When it comes to volleyball, sophomore Eliana Schaefer is killing it.
Although she had never played organized volleyball before, Eliana tried out for the volleyball team her freshman year. Despite a solid tryout, JV coach Geoffrey Schaefer made the difficult decision to cut her from the team.
“She always maintained a positive attitude and that’s what I love about her,” Schaefer said. “That was the hardest part about cutting someone like her. She was such a great girl.”
Schaefer offered Eliana a job as team manager and she accepted. She practiced with the team during the season and worked diligently during the offseason to improve her skills for next year.
“I enjoyed playing and I knew that I wanted to be on the team next year,” she said. “I figured out what I needed to do in order to achieve it.”
Eliana attended camps across the country at numerous schools including American University, Pennsylvania State University and the Cornejo Clinics in Rockville. At the camps, she gained the experience and basic skills that she lacked when she was cut from the JV team.
When she returned to tryouts her sophomore year, she had the upper hand on most of the JV girls as well as some of the members of the varsity team.
“This year when I watched her, she could pass and hit better,” varsity head coach Hao-Lan Chai said. “You could just tell that she was a little bit more experienced than the rest of the JV girls.”
Hard work during the offseason helped Eliana develop the necessary skill set to make the varsity team. As a starting hitter for most of the season, she helped the Vikings to a 7-7 record and a berth in the playoffs. She has established herself as one of the best and most reliable players on the varsity team.
“She brings so much to our team,” captain Tamara Ibrahim said. “She’s a young player so her skills are still developing, but she’s improved substantially this season and has a lot of potential.”
Schaefer hopes that other athletes use Eliana’s story as motivation to work hard in the offseason.
“She came back a transformed, focused player,” he said. “I applaud her for what she has done and I hope others use her as a role model.”
