My First Season in the Big Ten Conference and in Columbus, Ohio – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/29/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
People know me as a sports fanatic! If I am not participating in a sport, I am usually watching it. From the pro leagues of the NFL, NHL, NBA and soccer to pretty much all the college sports like basketball, soccer and, of course, volleyball. When watching sports, I love to see the intensity, passion and love for the game athletes bring to the table. That is the reason I wanted to be a part of college athletics. I wanted to experience that intensity of high level training and competition. I wanted to experience the passion that drives an athlete to work as hard as they possibly can day after day so they can become the BEST!
I began my collegiate volleyball career at SMS-West Plains Jr. College in West Plains, Missouri. Let me tell you, West Plains is SMALL! It is a town of 11,000 people, the closest mall is 2 hours away and whenever I found myself bored, I ended up in Wal-Mart passing the time. Though West Plains had many-many advantages like incredible people, great athletic support from the community and college, a GREAT coaching staff and an experience I would never trade, I did find moving to the “city” of Columbus refreshing. I have to admit, though, at first I was in disarray. Columbus was different than what I had become used to so everything seemed like a huge blur during my time of transition.
Big Ten Volleyball? Big Ten and NCAA Division I volleyball is different than Jr. College play in many ways. Everything – every skill from attacking, blocking, digging and serving – everything is much faster! The athletes on our side of the net, and on the other side of the net can hit the ball much harder and block balls to the floor. Not only attacking and blocking, but the serves are much more difficult to receive as well. Because the game is played at a higher level, I have had to put more though into learning to be a point scorer. So far, I find I am always learning and working to perfect my game whether it is in the gym hitting, passing, serving, digging or setting (an extra 50 balls after practice – wink) or pumping iron in the weight room. My first season in Big Ten volleyball has forced me to be more disciplined.
All-in-all, I have loved, and still do, watching college volleyball on TV. Now, I am one of “those” players on TV and now I am playing with and against “those” players. It has been an awesome experience! The Big Ten Conference is one of the hardest conferences in the country. On any given day anyone can beat someone, making the Big Ten the most exciting to watch and compete in. I am enjoying my first year competing in NCAA Division I and the Big Ten Conference. I am so proud to be a Buckeye and look forward to future experiences this season and my senior season in 2006!
Go Buckeyes!!!
#9 Felicia Jones
