I Learned Patience- 

I learned patience from volleyball because when I am receiving a serve, if I move before I know where it’s going, it can mess up the entire play and give the other team a free point. This is also important when attacking because if I am too early to the hit I will either hit the ball out, or not even hit it at all. If I wait for the ball to be where it needs to be, and then begin my approach the outcome will most likely be beneficial. This is very important because it can drastically change the outcome of the game. If I am patient and controlled it will be much better than if I am too early or undisciplined.

I Learned Resilience- 

I learned resilience from volleyball because sometimes when I’m playing I can get in a bad groove and start getting down on myself. This can be very detrimental and cause our team to lose a lot of points, the round, or even the entire game. From all this, I have learned that I must get over it and come back to working and playing harder than before. 

I Learned Control- 

I learned control from volleyball because when I play in the back row, I do most of the passing and in order for my team to take advantage of this, I need to pass to the setter. This taught me control because when I am passing the ball to the setter, I want it to be high enough so that they have time to move under the ball, but also be close to the setter. If I don’t, then I will risk overpassing the ball giving the other team a free chance to attack. I might make it very difficult for the setter to give the hitters a good set, or make it so that they can’t get the ball at all. 

I Learned to not be Selfish- 

I learned to not be selfish because volleyball is not just about one person doing all the work. For example, on most volleyball teams there is one hitter that is better than the others so they might get more of the sets. This isn’t necessarily bad but if they are the only ones getting the sets then the other team will recognize that and will be there to block them every time, which will render them less effective. So, to avoid that you must be willing to let others take turns hitting and mixing things up so that you are all still effective. 

I Learned to Trust Myself- 

In Volleyball I learned to trust myself because there come times when you have to make a decision in less than a second and so I learned to trust myself so because when you hesitate you risk messing up. This makes it very important to trust yourself because when you do more often than not your right. This helps you to be more successful and become a better player with time because you’re able to make those decisions even faster and make the right choice more often. 

I learned to hustle- 

I learned to hustle from volleyball because when playing at a Varsity level the game moves at a very fast pace. I learned that hustling from this because playing at a Freshman and JV level how fast you play does not affect the outcome. However, when you play Varsity the speed at which you play is a very big factor in how successful your team is. This made it so that I had to learn to be faster and never stop moving and playing.  

I Learned the Importance of Teamwork- 

I learned the importance of teamwork from volleyball when playing against harder teams. I learned this because when you play against teams that are easy you can rely on just a few players but when playing against difficult teams you can’t just rely on a few players. This makes it important that you work together so that you don’t have a weak link. This taught me that it’s about the team’s collective skill and not just one player but if there is just one player that’s not willing to put in the work it is much harder to succeed. 

I Learned how to be loud- 

I learned how to be loud from volleyball because it is a very useful tactic to deceive the other team. When playing as a middle in volleyball one of your jobs is to draw away the blockers so that the outside or right side doesn’t have to avoid two blockers. This means that as a middle I have to be very loud and convincing. Being very loud and obnoxious when I’m not with my family is something I’m not used to, so it was something I had to learn. 

I learned how to build others up- 

I learned to build others up during volleyball. I learned this from playing with my teammates who hadn’t played super competitively so it was a new experience for them, and it affected them more when we started losing. I had to learn how to help boost their morale so that we could get positive energy flowing which is a key aspect in getting out of losing streaks. 

I learned the importance of having a diverse skillset- 

I learned the importance of having a diverse skillset from volleyball because it is not just one aspect of the game that will help you win. When playing you need to be skilled in all areas because you’re not in one spot all the time, so you need to be able to adapt to each situation. For example, when playing outside the majority of your job is to attack and hit the ball down on the other team. However, you rotate as the game progresses and you have a turn in the back row, while in the back row you are taking the brunt of the serves and attacks, so you have to be good at passing and setting so you don’t get stuck in one rotation.