WEBVTT - Annie Drews 0:00:02.640 --> 0:00:06.920 Hi, I'm Tifney Oshinsky, and this is serving pancakes. Nope, 0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:10.479 not a podcast about food. This is a podcast about 0:00:10.560 --> 0:00:14.560 volleyball and more to you. A pancake is a fluffy, 0:00:14.640 --> 0:00:18.720 syrup drenched breakfast food button volleyball. A pancake is a 0:00:18.800 --> 0:00:21.520 high effort move when a player flattens her hand against 0:00:21.560 --> 0:00:24.040 the ground to keep the ball in play. And that's 0:00:24.160 --> 0:00:27.640 us digging into high efforts that are moving sports forward. 0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:30.280 Listen in as I talk with the people making the 0:00:30.320 --> 0:00:36.280 biggest impacts on global volleyball and women's sports perspectives, insights, 0:00:36.360 --> 0:00:39.840 and behind the scenes stories, all with the side of pancakes. 0:00:40.560 --> 0:00:45.360 Today's episode features the greatest woman's indoor volleyball player from Indiana, 0:00:45.880 --> 0:00:49.320 Annie Drews. Annie is an Olympic gold medalist who has 0:00:49.320 --> 0:00:51.640 been a member of the US national team since twenty 0:00:51.680 --> 0:00:55.400 seventeen and will be competing this summer in Paris. An 0:00:55.440 --> 0:00:58.320 All American at Purdue University, she was named the twenty 0:00:58.400 --> 0:01:02.160 nineteen USA Volleyball Fee Indoor Player of the Year, and 0:01:02.280 --> 0:01:02.920 she played on. 0:01:02.880 --> 0:01:04.440 The US collegiate national team. 0:01:05.000 --> 0:01:09.000 She has played professionally in Puerto Rico, Italy, Turkey, and Japan, 0:01:09.319 --> 0:01:13.640 where she's been recognized with multiple Best Opposite and MVP Awards. 0:01:14.040 --> 0:01:16.039 Hi, Annie, how are you are you? 0:01:16.160 --> 0:01:18.880 Thank you sound blanks for having me already? Did like 0:01:18.959 --> 0:01:19.880 all the hard words? 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:23.959 Yeah, you know, pancakes. They're not too hard to make. 0:01:24.520 --> 0:01:25.840 You like pancakes, I'm hoping. 0:01:26.200 --> 0:01:27.039 Yeah, I love it. 0:01:27.160 --> 0:01:28.039 Well, how do you like them? 0:01:28.040 --> 0:01:30.959 Maybe a little fruit two blueberry pancakes. 0:01:31.080 --> 0:01:33.600 So Annie, I have to start from the very beginning, 0:01:33.600 --> 0:01:35.120 and one of the first questions I have to ask 0:01:35.160 --> 0:01:37.440 you is your name is actually Andrea. 0:01:38.160 --> 0:01:39.080 So why Annie. 0:01:39.200 --> 0:01:41.840 That's a really great question. I thought. I'm thirty years old, 0:01:41.840 --> 0:01:43.000 I should probably know the answer. 0:01:43.040 --> 0:01:45.559 I'm actually named after a babysitter that my parents really 0:01:45.600 --> 0:01:49.080 loved for my two older siblings. And I was actually 0:01:49.080 --> 0:01:52.280 born on Christmas Day, and this like sweet babysitter came 0:01:52.320 --> 0:01:54.760 over at sixteen, gave up for Christmas Day to be 0:01:54.840 --> 0:01:56.520 with my siblings. While with my parents went to the 0:01:56.560 --> 0:01:59.320 hospital at Hackney. So that's why they named me Andrea. 0:01:59.360 --> 0:02:02.560 But I don't know why Annie. They call me Annie 0:02:02.920 --> 0:02:06.240 Ann in college briefly people call me Andy for a while, 0:02:06.480 --> 0:02:07.640 so kind of just. 0:02:09.160 --> 0:02:10.240 Yeah, I like it. 0:02:10.480 --> 0:02:13.760 I mean, Annie's Andrey's very pretty too, But I whatever 0:02:13.840 --> 0:02:14.320 works for you. 0:02:14.440 --> 0:02:17.200 I go by Tiff or Tiffany whatever you know people 0:02:17.240 --> 0:02:17.720 want to call me. 0:02:18.240 --> 0:02:19.360 Yeah right, yep. 0:02:19.919 --> 0:02:22.680 So let's go back to your childhood a little more, 0:02:22.680 --> 0:02:25.080 a little after you were born on Christmas Day. 0:02:25.560 --> 0:02:27.880 How did you get into volleyball? 0:02:28.160 --> 0:02:30.519 I feel like I've had a really funny like path 0:02:30.800 --> 0:02:33.160 in volleyball, especially like through childhood. 0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:34.840 So I played in elementary school. 0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:37.520 I played for my elementary school team for a small 0:02:37.520 --> 0:02:38.720 club team, a local team. 0:02:39.000 --> 0:02:41.640 Wasn't doing any crazy travel or anything like that. It 0:02:41.680 --> 0:02:45.120 was very local club in elementary but like just literally 0:02:45.160 --> 0:02:48.040 like probably two months of like local terms. 0:02:48.120 --> 0:02:48.520 Amazing. 0:02:48.639 --> 0:02:49.800 Yeah, but kids. 0:02:49.560 --> 0:02:53.399 Now are like traveling all over and getting on planes 0:02:53.440 --> 0:02:57.160 and doing these big things. So it felt very simple 0:02:57.200 --> 0:02:57.920 compared to how. 0:02:57.840 --> 0:02:58.520 Things are now. 0:02:58.600 --> 0:03:01.359 But then actually I remember going to my parents when 0:03:01.360 --> 0:03:03.280 I started middle school of being like, I don't. 0:03:03.080 --> 0:03:04.359 Want to play volleyball anymore. 0:03:04.919 --> 0:03:07.280 I want to be a cheerleader and I want to 0:03:07.320 --> 0:03:11.720 be a competitive hip hop dancer. So that was like 0:03:11.840 --> 0:03:14.720 Karch Loves's story, our national team coach, that was like. 0:03:14.639 --> 0:03:17.320 My calling for a minute. I love it, and I 0:03:17.360 --> 0:03:19.040 loved it. I had a lot of fun. I did 0:03:19.080 --> 0:03:19.960 miss competing. 0:03:20.240 --> 0:03:22.400 I remember like being on the sideline of a football 0:03:22.400 --> 0:03:24.880 game and getting like so into it, and then they'd 0:03:24.880 --> 0:03:27.080 be like, you're supposed to just like stand to be still, 0:03:27.600 --> 0:03:30.119 you know, wait, but in between cheers and stuff. But yeah, 0:03:30.120 --> 0:03:31.920 and then I just had a huge growth spurt and 0:03:32.000 --> 0:03:34.760 I think I just missed the competing aspect of my friends, 0:03:34.800 --> 0:03:37.200 and so straight out for my high school team and 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:38.440 got back to volleyball. 0:03:38.480 --> 0:03:42.360 Then, So the love of dance and being a cheerleader 0:03:42.520 --> 0:03:45.119 did that come from an early age? Did you love 0:03:45.280 --> 0:03:47.160 dancing when you were a little kid. 0:03:47.320 --> 0:03:50.640 Honestly, No, I come from a big basketball family. My 0:03:50.720 --> 0:03:52.920 brother's seven years older than I am, and so in 0:03:52.920 --> 0:03:55.280 elementary school I watched him play college. 0:03:54.960 --> 0:03:57.880 Basketball, and I just remember seeing. 0:03:57.680 --> 0:04:00.320 High level cheerleaders and dancers that like have to at 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:02.280 something that I was like, they're like so pretty and 0:04:02.320 --> 0:04:04.440 they look they're having so much fun and it is 0:04:04.520 --> 0:04:07.160 a really cool skill, like just learning how to do 0:04:07.200 --> 0:04:09.360 the tumbling and the stunts and things like that. 0:04:09.560 --> 0:04:11.320 But learned quickly that it was not. 0:04:11.400 --> 0:04:14.320 Something I was the best at, and then found my 0:04:14.320 --> 0:04:16.880 way back to volleyball and definitely haven't regretted it. 0:04:17.360 --> 0:04:19.000 I can understand. 0:04:19.200 --> 0:04:22.320 Yeah, I did gymnastics when I was little, and there 0:04:22.400 --> 0:04:24.120 was a point when I hit eight, like I think 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:27.440 I was eight years old, and it got very competitive, 0:04:27.600 --> 0:04:28.279 very fast. 0:04:28.480 --> 0:04:28.760 Yeah. 0:04:28.760 --> 0:04:31.240 And at eight I was like, um, I'm good. 0:04:31.400 --> 0:04:34.400 Yeah, And I just saw I mean, I saw the cards. 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:36.680 I was like, you know what, I am six foot two, 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:38.719 I've got big feet, I've got big hands. 0:04:38.760 --> 0:04:41.120 This is gonna go downhill quickly for a girl like me. 0:04:41.279 --> 0:04:44.080 And I was like, I can be much better suited 0:04:44.520 --> 0:04:45.640 in a different sport. 0:04:48.000 --> 0:04:51.520 Hey, guys, let's talk hype for a second, because volleyball 0:04:51.640 --> 0:04:55.040 is definitely a tall person's game. On the current US 0:04:55.120 --> 0:04:58.479 Women's Olympic volleyball roster, the average height is six feet 0:04:58.680 --> 0:05:02.039 two and a half inch, with middle hitter Dana Reki 0:05:02.120 --> 0:05:06.080 the tallest at six foot eight and libero Justine Wangarantez 0:05:06.200 --> 0:05:09.960 the shortest at five foot six. Gotta give a little 0:05:10.000 --> 0:05:12.280 love to the short players who are usually Libero's right, 0:05:12.600 --> 0:05:15.760 and Annie is just above the average at six foot four. 0:05:16.560 --> 0:05:19.040 I also just want to point out, real quick, Annie 0:05:19.080 --> 0:05:21.760 isn't the only player who pursued other sports before a 0:05:21.800 --> 0:05:26.040 growth spurt derailed their plans. Both Jordan Larson and Ronnie 0:05:26.120 --> 0:05:29.760 Jones Perry competed in gymnastics, but how to stop dude 0:05:29.800 --> 0:05:32.880 being too tall? So thank goodness volleyball gave them a 0:05:32.880 --> 0:05:37.120 place to compete all right. Back to Annie, how old 0:05:37.160 --> 0:05:37.359 were you. 0:05:37.360 --> 0:05:38.440 When you hit your growth spurt? 0:05:38.520 --> 0:05:40.680 Probably freshman year of high school, maybe the end of 0:05:40.760 --> 0:05:41.600 eighth grade. 0:05:41.839 --> 0:05:43.280 Was that awkward for you? 0:05:43.400 --> 0:05:45.400 Or were there other girls that were the same height 0:05:45.480 --> 0:05:47.080 as you that you kind of like fit in? Because 0:05:47.120 --> 0:05:49.960 I have never been tall. Yeah, I was the only 0:05:50.000 --> 0:05:51.640 time I was ever tall is in first grade. I 0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:53.160 was in the back row of my class picture, and 0:05:53.200 --> 0:05:55.120 then every other year after that, I was always sitting 0:05:55.120 --> 0:05:55.400 down there. 0:05:55.520 --> 0:05:58.360 Yeah, so I don't know if it was awkward. 0:05:58.440 --> 0:06:00.919 I came from a really tall fan, so I felt 0:06:00.960 --> 0:06:04.839 very normal around my family, and then once I found volleyball, 0:06:04.920 --> 0:06:07.920 I kind of played my freshman sophomore years, I was 0:06:07.960 --> 0:06:10.440 playing on an eighteen's team, so I was playing with 0:06:10.480 --> 0:06:12.719 a lot of girls who were also maybe a little 0:06:12.720 --> 0:06:14.440 taller or around. 0:06:14.160 --> 0:06:16.440 The same height. So I think once I found my 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:19.240 niche in volleyball, I felt very normal. 0:06:19.400 --> 0:06:21.359 I will say I think it's gotten a lot easier 0:06:22.080 --> 0:06:24.760 now with fashion. I remember like crying trying to find 0:06:24.760 --> 0:06:27.000 a prom dress long enough, and I think as time's 0:06:27.040 --> 0:06:29.120 gone on, it's gotten a lot easier for tall girls. 0:06:29.160 --> 0:06:33.040 Being a tall kid twenty years ago or fifteen years ago, 0:06:33.240 --> 0:06:36.839 I think that holy was just maybe logistically harder to 0:06:36.920 --> 0:06:39.240 find things and fit in. But I found my confidence 0:06:39.279 --> 0:06:40.960 with it pretty early and realized it could be a 0:06:41.000 --> 0:06:43.760 huge advantage in the sport. And also being left handed, 0:06:43.880 --> 0:06:46.520 so I saw it more as an asset than like 0:06:46.560 --> 0:06:47.920 a confidence breaker. 0:06:48.080 --> 0:06:50.400 And before you got to volleyball, because you said that 0:06:50.400 --> 0:06:53.000 your family was a big basketball family, did you feel 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:56.080 pressure to play basketball at all or did you just 0:06:56.160 --> 0:06:57.760 know that volleyball was kind of the sport that you 0:06:57.800 --> 0:06:58.800 wanted to be part of. 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:03.640 I tried basketball. I was just so. 0:07:03.800 --> 0:07:04.640 Not good at it. 0:07:07.160 --> 0:07:10.840 Before Annie continues explaining why she chose volleyball over basketball. 0:07:11.000 --> 0:07:13.560 The reason I brought this up is because her family 0:07:13.600 --> 0:07:17.520 has a history of amazing basketball players. Her dad was 0:07:17.560 --> 0:07:20.040 a star player at Ball State University and coached at 0:07:20.080 --> 0:07:23.840 Elkhart High School for ten years. Her brother, Derek remains 0:07:23.880 --> 0:07:27.400 the all time leading scorer at Elkhart, then went on 0:07:27.520 --> 0:07:31.800 to play at Western Michigan, and her grandfather, Dwayne Peterson, 0:07:32.200 --> 0:07:35.240 averaged a double double his final two seasons at Michigan. 0:07:35.280 --> 0:07:38.840 State after seeing a sectional scoring record at Elkhart High 0:07:39.000 --> 0:07:42.160 back in nineteen fifty two. But Annie's choice to step 0:07:42.200 --> 0:07:44.480 on to a different court seems like it was the 0:07:44.560 --> 0:07:47.120 right one, given that she's about to compete in her 0:07:47.280 --> 0:07:48.320 second Olympics. 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:51.640 All right, now, back to Annie. 0:07:50.840 --> 0:07:53.560 I just felt like the coordination was just so not 0:07:53.720 --> 0:07:56.600 natural for me, and all of the running. I remember 0:07:56.720 --> 0:07:59.800 really not enjoying running, and so I think volleyball was 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:02.400 a way to still use my height and to use power, 0:08:02.880 --> 0:08:04.720 but it felt just a lot more natural for me. 0:08:04.920 --> 0:08:08.120 So never really had the pressure to play basketball, but 0:08:08.160 --> 0:08:10.880 I definitely tried it and learned pretty quickly. I was like, 0:08:10.920 --> 0:08:11.520 it's not for me. 0:08:11.960 --> 0:08:13.920 So you started volleyball in high school. 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:16.720 So it's kind of like a late bloomer in a 0:08:16.760 --> 0:08:19.120 way when it comes to joining the sport, because nowadays 0:08:19.120 --> 0:08:21.600 you hear kids, I mean I started at twelve, A 0:08:21.600 --> 0:08:23.840 lot of kids start when they're younger. So do you 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:26.520 kind of feel like a role model for the kids 0:08:26.680 --> 0:08:28.440 who start sports late? 0:08:28.480 --> 0:08:28.920 In a way? 0:08:29.320 --> 0:08:33.120 I definitely would have classified myself as, yeah, like a 0:08:33.160 --> 0:08:35.840 late starter maybe in some ways a late bloomer. 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:36.760 And I think even. 0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:39.280 Through college I had a good college career, but I 0:08:39.320 --> 0:08:41.400 think when I got to the national team, I was 0:08:41.440 --> 0:08:43.240 definitely one of those people who had a lot of 0:08:43.280 --> 0:08:45.920 potential but definitely was maybe a skip and. 0:08:45.880 --> 0:08:46.520 A beat behind. 0:08:46.720 --> 0:08:49.480 So not just like in high school, but throughout I 0:08:49.520 --> 0:08:52.520 feel like I've had a really unique path to my success. 0:08:52.640 --> 0:08:54.480 So yeah, I definitely think that I. 0:08:54.400 --> 0:08:57.200 Hope that I've been able to make other people feel like, oh, 0:08:57.240 --> 0:08:58.800 maybe there is a chance if I just stick with 0:08:58.840 --> 0:09:00.560 it a little longer, if I look at it from 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:01.640 a different lens. 0:09:01.400 --> 0:09:04.199 Because that was totally my reality. 0:09:04.400 --> 0:09:07.000 So yeah, I definitely think being a late bloomer is 0:09:07.120 --> 0:09:10.760 very possible and pretty common, especially for tall girls that age, 0:09:10.960 --> 0:09:12.200 so I would hope. 0:09:12.240 --> 0:09:26.800 So, so, what was like the recruiting process for you 0:09:26.920 --> 0:09:29.319 to go to college. Did you know that you wanted 0:09:29.360 --> 0:09:31.000 to go to a Big ten school? Did you know 0:09:31.200 --> 0:09:33.600 that you wanted to play? What was that like? 0:09:33.960 --> 0:09:35.600 So I grew up in a small town in northern 0:09:35.600 --> 0:09:38.600 Indiana near South Bend, so really close to Notre Dame, 0:09:38.679 --> 0:09:42.120 and I think maybe my college interest started there. Knowing 0:09:42.440 --> 0:09:44.440 Notre Dame at the time, that was where our high 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:47.240 school and club teams would go and like watch some 0:09:47.320 --> 0:09:49.880 of their games and kind of saw volleyball like on 0:09:49.920 --> 0:09:52.320 the big stage or at like the big level, and 0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:55.120 so I think that's kind of how it started. But 0:09:55.320 --> 0:09:59.680 I learned quickly Northern Indiana is the hub of Big Ten. 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:02.640 Like you drive two to three hours in any direction 0:10:03.240 --> 0:10:05.680 and you're at like a Big ten school, and Big 0:10:05.720 --> 0:10:07.679 Ten at the time and still to this. 0:10:07.720 --> 0:10:10.480 Day, was one of the strongest, if not the strongest 0:10:10.559 --> 0:10:11.480 volleyball conference. 0:10:11.679 --> 0:10:13.720 So I think I just realized that there was a 0:10:13.760 --> 0:10:16.880 lot of good volleyball really close to home, and that's 0:10:16.920 --> 0:10:18.800 kind of how I started learning. Due was one of 0:10:18.800 --> 0:10:20.880 the first schools I looked at for do A Notre Dame, 0:10:21.040 --> 0:10:23.200 and then I kind of expanded the search from there. 0:10:23.360 --> 0:10:26.480 But ultimately I think I ended up choosing Prudue for 0:10:26.520 --> 0:10:28.920 a lot of reasons, but it felt like a place 0:10:29.200 --> 0:10:31.280 that could develop me well, but also I could have 0:10:31.320 --> 0:10:34.000 a lot of chances. Especially early on, I think I was, 0:10:34.559 --> 0:10:37.000 you know, to that late bloomer aspect. A lot of 0:10:37.000 --> 0:10:40.360 places wanted meet a red shirt, kind of develop and 0:10:40.400 --> 0:10:42.960 wait my turn, and I just really wanted to play, 0:10:43.000 --> 0:10:44.839 and I wanted to play all the time from point 0:10:44.880 --> 0:10:48.200 one my freshman year. And you know, I think I 0:10:48.240 --> 0:10:51.800 commend people who have patients at that age to think otherwise, 0:10:51.840 --> 0:10:52.160 but I was. 0:10:52.120 --> 0:10:53.280 Like, I just want to get out there. 0:10:53.360 --> 0:10:56.400 So Perdue was this awesome opportunity that allowed me to 0:10:56.480 --> 0:10:59.800 kind of have both this like high level program and conference, 0:11:00.000 --> 0:11:02.840 but also get me on the floor pretty early. And 0:11:03.200 --> 0:11:05.000 not only that, it was two and a half hours 0:11:05.000 --> 0:11:08.040 from home, so knowing I had friends from high school, 0:11:08.240 --> 0:11:10.920 friends from club volleyball going there, whether it's to be 0:11:11.000 --> 0:11:13.800 students or to be student athletes, and knowing my parents 0:11:13.880 --> 0:11:16.280 could be pretty involved, I could see them a lot. 0:11:16.400 --> 0:11:19.240 It was like it became kind of a no brainer 0:11:19.360 --> 0:11:19.880 at some point. 0:11:20.080 --> 0:11:22.200 That's so nice. Does your family really close? 0:11:22.880 --> 0:11:24.000 Yeah, I would say so. 0:11:24.120 --> 0:11:26.560 I have an older brother who's seven years older, and 0:11:26.559 --> 0:11:28.520 I'm an older sister who's two years older. 0:11:28.679 --> 0:11:31.319 And my brother, I think just being a little bit older. 0:11:31.360 --> 0:11:33.120 You got married when I was like in high school 0:11:33.160 --> 0:11:35.800 or maybe my freshman year of college. So having another 0:11:35.880 --> 0:11:40.120 sister and then his kids also now are eight and four, 0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:43.360 and so just having them kind of be alongside me 0:11:43.400 --> 0:11:47.160 in my career through college but also professionally made me 0:11:47.200 --> 0:11:49.200 like kind of put a new importance on volleyball and 0:11:49.360 --> 0:11:51.560 just like I'm not just doing it for me or 0:11:51.600 --> 0:11:55.199 for the paycheck or for the glory. It's kind of 0:11:55.240 --> 0:11:57.640 to show them like what's kind of out there if 0:11:57.640 --> 0:12:00.680 you work hard at something. So definitely very close to 0:12:00.720 --> 0:12:03.080 my family and excited that they'll get to see me 0:12:03.120 --> 0:12:03.560 play a. 0:12:03.440 --> 0:12:04.080 Lot more life. 0:12:04.360 --> 0:12:05.400 Yeah, so sure. 0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:08.360 Now I've read that you weren't actually sure if you 0:12:08.400 --> 0:12:12.000 wanted to play pro and keep going after college. So 0:12:12.160 --> 0:12:14.520 what did you want to do when you graduated? What 0:12:14.600 --> 0:12:16.480 was kind of your thought process if you didn't go pro. 0:12:16.679 --> 0:12:16.920 Yeah. 0:12:16.960 --> 0:12:22.320 I was a hospitality and tourism management major, so that's 0:12:22.360 --> 0:12:25.800 basically kind of like a business and managerial degree for 0:12:26.080 --> 0:12:29.880 hotels and restaurants and launching events things like that. 0:12:30.000 --> 0:12:32.320 And I definitely enjoyed that side of things. 0:12:32.360 --> 0:12:35.000 And I think a lot of college athletes, after spending 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:38.160 four years totally dedicated to something, you kind of do 0:12:38.240 --> 0:12:40.720 wonder what's like on the other side. So I definitely 0:12:40.760 --> 0:12:43.120 like flirted with the idea of not playing and looked 0:12:43.160 --> 0:12:45.679 heavily at that. And I got an offer to play 0:12:45.760 --> 0:12:48.880 professionally in Puerto Rico right after college, which was pretty 0:12:48.880 --> 0:12:52.360 common at the time to leave like right after Christmas 0:12:52.360 --> 0:12:54.280 and the holidays your senior year and go play in 0:12:54.280 --> 0:12:57.320 the spring in Puerto Rico. And I think, honestly, with 0:12:57.800 --> 0:13:00.000 the pro side of things, I for a long time 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:02.320 time wasn't sure like how long I wanted to do this. 0:13:02.440 --> 0:13:04.520 I still struggle with that sometimes how long I want 0:13:04.559 --> 0:13:04.800 to do this? 0:13:04.920 --> 0:13:07.720 But I feel like I'm very connected to my faith 0:13:07.760 --> 0:13:10.400 and I feel like God has put small opportunities in 0:13:10.480 --> 0:13:12.520 front of me and just like nudged me to say yes. 0:13:12.840 --> 0:13:15.200 And so it wasn't looking at my career ten years 0:13:15.200 --> 0:13:18.400 ago being like I want this decade long pursuit of 0:13:18.440 --> 0:13:21.040 an Olympics, and it wasn't like that for me. But 0:13:21.120 --> 0:13:23.160 it was a lot of little moments of God being like, 0:13:23.240 --> 0:13:25.280 here's this opportunity and let's think about it. 0:13:25.200 --> 0:13:28.120 And then like nudging me in that direction. And it's 0:13:28.160 --> 0:13:28.760 been beautiful. 0:13:28.920 --> 0:13:30.600 It was gonna say, are you glad that you have 0:13:31.200 --> 0:13:34.520 chosen this path and that you're still doing Absolutely yeah. 0:13:34.520 --> 0:13:36.560 And every year it takes on new meaning. 0:13:36.840 --> 0:13:39.280 I mean now with all the opportunities coming up to 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:42.559 play at home and all the opportunities for college players, 0:13:42.800 --> 0:13:46.360 just my hope is that this next year I can 0:13:46.400 --> 0:13:48.520 help in some ways like lay a brick into something 0:13:48.679 --> 0:13:51.760 that in the future my kids or my niece. They'll 0:13:51.760 --> 0:13:55.520 have options to pursue playing after college in a lot 0:13:55.520 --> 0:13:56.240 of different ways. 0:13:56.320 --> 0:13:58.319 There's not just one one route to do it. 0:13:58.400 --> 0:14:01.400 And so I'm super grateful of the career I've had, 0:14:01.480 --> 0:14:04.360 but I think just super grateful of the ways God's 0:14:04.400 --> 0:14:06.520 used volleyball to teach me more about like the world 0:14:06.600 --> 0:14:08.880 and like myself and what all this can look like. 0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:10.920 So I hope that makes sense. 0:14:11.040 --> 0:14:11.920 Yeah, definitely. 0:14:12.480 --> 0:14:15.200 And you get to travel to all the different countries 0:14:15.240 --> 0:14:18.679 to play. So what has kind of been your favorite 0:14:18.679 --> 0:14:20.720 location if you even have one, Can you give me 0:14:20.760 --> 0:14:23.240 an example of something that you absolutely loved or an 0:14:23.280 --> 0:14:25.880 adventure that you got to go on from traveling and 0:14:25.920 --> 0:14:28.000 playing internationally with these teams. 0:14:28.000 --> 0:14:32.160 We have like our pro seasons, which are about six 0:14:32.200 --> 0:14:34.000 to eight months, and then we spend the rest of 0:14:34.000 --> 0:14:37.080 the time with national teams. So I preface that because 0:14:37.120 --> 0:14:39.600 if anyone's listening and they don't really know about how 0:14:39.640 --> 0:14:42.320 the schedule works, half the year is in a foreign 0:14:42.400 --> 0:14:47.120 country with foreign teammates and you're playing for like one club, 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:50.320 and the other half is typically traveling with Team USA, 0:14:50.360 --> 0:14:52.920 and that's where we represent, you know, the United States, 0:14:53.000 --> 0:14:55.160 and where we try to pursue things like an Olympic 0:14:55.200 --> 0:14:56.520 gold medal, So two. 0:14:56.400 --> 0:14:57.800 Very different experiences. 0:14:58.040 --> 0:15:02.040 I've loved overseas playing profess because learning to live in 0:15:02.080 --> 0:15:05.120 another culture, in another country is just the most eye 0:15:05.120 --> 0:15:07.840 opening thing, the most humbling thing you can ever do. 0:15:08.120 --> 0:15:10.760 Like you think you know something about yourself or about 0:15:10.760 --> 0:15:12.920 the world, you live somewhere else and you're like, oh 0:15:12.920 --> 0:15:14.800 my gosh, like I have so much more to learn. 0:15:14.920 --> 0:15:18.800 So I think that part's been really cool. Obviously. The 0:15:18.840 --> 0:15:21.080 glamorous side is people see what we do on off 0:15:21.160 --> 0:15:22.640 days and they see us on like a. 0:15:22.600 --> 0:15:25.800 Boat in Italy or like on a food tour in Japan, 0:15:25.920 --> 0:15:27.720 and it's like, oh my gosh, I want to do that. 0:15:27.880 --> 0:15:30.560 But the day to day is really hard but really rewarding, 0:15:30.680 --> 0:15:32.720 so I'm glad I got to learn those lessons. And 0:15:32.760 --> 0:15:35.920 then with national team, yeah, we've just we've really been 0:15:35.960 --> 0:15:38.320 all over and getting to see different styles of volleyball 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:40.920 has been really fun. How to do different countries run 0:15:40.960 --> 0:15:43.800 their offensive and defensive systems, but also how they just 0:15:43.840 --> 0:15:46.880 like develop their youth differently and what they prioritize. 0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:49.280 So yeah, that's more of a volleyball answer, I guess, 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:50.240 or a life answer. 0:15:50.400 --> 0:15:53.560 But the travel has been amazing, but just like I've 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:55.560 learned so much along the way, and I feel like 0:15:55.560 --> 0:15:56.640 I'm always still learning. 0:15:56.960 --> 0:15:59.800 What is a day today life like as a professional 0:15:59.800 --> 0:16:00.600 walklleyball player. 0:16:00.760 --> 0:16:02.160 Oh that's a good question. 0:16:02.480 --> 0:16:04.600 I always wondered that because I'm thinking because I mean, 0:16:04.640 --> 0:16:07.120 I played club and I was going to play in college. 0:16:07.120 --> 0:16:09.200 I was recruited to go to Penn State, and so 0:16:09.320 --> 0:16:10.240 that was like the dream. 0:16:11.000 --> 0:16:12.120 But then I got into film. 0:16:11.960 --> 0:16:15.680 School and I was like, that's that's you know for me. 0:16:16.080 --> 0:16:18.680 I graduated high school in O four, so there was 0:16:18.720 --> 0:16:20.840 no to me that I did not know about professionals. 0:16:20.840 --> 0:16:23.160 So I went academics over athletics. 0:16:23.400 --> 0:16:26.560 And then I always think back now, I'm like, huh, 0:16:26.600 --> 0:16:27.640 could I have done that? 0:16:27.680 --> 0:16:31.960 But it would have likes so cool and you're doing. 0:16:32.000 --> 0:16:34.480 Get like a volleyball capacity that's like really cool. 0:16:34.560 --> 0:16:37.000 Yeah, and and I'm loving this that was, but you know, 0:16:37.040 --> 0:16:39.880 there's always that thought like what would life have been like? 0:16:39.960 --> 0:16:41.880 So I'm always curious, like what would my life have 0:16:41.960 --> 0:16:44.720 been like had I played professionally like you are, you know, 0:16:45.040 --> 0:16:47.360 attempted to even try to play at the US well, 0:16:47.360 --> 0:16:49.600 which I don't think I could have, But I. 0:16:49.560 --> 0:16:52.400 Think that's an interesting question. There's a lot of variants. 0:16:52.480 --> 0:16:54.720 It depends on like what country you're playing in or 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:56.920 if you're talking about like a professional day versus like 0:16:56.960 --> 0:17:00.480 a day with TV USA. But generally for being I'm 0:17:00.480 --> 0:17:03.320 typically a pretty early riser, Like I'm a morning person. 0:17:03.960 --> 0:17:05.959 I'll wake up, have coffee. 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:10.600 I like to do some like devotional journal prayer time. 0:17:10.640 --> 0:17:12.119 Before I leave the house. 0:17:12.240 --> 0:17:13.560 That to me is like have like kind of a 0:17:13.600 --> 0:17:15.720 slow morning at home for myself, and. 0:17:15.640 --> 0:17:18.439 Then it's very nice like meditate that morning for you. 0:17:18.560 --> 0:17:22.440 It's I just I love being up early and it's quiet. 0:17:22.560 --> 0:17:24.439