Ever played hot potato? Well, volleyball is a little similar to it with the exception that your team can only touch the ball 3 times per side. The keyword here is team–in volleyball, you depend on other people and they depend on you, whether that is on or off the court. 

Ever since I was little and can remember, I grew up watching volleyball and was always touching a volleyball. It runs in the family, too–my parents met while playing volleyball! They both played for the Honduran national team in their 20s and I grew up watching them. After they stopped playing they ran the national federation board to help future generations and athletes with the sport. My sister also played volleyball in middle school and high school. You can say volleyball is in our blood. 

I started playing volleyball when I was 10 years old in the 5th grade. Watching my parents and my sister play really helped me grasp the idea and general concept of what the game was. I adapted fairly quickly and instantly fell in love with the sport. My first three years playing were in Honduras, at the International School of Tegucigalpa (IST). In 7th grade, I competed in the Association of Bilingual Schools Honduras (ABSH) which hosts a yearly volleyball tournament for various schools across Honduras to compete against each other. During my time at IST, I also played basketball and soccer. I loved all three sports but you can say volleyball is my main sport. 

After this year, we moved to Panama City, Panama and I had to start from scratch. During 8th and 9th grade there was no volleyball team at the International School of Panama and I decided to try out soccer again for one year but then I was not a big fan of it and was set on playing volleyball. Because of this, I made it my objective and choice to start it. I got together with the coaches and the athletic director and was able to make a men and women's team to compete in the Association of American Schools of Central America (AASCA). This tournament is composed of the large schools across central america. The participating countries in this are Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, and Nicaragua. Given this, when I went to these tournaments throughout my high school years, I saw so many friends from back home. During my senior year, I played both soccer and volleyball and it was the most amazing experience before leaving my second home. 

After graduating high school I attended The Pennsylvania State University. However, my first two years were at the Altoona Commonwealth campus which is only a 45-minute drive away from the main campus. During these two years I played DIII volleyball and absolutely loved it. I got to travel to so many states I hadn't been before and meet some of the most amazing people and coaching staff. I chose to go for DII volleyball instead of DII or DI given my focus in academics. I still wanted to play volleyball after high school but did not want to dedicate my entire time to the sport, therefore DIII was the perfect fit for me. 

After my two years were up at the Altoona campus and I had to come up to University Park, I played Club volleyball for one semester and then decided to stop given my academics becoming more intense and having internship opportunities. I now play intramural volleyball or soccer whenever I have the time! 

Volleyball really runs in my family and it is something I am proud of. It is part of me and my story and I do not regret choosing this sport to play. 
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* Originally published on May 6, 2022, by Lilia Farach