This is the sixth installment of 'In Their Own Words'. Sacramento State student-athletes and coaches share thoughts on their careers, life, love of their sport, uncertain times, and much more. Today is the first installment from a coach, and we hear from head volleyball coach Ruben Volta.
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These are the strangest of times in my 20 years of coaching at Sacramento State, and I hope everyone in the Hornet family is well and doing their part to social distance. As we all have suddenly found ourselves with plenty of time on our hands, I thought I would reflect and share a little about how this time has impacted me.
Normally the spring is extremely busy. Every weekend from February through the first weekend of May, I am either coaching our team at a beach volleyball match or on a recruiting trip. There are a massive amount of juniors volleyball tournaments I have attended every year for the last 20 years that have been canceled. Our entire beach season and all practices canceled as well.
This all happened on a Thursday afternoon as we were setting up our beach courts in Folsom for a match, and I was supposed to board a plane that night. What an abrupt change for me. I felt the way I do at the end of every season - empty, a little lonely and extremely bored. That was one of the longest weekends I've had in many years.
It has been a difficult adjustment to not having practices. I miss seeing my assistant coaches, Sarah Chlebana and Ed Jackson, and I miss seeing my team every day. We are keeping in contact and recently had our first Zoom video chat. With all the giggling and smiles, I knew they were all happy to see each other. The student-athletes impact my life in so many positive ways, and I was happy to see their faces. They have all handled this situation extremely well, and many of them ask when they can come back. I feel for our lone senior, Sarah Davis, whose season ended abruptly at a time when she was playing the best volleyball of her career.
The time away has allowed me to reflect on how blessed I've been the last 20 years. Sacramento State is a special place to work. Many of our coaches and athletics staff members have been here for years and are invested in Hornet Athletics, it's truly a family atmosphere. Coaches spend time talking to each other about our seasons and attend each other's games. Thank you all for attending our matches and supporting the team.
The volleyball program has a long history of alumni support as well. So many alumni attend our matches with their families or show up as a group with several of their teammates. This past season, we had a large group of players from the 1980's attend one of our matches. Players that I went to college with in the 1990's continue to come to matches every year.
Many groups of alumni I have coached as an assistant or head coach continue to attend matches as well, and I truly enjoy seeing you in the stands and postgame. I know this is a tradition that will continue, and thank you to all the alumni for your support. The love and support you have for one another is evident on social media - many of you have posted your Zoom or FaceTime get togethers, and I have enjoyed FaceTiming with many of you as well.
I'm an alum who played on the men's club volleyball team coached by Weidi Zhang who was a longtime assistant coach with the women's team. He was the first person I hired to coach with me when I became head coach.
After being a volunteer coach for two years, Debby Colberg hired me as a full time assistant coach in 2000. I remember the first time I recruited off campus, I was standing there with Debby when a club coach walked up to us and said, "Hi Deb, so you hired this guy. You sure that was a good idea?"
Thank you Debby for taking a chance on me. My mentors and two of the closest friends I've ever had, Debby and Weidi, continue to attend virtually every home volleyball match. To say that I am blessed is an understatement. I love what I do, and I love where I work. Stingers Up!
IN THEIR OWN WORDS ARCHIVE
April 1: Nishtha Madan, Women's Golf
March 30: William FitzPatrick, Men's Baskeball
March 27: Tara Catour, Gymnastics
March 25: Kennedy Nicholas, Women's Basketball
March 19: Estel Boix Noguer, Rowing
