle, and even though I don’t have a lot of sets, I like how I get to set the block and help everyone on the court without actually touching the ball. I’m always doing something, so I think it’s really fun.”
What is something you’ve gained from playing volleyball?
“I’ve learned how big my mentality is, and how big my thoughts determine what actually happens on the court. Volleyball has made me realize that I need to have positive self-talk and be nice to myself because it really does affect my life and how I play.”
What aspirations or goals do you have for yourself in your sport, during high school or potentially college?
“I would love to play college and keep playing the game. I love everything about volleyball, playing with my friends and being with them, just not knowing what’s going to happen. And, obviously, I just kind of hope that we stay undefeated for JV.”
Is there any advice you would give to your younger self or younger athletes?
“Be fearless. I was so hung up on if I would make a mistake, and how people would look at me. I was worried about people thinking I’m terrible, but it doesn’t really matter that much. Nobody is going to remember, so just go for it.”
What does a typical training week look like for you during the season?
“On Monday, we have practice until 4:30 p.m., so we have around two hours of practice. We do our gameday on Tuesday, which is super fun. We usually get home around 10:30p.m. On Wednesday and Thursday, we also have two hour practices, and a lot of times we’ll work on conditioning. On top of that, Friday is another game day, and that one actually usually goes later. “
How do you balance academics and athletics, especially during the volleyball season?
“I’m trying to figure that out, but I utilize my time a lot. We get a study hall before every game day, but I also prioritize how long it’s going to take me, so sometimes while I watch varsity games I’ll do that. Right now I am in all honors classes, and then next semester I am taking an AP class.”
How would you describe the team dynamic and culture on your volleyball team?
“It’s so fun. I love my teammates, and I love my friends on my court. Everybody’s so genuine there. There’s a word that we use in volleyball called ‘MUTIA,’ and it means genuine happiness for other people and their success. The bench is always excited for the people in the court, and everybody’s supportive, everybody’s pushing you to be better, and if you make a mistake, nobody really cares. We’re only really focusing on how better you’re getting.”
How do you handle setbacks or losses, both individually and as a team?
“As a team, we go and immediately make a game plan in the locker room with what we’re going to fix, or what went wrong during that game. And we don’t blame each other while we do, we just give shoutouts and we say, ‘Here’s what happened that was good, and here’s what we need to work on’. We’ll work on specific drills for that. Specifically, I’ll go home if it’s a really bad game, and I’ll write down what happened and what went wrong and what I’m going to do to fix it. Sometimes, I’ll go to the coach and ask for help on this specific set, I usually bring one focus to practice for the rest of the week. I pick one thing that I’m going to get better at to easily see the tangible change.”
