Sophia Hritz '23 Recruiting Profile

    Volleyball has been a part of my life since I was in the third grade, I wanted to play club ever since I saw my sister play for the first time and at that age I always wanted to be a part of everything she did. I have played ever since then, I helped out with my middle school team until I could play in seventh grade and I made the team both years. Going into high school I made varsity my freshman year,  which meant a lot to me because that meant I had a chance to play with my sister. At a young age I involved myself in as many sports as I could. I bounced around different sports until I found volleyball, I was a swimmer, I played softball, baseball, football, and I did gymnastics when I was really young. Playing baseball with the boys is where I feel like my drive comes from. I played for 6 years before I found volleyball. Playing with them, I felt different when i began. When I started the boys didn't exactly always want "the girl" on their team so I always had this mind set to prove that I belonged there. Being coached during baseball and football was a different experience because coaching boys is definitely different than coaching girls. The coaches didn't treat me any different than any of the others so I was wired a little different starting at a young age. When I played with them it made me feel confident in myself like I was just as good as everyone else, and I feel that that is where my heart for the game comes from and being a part of all of these different experiences had made me into who I am and without it I don't believe I would have the same passion. 

     Volleyball, ever since i started, became one of the most influential thing in my life. it taught me leadership, and teamwork, but it was my coach that taught me to love the game. Chad Sutton was what I would consider my first real coach and he showed me the game, I had had other coaches in the past but no one like him. He was my club coach for 2 or 3 years and I had done training with him for at least 3 years, and he was my soon to be high school coach but he had a better opportunity at another school as I was about to enter high school and then I had a new high school coach who was the next most influential person in my volleyball career, Nate Pickett showed me things that I had never thought about before and it opened my eyes to see that there was whole other side to the game. These two coaches have made a huge impact both in and outside of volleyball, and as they are both coaches for the same club I am very lucky to be able to have them for the years to come as well. Volleyball has made such a difference in my life that I when I play its like nothing else matters and when i'm at practice or playing a game, that all there is, it like a safe place to me and i don't know what i would do without it.