Captain covers the whole court

Volleyball leader digs deep to pursue passion

PAMELA KALIDASAN Reporter

Sometimes, trying new things can be intimidating. But for Pierce volleyball captain Julia Nederlk, it’s rewarding.

Nederlk said that her current position on the team comes with a lot of responsibility, but she enjoys pushing the team toward a common goal.

“I’ve never been a team captain before and it’s definitely different where you have to be the energy source for the team, and you can’t look to somebody else to see how you should feel,” Nederlk said. When it comes to Nederlk’s leadership, volleyball player and transfer student Saisha Kahae said the captain has done her part in making sure everyone is involved.

“As a leader on the team she keeps everyone accountable, and as one of our leading hitters she’s a big contributor,” Kahae said. “She's cool and she’s honestly a team player.”

Nederlk has played volleyball since she was in middle school where she joined a club and found out that volleyball is the sport meant for her.

“I started playing volleyball in sixth grade through one of my friends who was joining and then I fell in love with the sport,” Nederlk said. “It was very chaotic. There was not a lot of organization, but we definitely had fun.”

Before volleyball, Nederlk said that she played other sports including soccer, karate and softball, but nothing compared to volleyball.

“I’ve always seen a value in being a part of a sport and volleyball was just the most comfortable environment for that,” Nederlk said. “When I started noticing how much I was excelling, I was like this is definitely what I want to stick with and what I feel the and Barcelona to recognize and understand plays and strategies. She also likes to practice with her dad, having him throw balls at the goal post and her practice catching and punting.

“My dad is the one that really got me into soccer to begin with,” Rosas said. “I had this little notebook where I would draw a jersey with the number 13 and then ‘Rosas’ on the bottom because I wanted to be one of those girls on the team.”

Rosas said she believes soccer is a passion. It helps her stay grounded and put her efforts into something she enjoys.

“It’s like a stress reliever for me,” Rosas said. “When I’m feeling stressed and I come out on this field, everything just goes away. I’m focused on the game and nothing else so it’s like an outlet for me.”

Assistant Coach Joandra Ramirez has worked with Rosas since high school. She said she has seen her confidence and her skills develop all throughout high school and into college.

“She’s a driven player and is very hard on herself,” Ramirez said. “She’s willing to learn and she’ll listen to what you’re telling her. Her confidence has definitely boosted her presence and just how good she is at being able to react to the shots.”

Rosas was not as experienced compared to her other teammates who played on club teams before college.

Ramirez said that as much as Rosas is growing and practicing, she still needs to work on her confidence.

“Just like her strength has been that she’s gained confidence, she still needs a lot more confidence out on that field,” Ramirez said.

“One of the things coming in was that she didn’t have the experience as a goalkeeper so as she’s playing more, coming out to practice, getting more training and asking questions, I think she’s able to see where she is improving and gaining.”

Head Coach Adolfo Perez said that soccer is a cruel sport and that Rosas has been able to move past mistakes and hardships.

“You can have 20 opportunities and not score but then you can also have one shot and score,” Perez said. “Anabelle came out of nowhere to become a starter, which is hard to do. She always got ready and when the opportunity was given she did well.”

Perez said the team does not have a goalkeeping coach so Rosas has been able to improve on techniques such as punting, shot-blocking and upswinging on her own and with coach Ramirez.

“She’s only going to get better,” Perez said. “She’s always here and trains hard. She’s really the one that goes to the trainers afterwards and works on her back and strengthening, and takes advantage of what we have.”

Rosas said she wants to continue playing soccer after Pierce and hopes to go pro.

“The plan is to go to SDSU and continue playing soccer,” Rosas said. “I don’t have that much experience, but I’m able to work hard and I want to keep on playing as much as I can. I feel at peace on the field.” most passionate about.”

Head Coach Edison Zhou said that Nederlk always takes up leadership whenever she can.

“She works the hardest out of the team,” Zhou said. “She always leads the teammates during games, practices and even in the weight room.”

Zhou also said that Nederlk is flexible and can take on nearly any role.

“Julia is an all-around player and she can play at different positions, which is really great for coaches like me, coming up with a game plan,” Zhou said.

Nederlk said that these changes have been positive, if not beneficial, towards her goals of expanding her skillset.

“Most of the time, I was a middle blocker and I definitely enjoyed it,” Nederlk said. “But I wanted to diversify my skills and abilities, so this season I’ve been given the opportunity to play outside the majority of the time.”

Nederlk explained that she doesn’t have a plan for what she really wants to do for her career, but wants to change her major from Communications to Sociology. But if there’s one thing, Nederlk said she wants to continue playing volleyball in the future.

“As for the future, of course I still want to play volleyball and the ultimate dream is getting a potential scholarship to a four year university.”

According to Zhou, Nederlk can go far if she keeps up the hard work.

“If she keeps practicing at Pierce she can go to Division II or have an AIA with a scholarship,” Zhou said.

In terms of what are the plans for this season, Nederlk said that she’ll focus on leading her team to victory.

“For the remaining season, I’m going to continue focusing on creating a really good team culture,” Nederlk said. “There’s a lot of good friendships and the team continues to encourage people to improve and focus on what they need to change or maintain.”