From my humble CYO beginnings, to school gyms, to the long weekends of club tournaments, volleyball has been more than a sport for me for the last seven years. I’ve made friends who feel like family, learned discipline from practices that ran too long, and built strength in ways I didn’t even notice at the time. Being on a team has taught me how important it is to be surrounded by people who push you, support you, and sometimes even make fun of you.

It hasn’t all been pretty. Volleyball has given me achy knees, bruises that stuck around, and plenty of moments where I lost all dignity diving for a ball. But those moments mattered and I learned that losing with humanity is just as important as winning with pride, and that the best part of the game isn’t the scoreboard but the people standing next to you when it’s over.