Year: Senior
Major: Exercise Science
Minor: Spanish
Hometown: Fort Washington
Position: Outside Hitter
Last season, you helped the Royals reach the 20-win plateau for the first time in five seasons. What does the team need to do to repeat that success in 2013?
I think in order to reach 20 wins again, we need to be prepared both physically and, more importantly, mentally. With four starting seniors lost to graduation, a lot of pressure is going to be put on the underclassmen to step up, and I think we have the potential to do that. With a new coach coming in, we need to get familiar with his or her coaching style in order to have success in 2013.
Explain to us in one sentence what the responsibilities are for an outside hitter?
Since we play both back and front row, we have both offensive and defensive responsibilities on the court; this involves passing, serving and hitting.
Do you have any pre-match routines or superstitions?
I wear my hair the same way for each game, and I always listen to the same song right before our warm up starts.
When did you realize you wanted to play volleyball in college?
Since my sophomore year in high school, I knew I wanted to play a sport in college. Since I played volleyball year round and dedicated so much time to it, I knew it was the sport I wanted to continue with in college.
While in high school, you lettered in both volleyball and swimming. In your opinion, how are the sports similar?
Swimming always kept me in the shape I needed to be in for volleyball. In high school, there were many days I would go right from school to swim practice to volleyball practice. Both sports require a lot of leg strength, so they worked hand in hand to improve that.
Playing a game where you repeatedly dive on the floor sounds somewhat painful. What is your worst sports-related injury? How did it affect you?
My senior year of high school I sprained my ankle during a game. I was out for three weeks, and I think the hardest part was sitting on the sidelines during games and practices knowing I couldn’t do anything to help my team.
What is the most challenging academic course you’ve taken at Scranton?
Physics
What is your favorite place on campus?
Third-floor DeNaples food court
Who was your favorite athlete growing up?
Mia Hamm
Facebook or Twitter?
Favorite movie?
Despicable Me
Who is your favorite musician?
My favorite music to listen to is “Florence and the Machine.”
What percentage of people mispronounce your name? How often do you correct them?
A very large percentage of people mispronounce my name, but I think an even higher percentage of people don’t spell it correctly. I usually don’t correct them unless it is a recurring problem.
Tell us one thing only friends and family know about you.
While my room at school is always clean, my room at home looks like a tornado just blew through it.
