Sept. 15, 2000
Richard Gin (South San Francisco, CA)
My daughter (12 years old) is in love with volleyball for which I have noprior experience or knowledge. What advice can you give her that would makeher a better volleyball player (regimens, outlook, tips) etc.?
Sara: If you can somehow get her involved with a club team (S,F,Juniors?), that would be your best option. That is not only a good way forher to learn, but also to eventually be seen by college scouts if she isinterested. However, if this isn't an option, I would encourage her to geta ball and just practice by herself--setting/passing against a wall or to apartner just to work on ball control skills. Good luck, and keepencouraging her.
Claire Holton-Basaldua (San Francisco, CA)
I am an 8th grader at The Hamlin School in San Francisco. We have season tickets to the Stanford Cardinal Women's Volleyball. I've played club volleyball for the past two years with the S.F. Juniors. Our team took two titles at the National Junior Olympics (Bronze Division, 12s, New Orleans and 5th place gold division, 13s, Louisville.) I've also been on my school's varsity volleyball team since 6th grade. My position is middle blocker because I'm already 5'10". I also love science. Now I'm looking for high schools. Do you have any advice for being able to keep up good grades AND develop to my fullest as a volleyball player for college? Also, with my school and athletic schedule, how do I have a life? See you on 9/23. Good luck against UCLA!
Sara: First of all, congratulations on all of your accomplishments. Itdefinitely sounds like you're on the right path. The key to balancing goodgrades and volleyball is basically to develop good time management skills.Learn to make the most of your time, even if that means making a few socialsacrifices. It's actually kind of interesting that a lot of Stanfordathletes make their best grades during season because we know we have atight schedule, so we work extra hard to fit everything in. But don'tworry, it is definitely possible to 'have a life' outside volleyball aswell. My teammates and I love going out to movies, dancing at parties, andjust hanging out. The fact that we maybe don't do it as often as some otherpeople just makes us appreciate it that much more. To tell you the truth,without volleyball, it's easy to get bored. So keep up the good work, andthanks so much for your support.
Karen Martinez (West Point, NY)
Hi Sara. I want to wish you luck this season. I want to know how important do you think off-season training is to a team? Also, how do you think it has benefited you personally?
Sara: I think that our off-season training is incredibly important. Not only doesthe hard work pay off physically for our team, but it really gets us to pushourselves and each other beyond our limits and develop a great work ethic.When it comes time for season, we think back to all of the effort we put induring the off-season and we simply refuse to lose because we have workedfar too hard. For me personally, I think it has also paid off tremendously.I have become a better runner, shaved several seconds off of personal besttimes, and am simply in better overall shape. This past off-season wasparticularly rewarding for me, and helped me to renew my confidence as anathlete.
Michele Higgins (Sunnyvale, CA)
The Pac-10 is arguably the best volleyball conference in the country. How does the team get up for big matches night after night and who do you consider to be Stanford's biggest rival in the Pac-10? Which team do you most want to beat?
Sara: The Pac-10 is definitely an awesome conference. We prepare for every matchby reminding ourselves that every team is going to play their best againstus, and that we have do the same to be victorious. Although every team thisyear (and every year) is serious competition, I think I would have to saythat UCLA and USC are two of our top rivals, and we are really lookingforward to playing them during our home opener weekend.
Jamie Jeffers (Rancho Santa Fe, CA)
There are quite a few accomplished two-sport stars playing today. Have you had any aspirations to play another sport (particularly basketball)? Good luck this year!
Sara: I have definitely had the desire to play another sport in college, and Ireally admire those people who do. I played basketball throughout my earlyyears of high school, and was recruited as a sophomore by division oneschools. However, for me personally, I felt that I wanted to put everythinginto one sport, and my love is really for volleyball (I've also been alittle scared of the injuries often related to basketball). I was also astate champion high jumper my senior year (which was my only year tocompete), and I gave some thought to jumping at Stanford. But for me,balancing volleyball, school, and a social life keeps me busy enoughalready. Who knows though, maybe after I finish my senior volleyballseason, I'll need something else to fill my time... :)