Ilyssa Joy Diga '21 Recruiting Profile

My name is Ilyssa Joy Diga and I am a Freshman at Sumner High School, located in Sumner, Washington.  I am a 5'4" (and growing) Libero/Defensive Specialist.  I've played club volleyball for two years on the National Team for Lake Tapps VBC, which is located in Puyallup, Washington.  For the past two years, my team has earned bids to compete at the Girl's Junior National Championships (Indianapolis in 2016 and Minneapolis in 2017).  Throughout my life, I have come across many people who have influenced me in many ways.  But the people who have dramatically influenced me has been my family.  I wouldn't be where I am without the support of my parents and sister.  This may sound sentimental, but it's very true.  From doing my school work to playing volleyball, they have supported me through it all.  Having all this encouragement from my family, makes me want to strive to be the best student-athlete I can be.  I started watching my sister play volleyball ever since I was in the 2nd grade.  My sister started playing when she was in the 6th grade and carried on throughout high school and club. After watching and cheering for so long in the stands, I became really interested in the sport and decided to start playing when I was also in the 6th grade and throughout my middle school years.  This year, as a Freshman, I made the Varsity Summer League team and for the school season, I played on the JV team as Libero/DS.  After the JV season ended, I was invited to finish Varsity's postseason ar Regionals.  Ever since I have started playing volleyball, I not only learned about the sport itself but a lot of things about myself as well.  I've learned to persevere-making mistakes is natural and all I can do is learn from it.  I've learned to be committed - I give full effort to what I do during volleyball but still balance my studies.  I've learned to compete - volleyball is a team sport, you play as a team, you lose as a team, and you win as a team. Academically, my goal for high school is to graduate and ultimately earn a scholarship to a college.  Since I am only a Freshman in high school, I have a great desire to improve my game.  I never settle and always strive to do better on and off the court.