Heading into the final two matches of regular season play, Hofstra University volleyball is looking to tip the scales. Currently 13–12 overall and 7–7 in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) conference play, the Pride want to be decisively in the win column heading into next week’s CAA tournament.
“There were a couple of ups and downs, but I feel since this is a pretty new team and this is also my first time playing a full season, I would say we’ve been doing pretty well so far,” said junior middle blocker Sarah Pierre, who redshirted her freshman year and then played only briefly during last year’s abbreviated spring season.
“I’ve been enjoying the experience so far, especially after not touching the court for such a long time and now being a middle blocker who’s basically always on the court,” said Pierre, who grew up in New Jersey, the youngest of seven children, but the first to become a collegiate athlete. “Since I didn’t really play for the first two years, I got to adapt to the volleyball program and adapt to being a student-athlete with managing my classes and practice.”
Pierre, who is six-foot-two, didn’t so much as find the sport of volleyball as it found her. She had an interest in playing, but didn’t seriously pursue it until her high school’s volleyball coach spotted her in the lobby of the school and insisted she try out for the team. After freshman success, she not only continued to play for her high school, but also played club volleyball.
Always interested in the health sciences—her mother is a nurse—Pierre is a community health major and is planning to become a physician assistant. “The academic advisor is very helpful with helping to schedule my classes around volleyball,” she said.
Volleyball has an intricate team dynamic, which will serve Pierre well when she becomes a physician assistant. “One of the major components of volleyball is communication,” said Pierre. “Without communication, there’s no way that you’re going to score a point. It’s a team sport where every person that’s on the court contributes to the main goal.
“Everything is very cohesive and it combines together,” she continued. “Later on in my career, it will be easier for me to adapt to things, communicate better with people and know how to adjust to everyone’s different personalities.”