Speaker 1: Hi, I'm Tiffany Oshinsky, and this is serving pancakes with
Speaker 1: League One Volleyball. With the inaugural Love Season just around
Speaker 1: the corner. Over the next few weeks, we'll be following
Speaker 1: some of the biggest women's college volleyball games featuring schools
Speaker 1: that our players attended. Today's episode features Love Madison outside
Speaker 1: hitter Dolly Santana. But before we get to Dolly, let's
Speaker 1: do a quick recap of Sunday's Texas Florida game, because
Speaker 1: we had both a great comeback and a pancake. Number
Speaker 1: seven Texas swept Number eighteen Florida twenty five, twenty three,
Speaker 1: twenty five, eighteen, twenty five, fourteen. In the first set,
Speaker 1: with Florida leading twenty one to fourteen, the Longhorns went
Speaker 1: on an eleven to three run to take the w
Speaker 1: After that comeback, Texas never looked back, even when they
Speaker 1: were tied at ten in the third set. The Longhorns
Speaker 1: tallied thirteen stuffed blocks, including a career high ten blocks
Speaker 1: by middle Mariyana Singletary. Meanwhile, the offense was on fire,
Speaker 1: hitting three thirty three in the match to the Gators
Speaker 1: one forty six hitting percentage. The offense was led by
Speaker 1: outside hitter Madison Skinner with twelve kills, in opposite Devin
Speaker 1: Cohahawaii with eight. This was Texas's sixth straight win and
Speaker 1: fourth sweep in that time. And lastly, because this is
Speaker 1: serving pancakes, we will be instituting a pancake counter where
Speaker 1: we count how many pancakes happened during the matches we cover,
Speaker 1: and this time around I only counted one pancake by
Speaker 1: setter Ellis Swindle early in the second set. And on
Speaker 1: Saturday night, Dolly's alma mater, the twelfth ranked Minnesota Gophers
Speaker 1: lost to number twenty one USC in four sets twenty three,
Speaker 1: twenty five, twenty five, twenty two, eleven, twenty five, eighteen,
Speaker 1: twenty five. The Trojans out hit, out blocked, and out
Speaker 1: dug Minnesota, but Gopher's opposite Lydia Groat finished with sixteen
Speaker 1: kills and outside hitter Julia Hansen had nine with eight digs. Now,
Speaker 1: in honor of Hispanic Heritage month, we have one of
Speaker 1: Puerto Rico's most decorated players ever, Dolly Santana. Dolly is
Speaker 1: an outside hitter from Corazal, Puerto Rico. She's been part
Speaker 1: of the port ric national team since twenty eleven and
Speaker 1: competed in the twenty sixteenth Summer Olympics. She played for
Speaker 1: the University of Minnesota and is an all around badass
Speaker 1: and soon she'll be playing back in the States with
Speaker 1: Love Madison. Today we're talking about her journey to come
Speaker 1: play in the US and more. Dollie, Welcome to serving Pancakes.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much for being.
Speaker 2: Here, Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1: So first, I want to start, where are you located
Speaker 1: right now? Where are we recording this interview from?
Speaker 2: I am in Minneapolis right now.
Speaker 3: I came to just be around, you know, the vogeball
Speaker 3: environment and see the Gophers play and just kind of
Speaker 3: be here as I get ready to head to Madison, so,
Speaker 3: you know, just a little time for myself and getting
Speaker 3: ready mentally and physically to do my job well hopefully.
Speaker 1: So we're recording this episode in September, and you're just
Speaker 1: at the Minnesota Wisconsin game that Minnesota actually upset Wisconsin
Speaker 1: in five sets, which super exciting. What was it like
Speaker 1: being back, Wow, it was really great.
Speaker 3: It was really great seeing some familiar faces and like
Speaker 3: seeing the team.
Speaker 2: I don't currently know any.
Speaker 3: Of these girls, I saw them when they were really
Speaker 3: little because some of them are sisters of my former teammates,
Speaker 3: so it was really surreal to see them competing and
Speaker 3: like being part of the team that I was once
Speaker 3: part of. And so it's always great to see the
Speaker 3: border battle. I kind of have to get used to
Speaker 3: the feeling of like, oh, I'm on the other side
Speaker 3: to get there, but for now, it was great to
Speaker 3: watch the game and to see a good, you know,
Speaker 3: good volleyball in a great volleyball environment.
Speaker 1: And one of your soon to be teammates on Love Madison,
Speaker 1: Lauren Carlini is now an assistant coach at Wisconsin. So
Speaker 1: did you get to talk to her.
Speaker 3: Yes, we talked in the morning before the team had
Speaker 3: practice and we taught. We talked a little bit before
Speaker 3: the game as well, and it was just really nice
Speaker 3: to catch up. We had played together before in Turkey,
Speaker 3: so it was, you know, really great to see her
Speaker 3: again after that, and I'm just really excited.
Speaker 2: To have her as a teammate again.
Speaker 3: I think she's, you know, super competitive and she's always
Speaker 3: bringing out the best out of her teammates, so I'm
Speaker 3: really really excited to be with her again.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's gonna be a lot of fun lorn if
Speaker 1: we had her on the show a few months ago.
Speaker 1: And she's just such a fun person, amazing personality, and
Speaker 1: great volleyball player. So I'm I'm actually a little jealous
Speaker 1: that you get to play with her.
Speaker 2: She's amazing. She's amazing, the full package for sure.
Speaker 1: Well, so you know, we wanted to have you on
Speaker 1: because it is Hispanic Heritage Month. It's an important time
Speaker 1: to celebrate the Hispanic culture. I'm half Mexican, so this
Speaker 1: is an exciting thing for me to talk about too.
Speaker 1: But I wanted to talk about you growing up in
Speaker 1: Puerto Rico, So talk about you know how you got
Speaker 1: into volleyball.
Speaker 3: Well, I think I've shared this story for and it's
Speaker 3: about me trying every sport and volleyball being such an
Speaker 3: important for for Puerto Rico and the only one that
Speaker 3: I really wanted to go back to.
Speaker 2: And that I felt like I couldn't live without.
Speaker 3: So that to me was like a clear indication that
Speaker 3: this was really for me and I wanted to keep
Speaker 3: doing it.
Speaker 2: My mom was also a volleyball athlete.
Speaker 3: Until write about college and fun fact, actually, my whole
Speaker 3: family is comes from like music, Their own musicians, and
Speaker 3: like they were like, you know, you can pick between
Speaker 3: this or that, you know, sports or music, And I
Speaker 3: was like sports all the way. So we'll see after sports,
Speaker 3: how you know, maybe I can do a little music thing.
Speaker 3: But we'll see.
Speaker 2: We'll cross that bridge when we get there.
Speaker 1: I have to go on this quick tangent because now
Speaker 1: I'm fascinated. Do you play instruments? Do you sing? Like,
Speaker 1: what's what's your musical gift?
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's definitely singing. I think that with my dad
Speaker 3: listening to him practice. My dad plays the trumpet and
Speaker 3: he's been a musician for over fifty years now, and
Speaker 3: my mom was also a singer and they were part
Speaker 3: of like the medannge salsa, like all those things in
Speaker 3: the Puerto Rican and Latino communities culture. And so I
Speaker 3: developed a skill for it listening to my parents practice
Speaker 3: their music for so many years, and I grew up
Speaker 3: with it. Although back then I used to think that
Speaker 3: it was a little bit annoying when I was trying
Speaker 3: to pick a nap and I could just hear the
Speaker 3: trump in the back, But now I can really tell
Speaker 3: that that really helped me develop a skill for music
Speaker 3: as well.
Speaker 2: So we'll see in the future.
Speaker 1: With you playing, I mean you've played overseas, you've played,
Speaker 1: you know, in the in the US. Do you bring
Speaker 1: that Puerto Rican music with you as like your pump
Speaker 1: up music or is it kind of like a little
Speaker 1: bit yeah.
Speaker 3: I mean we got right now in the past couple
Speaker 3: of years with Bad Bunny being like a really huge star,
Speaker 3: you know, like of course we got to bring some
Speaker 3: of that. But when it comes to my dad's music
Speaker 3: as well, there's always like usually around Christmas, I get
Speaker 3: really like nostyle chic a little bit, like I want
Speaker 3: to listen to my family. I want to listen to
Speaker 3: similar music. It's like that's really the time that i
Speaker 3: want to be close to home, and so I'm always
Speaker 3: looking for.
Speaker 2: My dad on like Spotify or my mom.
Speaker 3: They actually have songs in there, so like I just
Speaker 3: played them and it makes me feel like I'm back home.
Speaker 1: What are their names on there so we can give
Speaker 1: them some love.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh.
Speaker 3: My mom used to be on this group called LA's
Speaker 3: Take as Gan and you can find those on Spotify.
Speaker 3: And then my dad used to be in a lot
Speaker 3: of groups, but you can find him as Alias Santana
Speaker 3: Eastward gesta, which is there's a lot of music to listen.
Speaker 1: To them amazing. I'm definitely gonna check that out for sure. So,
Speaker 1: with your family being so musical, you wanting to go
Speaker 1: into sports. You said that they were very supportive about it,
Speaker 1: but were there any challenges when it came to playing
Speaker 1: volleyball with your family being so musical.
Speaker 3: Yeah, totally, because I wasn't very good at any sports.
Speaker 2: I think I was one of those kids that was a.
Speaker 3: Little bit, like not a little bit a lot off balance,
Speaker 3: Like I couldn't really find my like it was really
Speaker 3: about that, like my balance, and so I was really
Speaker 3: clumsy for a long time, and like that didn't really
Speaker 3: help me with the sports.
Speaker 2: And so that was like that for about four years
Speaker 2: or so. So my parents were like, oh, you know,
Speaker 2: maybe it's not for you, but I didn't want to stop.
Speaker 3: So they just kept, you know, bringing me to practice
Speaker 3: and eventually got better. And I'm glad it did because
Speaker 3: now I have this, you know, incredible experience and like
Speaker 3: such a long career already and I'm excited to even
Speaker 3: be part of you know, LBB and seeing it come
Speaker 3: to life in the US is really something that none
Speaker 3: of us thought could come within like our careers right
Speaker 3: and like in our prime time. So I'm just really
Speaker 3: honored to be a part of it.
Speaker 1: I was so excited to have you a part of it,
Speaker 1: especially with your career and starting where you did. I mean,
Speaker 1: going back to when you first started. Do you remember
Speaker 1: the first time you touched a volleyball? What it was
Speaker 1: like for you, Like, did you have any idea what
Speaker 1: you were doing?
Speaker 3: Not?
Speaker 2: Really.
Speaker 3: My only plan was hit the ball as hard as
Speaker 3: I could, and I missed a lot and that was that.
Speaker 3: But I just kept trying and I just really wanted
Speaker 3: to keep going. I remember this one specific time. It
Speaker 3: was like back then we used to have courts that
Speaker 3: were outside, and we didn't. They were cement courts, kind
Speaker 3: of like the outboul basketball courts in like different living communities.
Speaker 2: No ceiling, no nothing like it just opened air.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I remember.
Speaker 3: It was a time that it was raining, so practice
Speaker 3: was canceled and my mom was like, we're not going anywhere,
Speaker 3: and I just started crying.
Speaker 2: And I remember that, but I'm like, please take me.
Speaker 2: She's like, where am I going to take you? Because
Speaker 2: it's canceled, it's raining, you know, It's all like to me,
Speaker 2: it was I just wanted to be playing volleyball all
Speaker 2: the time.
Speaker 3: So I'm excited and happy that it had the outcome
Speaker 3: that it did.
Speaker 1: What is volleyball like in Puerto Rico?
Speaker 3: I think it was and it still is, one of,
Speaker 3: if not the main sport for.
Speaker 2: Girls and women.
Speaker 3: And you know, there used to be this huge tournaments,
Speaker 3: weekend tournaments on these courts right where people from young
Speaker 3: kids to all the way grandparents would go and watch.
Speaker 3: And actually my grandparents, my grandparents were always going to
Speaker 3: watch these tournaments and always going to the high school tournaments,
Speaker 3: and even as a professional, they were like always.
Speaker 2: The first making the lines.
Speaker 3: And so it's really a sport that is like deeply
Speaker 3: rooted in our community and in our culture.
Speaker 2: So it still is like that.
Speaker 3: And for me to carry that over and kind of
Speaker 3: represent my country in that way in this stage, it's
Speaker 3: really really cool and really important to me as well.
Speaker 1: Now, Puerto Rico has had a professional volleyball league since
Speaker 1: nineteen sixty eight. Correct me with my pronunciation. It's called
Speaker 1: Liga de Voo, right, that's perfect, yeah, or the LVSF,
Speaker 1: I saw, which is a little easier to say.
Speaker 2: That's great.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Well a lot of love players have played professionally
Speaker 1: in that league. So what has been the public reaction
Speaker 1: to that league, especially since it's been around for so long.
Speaker 1: Are there a lot of sponsors, Are there a lot
Speaker 1: of fans.
Speaker 3: Well, there's definitely a lot of fans. It sometimes can
Speaker 3: get a little spicy go they're really into the sport.
Speaker 3: They're really passionate about the sport itself. So you know
Speaker 3: when you have teams like, for example, we also have
Speaker 3: a border battle between my team used to be Kodosalent
Speaker 3: the other team at the.
Speaker 2: Other side of the border.
Speaker 3: It's called nadan Haito, and those are like some of
Speaker 3: the most passionate, crazy games you'll ever see on the island,
Speaker 3: and people come.
Speaker 2: You know, the games are at seven apm.
Speaker 3: People are there from like three pm just like waiting
Speaker 3: to be let in and like get a good spot,
Speaker 3: and like they want to yell and they want to scream,
Speaker 3: and they want to share how.
Speaker 2: They feel about the sport, and so you have to.
Speaker 3: It's definitely a place where you learn how to be
Speaker 3: mentally tough because you have a lot of the fans
Speaker 3: who you know, want to really support you, but you
Speaker 3: also have the other fans from the other team who
Speaker 3: want to make sure that you know.
Speaker 2: They're there.
Speaker 1: For sure.
Speaker 3: That's the West way I can describe it. But it's
Speaker 3: definitely a very like cool, fun lead to play at,
Speaker 3: and I hope it could keep growing in the future.
Speaker 3: I definitely think that it needs more support and sponsors
Speaker 3: and care and I think that's going to get there eventually,
Speaker 3: and I hope that we can make it a leade
Speaker 3: that people and players want to be a part of
Speaker 3: in the future.
Speaker 1: Now, you've also been able to play in other Hispanic
Speaker 1: countries like Mexico, So how is the sport received there?
Speaker 1: Is it different or similar to Puerto Rico.
Speaker 3: I would say is similar, but it's definitely I think
Speaker 3: a little bit more spread out when it comes to
Speaker 3: like different sports, Like for us, it's like really all
Speaker 3: about volleyball, and I definitely feel like in different countries
Speaker 3: it's all about different kinds of sports and the support
Speaker 3: is kind of like very consistent when it comes to
Speaker 3: all which is.
Speaker 2: Something I think also Puerto Rico could do better at.
Speaker 3: I think we have a lot of talent and a
Speaker 3: lot of great athletes from different sports that.
Speaker 2: Need to be celebrated and supported.
Speaker 3: And I'm you know, I think that in the future
Speaker 3: it should, you know, we should try to be better
Speaker 3: at that.
Speaker 2: Mm hmm, if that makes sense, I don't know.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, Now did you dream of playing volleyball professionally? Like,
Speaker 1: did you want to go to college and play? What
Speaker 1: was kind of the path when you first started playing?
Speaker 2: To be quite honest, I wasn't thinking too far ahead.
Speaker 3: I think to be a player from Puerto Rico and
Speaker 3: to make it to the United States for college back
Speaker 3: then used to be a little bit rare. So for me,
Speaker 3: it was, uh, one season at a time, taking one
Speaker 3: season at a time. My focus is to get better,
Speaker 3: to improve my skills, to grow up really and then
Speaker 3: let's see where this takes me. And close to my
Speaker 3: eleventh grade I believe tenth grade or eleventh grade, I
Speaker 3: had met with a recruiter for Minnesota and that's when
Speaker 3: I first started thinking, Okay, maybe I can go to
Speaker 3: college for this sport. That's kind of cool. And to
Speaker 3: have the opportunity to leave the island and to go
Speaker 3: to the US and do it like not that many
Speaker 3: athletes before me had done that was very like much
Speaker 3: an honor for me.
Speaker 2: So then that happened, and then after college.
Speaker 3: I was like, wow, like now it's you know, the
Speaker 3: door is wide open, Like we'll see how far we
Speaker 3: can go with this, and here we are.
Speaker 1: Did anybody mentor you when it came to trying to
Speaker 1: play in the US in college?
Speaker 3: Definitely the coaches that I was working with and the
Speaker 3: person that recruited me, and also I got a lot
Speaker 3: of support from my parents and my family and coaches
Speaker 3: in the island.
Speaker 2: But I would say there's such a difference with.
Speaker 3: The programs when it comes to university programs within the
Speaker 3: island or in the US that I needed a little
Speaker 3: bit more guidance, and that's where the coaches came in.
Speaker 3: I had at the time Laura Bush who recruited me,
Speaker 3: and Hugh McCutchen was coming in for the University of
Speaker 3: Minnesota in twenty twelve, and the whole coaching staff at
Speaker 3: that time. They really made sure that I had a
Speaker 3: place where I was comfortable, that I could be myself
Speaker 3: and I could just focus on becoming a better volleyball player.
Speaker 1: I mean, you were a stud in Puerto Rico in
Speaker 1: the national team when you were sixteen years old, Like
Speaker 1: that's amazing, So you have known at some point You're like,
Speaker 1: you know what this is, this is the place where
Speaker 1: I should be, right, Yeah.
Speaker 3: It was yeah, honestly looking at it backwards, looking at
Speaker 3: it now, I'm like, well, I really should have thought
Speaker 3: about it a little bit more. It was really happening
Speaker 3: so fast for me. I think within the time I
Speaker 3: was sixteen, I was in the national team. I had
Speaker 3: also played with my first pro team in the Island
Speaker 3: before going to college, and then I was going to college,
Speaker 3: and then it was also going so fast that I
Speaker 3: was just like, Okay, I guess this is where I'm going.
Speaker 2: You know, I just didn't give it much thought.
Speaker 3: I wasn't like trying to understand, Okay, like do I
Speaker 3: want to go somewhere else?
Speaker 2: Do I want to do? No, it was like, oh,
Speaker 2: perfectly lined up.
Speaker 3: So I was like yes, and like I love everything
Speaker 3: that's happening right now, and I just.
Speaker 1: Went with it, just curious because everything did kind of
Speaker 1: happen so fast.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: I've talked to a bunch of other players, and they've
Speaker 1: talked about burnout because it is something that happens. I
Speaker 1: burned out when I was a junior in high school too,
Speaker 1: for a period of time. Not to take a break.
Speaker 1: But did you ever experience that because of everything that
Speaker 1: was going.
Speaker 3: On, Yeah, I think a little bit, especially because of travel,
Speaker 3: Like we would travel with the professional team in the Island.
Speaker 2: We had to go sometimes two three hours away come back.
Speaker 3: I had high school the next day in the morning.
Speaker 3: I used to live really far from the city. It
Speaker 3: would take me about an hour to get to school
Speaker 3: every morning, so it was like I had to leave
Speaker 3: five six am out the door, but I was coming
Speaker 3: back at like mid ninety one am. So it was
Speaker 3: a little bit crazy when it came to that. And
Speaker 3: then when the summer is when students would usually rest,
Speaker 3: that was part of the national team and then traveling
Speaker 3: all summer, so it was a little bit too much.
Speaker 3: But I do think that I paid the price a
Speaker 3: little bit later my career.
Speaker 2: I think I would say six to eight years after,
Speaker 2: I was like, wow, I really have never.
Speaker 3: Stopped for a second and like taking a break. And
Speaker 3: I was feeling really burned out.
Speaker 2: And so.
Speaker 3: After the Olympics and after you know, a couple of
Speaker 3: years with the with the national team, I say a
Speaker 3: couple of years, it really was like ten years, ten years,
Speaker 3: I decided, you know, it's it's better for my health.
Speaker 3: Uh And with the advice of like the doctors I
Speaker 3: was working with that I take the summers to rest
Speaker 3: and covered it is important. I think we have sometimes
Speaker 3: a culture in Puerto Rico where we don't understand that
Speaker 3: clearly and the importance of rest and recovery both mentally
Speaker 3: and physically, and that leads to a lot of athletes
Speaker 3: burned out. And so I had to make that decision
Speaker 3: in order to be my best self moving forward. And
Speaker 3: I am, you know, okay with that because I am
Speaker 3: feeling my best and I am just becoming a better
Speaker 3: athlete and a better person.
Speaker 1: It's interesting that you say that, you know, your culture
Speaker 1: just has this like motion to keep going and just
Speaker 1: push through and stuff like that. Were there any positives
Speaker 1: from growing up in Puerto Rico and your culture that
Speaker 1: helped you as a player.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 4: I think in that moment that felt like a lot
Speaker 4: of support and a lot of like you can accomplish
Speaker 4: anything you want, You can go as far as you want,
Speaker 4: and like you just have to keep going and keep
Speaker 4: working and keep pushing.
Speaker 2: And so I think when you're.
Speaker 3: A kid in that environment that really helps and really
Speaker 3: positive because it helps you develop the mindset of a warrior,
Speaker 3: almost of a fighter, and so that's what it was
Speaker 3: for me.
Speaker 2: I think eventually and at some point that changes a
Speaker 2: little bit.
Speaker 3: The dynamic with the sport that we have with the
Speaker 3: sport changes a little bit as we grow up.
Speaker 2: And that's okay too.
Speaker 3: So I think it was necessary for me to go
Speaker 3: through that, and it has helped me get to where
Speaker 3: I am today, and I'm excited to see how I
Speaker 3: can balance that mindset with like a new more balanced mindset.
Speaker 1: For sure, you were a warrior, a fighter, and then
Speaker 1: you became a Gopher in Minnesota. So going back to college.
Speaker 1: When you did come to the US, what was it
Speaker 1: like to go from Puerto Rico to Minnesota. Was it
Speaker 1: a big culture shock for you?
Speaker 3: Yes, very much, especially on the sport because in Puerto Rico,
Speaker 3: growing up, you have a strong arm. That's really all
Speaker 3: you need. Like you, that's like the best thing you
Speaker 3: can have, like a strong arm. You're quick, you're powerful.
Speaker 3: When I came to I was like, Wow, you need
Speaker 3: a lot more. I need to be a more complete player.
Speaker 2: So I kind of have.
Speaker 3: I kind of had to change my mindset of like
Speaker 3: I need to become more and that could be sometimes hard.
Speaker 2: When you're a kid, you think what I have is enough,
Speaker 2: and then you have to become more.
Speaker 3: And I think that's where the coaching staff at the
Speaker 3: time did an incredible job. I mean, this program is
Speaker 3: incredible and in sharing and helping and like nurturing that mindset,
Speaker 3: mindset of becoming a better player and developing new skills
Speaker 3: and being okay with that process of change.
Speaker 1: Do you have any funny stories or moments from being
Speaker 1: sort of that fish out of water and coming to Minnesota?
Speaker 3: So many I'm like trying to think of one.
Speaker 2: I think one of the.
Speaker 3: Cute moments when I first got to college, I couldn't
Speaker 3: speak English too well and I couldn't say the word turtle,
Speaker 3: and so.
Speaker 2: That was, I don't know what, an entire year because
Speaker 2: I could have say turtle.
Speaker 3: So every time my teammates are are athletic trainer who
Speaker 3: is actually still here and asked me the same question
Speaker 3: a week ago, she was like, say turtle, So yeah.
Speaker 2: I looked at her and I said, I graduated from
Speaker 2: that already, turtle, So yeah. I think it was just
Speaker 2: a lot of.
Speaker 3: Moments where I couldn't pronunciate a lot of things, and
Speaker 3: so they became fun memories.
Speaker 1: So how did you handle that the language barrier.
Speaker 3: I had a lot of tutoring. I think also the
Speaker 3: University of Minnesota has great, great tutors, and I couldnt
Speaker 3: make advisors.
Speaker 2: That really helped.
Speaker 3: With the whole stress of trying to figure out college
Speaker 3: and a new language at the same time. And so
Speaker 3: I had a lot of tutors before and after practice, And.
Speaker 5: I think in general, my biggest issue was letting go
Speaker 5: of the fear of speaking out because I didn't know
Speaker 5: how to say something.
Speaker 3: I was just trying, and I think that's something I
Speaker 3: still applied today. I have learned other languages after college,
Speaker 3: and so I've kind of.
Speaker 2: Done the same thing. Just try it out.
Speaker 3: You know, somebody will correct you or will make fun
Speaker 3: of you, and then it'll be a funny memory.
Speaker 1: You give me inspiration to finally learn Spanish for real
Speaker 1: after you know, five years in school learning and then
Speaker 1: not using it. So you said that there was a difference.
Speaker 1: You know, in Puerto Rico you just needed a strong
Speaker 1: arm and you were, you know, an amazing player. In
Speaker 1: the US, you need to be more all around player. Like,
Speaker 1: was there anything in your culture or from growing up
Speaker 1: that sort of influenced your style of play that you
Speaker 1: were able to bring to the States.
Speaker 3: Mm hmmm. I think, uh, it's it was less about
Speaker 3: skill and more about character.
Speaker 2: And mindset. When I mentioned that warrior.
Speaker 3: Mindset that I needed to have while growing up, that's
Speaker 3: what helped me also get through college.
Speaker 2: That was important to me that I developed a character.
Speaker 3: In my younger years that helped me get through the
Speaker 3: challenges of being you know, in the Big Ten, in
Speaker 3: a school that was highly competitive, with teammates that were
Speaker 3: highly competitive, and you know, a coaching staff that expected
Speaker 3: a lot of toes and improvements from their athletes. And
Speaker 3: so I think the character that I showed up with
Speaker 3: just got better after getting to college. So I'm grateful,
Speaker 3: very grateful for them.
Speaker 1: I love that.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 1: Your former youth National League teammate Dally and Liz Rosado,
Speaker 1: she joined the Gophers in twenty fourteen. So when that happened, how,
Speaker 1: if at all, did that change your experience in Minnesota?
Speaker 2: That was great. I mean I had not.
Speaker 3: Spoken Spanish until she got there. There's not there wasn't
Speaker 3: a lot of Spanish speaking people at that time in Minnesota,
Speaker 3: and so it was really nice to have her We've
Speaker 3: known each other for since wow, since we were like
Speaker 3: six or seven, so we've been in each other's.
Speaker 2: Lives for a long time.
Speaker 3: We're really great friends, and so it was really nice
Speaker 3: to share.
Speaker 2: College with her and also you know, the volleyball go
Speaker 2: for a program with her.
Speaker 1: Did you guys share your culture with your teammates now
Speaker 1: that you sort of had like a partner in crime, music, movies,
Speaker 1: whatever it might be.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, and also food, yeah, oh yeah, so it
Speaker 3: was it was really fun to see my teammates also
Speaker 3: meet another Puerto Rican. I think we're all like the
Speaker 3: same but also a little bit different and also we
Speaker 3: look differently, and I think that was something that like
Speaker 3: another funny story that like when goalie Leus came over
Speaker 3: and they were expecting another Puerto Rican to look like me,
Speaker 3: but she looks completely different, and like that's the story
Speaker 3: of like Puerto Ricans in general become in every size
Speaker 3: and color and that's it. That's our culture. So it
Speaker 3: was really fun to see and to share that with them.
Speaker 1: Amazing. Now you got to play in the Olympics in
Speaker 1: twenty sixteen, and your team was the first and only
Speaker 1: team Puerto Rico has sent to the summer game. So
Speaker 1: what did that mean to you?
Speaker 2: That was so so real.
Speaker 3: I think I'm still trying to figure out what that
Speaker 3: meant to me because it was such a big deal
Speaker 3: for our country, for the team. It was something that
Speaker 3: we didn't know if it could be possible, and you
Speaker 3: know that we ended up having the chance to go
Speaker 3: to that.
Speaker 2: Tournament qualifying tournament at.
Speaker 3: Home in front of our people, and it was just
Speaker 3: really fun to live that experience and to be able
Speaker 3: to represent Puerto Rico at such a big stage and
Speaker 3: be the first ones to do it. It's like, wow,
Speaker 3: how do you how do you do that? How do
Speaker 3: you bring your culture and your vuluable to the Olympics.
Speaker 3: You have nobody to compare to or to look up to.
Speaker 3: You kind of have to do it. Were the first
Speaker 3: to do it. So for us, it was about doing
Speaker 3: our best, being ourselves and enjoying every.
Speaker 2: Day and I think that we did that well.
Speaker 1: Any memorable moments, whether it was you know, you with
Speaker 1: your team outside of the court or on the court,
Speaker 1: anything anything fun.
Speaker 2: I think I was.
Speaker 3: We were coming out of the lunch villa that they
Speaker 3: had for the athletes and I was walking out next
Speaker 3: to Sarah Williams and I remember exchanging like maybe three words,
Speaker 3: and that was so much fun because she spoke back
Speaker 3: to me and I was like.
Speaker 2: Oh, oh my god. And then that was it. That
Speaker 2: was that was the moment of the Olympics.
Speaker 3: And I just remember seeing her, seeing all these other
Speaker 3: amazing athletes that you know, we look up to, and
Speaker 3: sharing the space with.
Speaker 2: Them, and the Olympics and the experience with them. It
Speaker 2: was really cool.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I feel like, even though I've never been to
Speaker 1: the Olympics as an athlete, never will be, I still
Speaker 1: feel like being able to see all these the world's
Speaker 1: greatest athletes all in one location has got to be
Speaker 1: one of the coolest things. And as an athlete, who
Speaker 1: gets to walk next to Serena Williams, even if it's
Speaker 1: mentioning three words to her, it's got to be something
Speaker 1: that's going to stick with you forever. I know.
Speaker 2: Right, we laughed together for two seconds.
Speaker 1: But it was worth it. Right, Was your family in
Speaker 1: Brazil for the Olympics or were they watching at home
Speaker 1: in Puerto Rico.
Speaker 2: We're watching at home. Yeah, they were watching at home.
Speaker 3: And it's just I think they would probably be better
Speaker 3: at explaining what it meant to have our team at
Speaker 3: the Olympics than any of us. I think we're still
Speaker 3: cadiving shock and like in all of the whole experience,
Speaker 3: I'm just overall really honored to have been a part
Speaker 3: of that team, and I hope it's not the last
Speaker 3: time that quarterco goes.
Speaker 2: To the Olympics.
Speaker 1: In your experience playing overseason in the US, what have
Speaker 1: you observed when it comes to Hispanics in the sport.
Speaker 2: Well, I think that you can spot them anywhere.
Speaker 3: You'll know right away you want to see them. But
Speaker 3: in general, I think that collectively we bring so much
Speaker 3: talent and value to all these different leagues in the world.
Speaker 3: We make people curious about our countries and like they
Speaker 3: want to know more, They want to know more players
Speaker 3: from our countries. And I think that's something really important
Speaker 3: and our responsibility that each of us carry every time
Speaker 3: we go play in the other countries. We're not only
Speaker 3: representing ourselves, we're representing all the people before and all
Speaker 3: the people after. And I think that sometimes, actually all
Speaker 3: the time, we should remember that we have and we
Speaker 3: carry that responsibility.
Speaker 1: Now. I saw in a study from twenty twenty one
Speaker 1: that out of all the volleyball players women volleyball players.
Speaker 1: Only seven percent of them are Hispanic. Why do you
Speaker 1: think that number is so small?
Speaker 2: I'm not sure, because there's a lot of US.
Speaker 1: I mean, there's a whole league in Puerto Rico. I
Speaker 1: don't understand how I know.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so I think that I'm not sure why it happens.
Speaker 3: I think that there's definitely a lot of talent everywhere.
Speaker 3: I think it might have to do with how recruiting
Speaker 3: or scouting has been done in the past.
Speaker 2: That has not really changed.
Speaker 3: As the years have gone by, and as volleyball has changed,
Speaker 3: and I'm hoping that in the future it gets better
Speaker 3: because there's definitely so much more talent to explore and
Speaker 3: to bring and to share for, you know, into all
Speaker 3: these other leagues.
Speaker 1: What do you think could help to increase the visibility,
Speaker 1: uh and love of this sport amongst the amongst the
Speaker 1: Hispanic community.
Speaker 3: I think that a lot of the tournaments that are
Speaker 3: held like internationally are usually in the same spots, in
Speaker 3: the same countries and in the same cities.
Speaker 2: I think that if they were.
Speaker 3: To bring them back out to different international countries, like
Speaker 3: in Latin America, that would increase Obviously, the exposure that
Speaker 3: these athletes get, because I remember when I was just
Speaker 3: joining the national team and we used to travel a
Speaker 3: lot every summer to Mexico. We had tournaments in the island,
Speaker 3: in Puerto Rico, we went to Queba, Dominican Republic, we
Speaker 3: went to you know, all these different countries, and I
Speaker 3: feel like in the recent years it's really been the
Speaker 3: same places, mainly in Asia, and so maybe they brought
Speaker 3: brought it back.
Speaker 2: And you know, back into the Latino countries.
Speaker 1: That would help for sure. Now, outside of volleyball, what
Speaker 1: are you passionate about?
Speaker 3: So many things, so many things. Definitely music is one
Speaker 3: of them. I think I've had this on and off
Speaker 3: relationship with music mainly because I yelled a lot when
Speaker 3: I'm playing volleyball, so I can't really dedicate that much
Speaker 3: time to music when when I'm in season. But I'm hoping,
Speaker 3: hoping that changes after and you know, we now get
Speaker 3: to have an off season and off season.
Speaker 2: I think that's something a little.
Speaker 3: Bit rare in the volleyball field seasons are usually you know,
Speaker 3: eight ninety ten months long, and I'm excited to see us,
Speaker 3: you know, share that double life of like volleyball and
Speaker 3: then non volleyball. So we'll see what kind of structure
Speaker 3: that takes.
Speaker 1: You open up a coffee shop before. Can you talk
Speaker 1: about that a little bit? In your coffee and why coffee?
Speaker 3: Yeah, so my family and I would say just supporter. Again,
Speaker 3: culture in general is very coffee orientated. We love coffee
Speaker 3: every morning, every afternoon, three times, four times a day.
Speaker 3: It doesn't matter. So for me it was important. I
Speaker 3: used to live in New York with my husband and
Speaker 3: we decided that we wanted to bring Puerto Rican coffee
Speaker 3: to New York. We wanted to bring Porican products to
Speaker 3: New York, desserts and things that weren't as locally known
Speaker 3: because even in Puerto Rico there's things that we only
Speaker 3: do during Christmas time, during summertime, and like, we wanted
Speaker 3: to bring everything at once to the US and that
Speaker 3: was really fun. And we don't currently have the coffee
Speaker 3: shop right now as in the store itself, but we
Speaker 3: are planning on still having our business and kind of
Speaker 3: focusing more on wholesale so that we can share the
Speaker 3: love even further.
Speaker 1: You can bring it to Madison, Yeah.
Speaker 2: Right, I'm thinking about it.
Speaker 1: So let's talk about you going to Madison. So, as
Speaker 1: you said, you know, it's on the on the other
Speaker 1: side of the border when it comes to the Minnesota
Speaker 1: Wisconsin rivalry. But how excited are you to be able
Speaker 1: to finally, you know, come back to the States and
Speaker 1: play here and experience what is this new league, in
Speaker 1: this new startup.
Speaker 3: Yeah, for me, it's a great honor to be a
Speaker 3: part of this league.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's.
Speaker 3: Been talked about long enough, it's been worked on a
Speaker 3: long time. So for us to be the athletes I
Speaker 3: get to compete on the first season, it's really a
Speaker 3: big deal. I'm still trying to figure out what that
Speaker 3: means to me, as you know, the first and only
Speaker 3: Puerto Rican to be part of the league. I also
Speaker 3: think that's really an important responsibility. And I hope that
Speaker 3: I can honor the legacy of the players that came
Speaker 3: before me, and that I can represent my country well
Speaker 3: by adding and contributing to that legacy. And then personally,
Speaker 3: I hope that I can also to be my legacy
Speaker 3: and become a better player and help the league be
Speaker 3: a successful league.
Speaker 1: What do your family think.
Speaker 3: They're so excited, they're already planning the trips there. You know,
Speaker 3: we have the group chat going like flights, hotels, this
Speaker 3: that we're coming. So I'm like, yeah, you better hurry
Speaker 3: because the tickets are telling on already.
Speaker 1: I want to hear your dad playing the trumpets from
Speaker 1: the stands and he said you get an ace or
Speaker 1: a kill or something.
Speaker 2: He brought it everywhere.
Speaker 3: I think he's played the trumpet in every country that
Speaker 3: I've played.
Speaker 1: Really, he's brought it everywhere.
Speaker 2: There's videos of him out there.
Speaker 3: I think the most recent one was in Korea, South Korea,
Speaker 3: and he was playing it.
Speaker 2: They gave him a microphone and everything.
Speaker 3: So I.
Speaker 1: Love that so much. I cannot wait to watch and
Speaker 1: to hear this.
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, they made it a event.
Speaker 3: They asked us if he could play in the break
Speaker 3: between sets and he said they then it was a
Speaker 3: whole event and he went great and he added to
Speaker 3: the list of places play.
Speaker 1: That is so amazing. Better tell Lauren Carly you need
Speaker 1: to get ready.
Speaker 2: Yeah he's coming.
Speaker 1: Well, Dolly, thank you so much. I'm so excited to
Speaker 1: watch you play this season. And thank you again for
Speaker 1: being on Serving Pancakes.
Speaker 2: Thank you very much.
Speaker 1: Serving Pancakes is an iHeart women's sports production in partnership
Speaker 1: with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You can find us
Speaker 1: on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get
Speaker 1: your podcasts. Production by League One Volleyball, I'm your host
Speaker 1: Tiffany Oshinsky. Anya Alvarez is our senior producer. Our executive
Speaker 1: producers are Carrie Stett, Tamara Dyke, and Lindsay Hoffman. Our
Speaker 1: marketing lead is Jawora Parker. Sound mixing by Daniel Gonzalez.
Speaker 1: Our theme music is Pancakes by Eric W. Mast Junior
Speaker 1: Special thanks to Dolly Santana. Stay tuned for another episode
Speaker 1: of Serving Pancakes. Thanks for listening.