November 14, 2025 • 46 mins
🎧 Sophie Scott | Resilience, Leadership, and the Grind of Division I Athletics
On this week’s Significant Coaching Podcast, Matt Rogers sits down with Sophie Scott, Senior Middle Hitter for Cal-Berkeley Volleyball, to explore what it truly means to be a student-athlete at the highest level. Sophie opens up about her journey through injury, recovery, and rediscovering her love for the game. She shares what what it truly feels like to play at the Power 4 level and dealing with all the things athletes just one generation before her never had to worry about: NIL, social media branding, coast to coast conference travel, and the chaos of the Transfer Portal.
Sophie’s story is one of resilience, gratitude, and perspective—an inspiring reminder that success in college sports isn’t just about performance, but about purpose and perseverance.
This episode also includes a quick shoutout to former guest and friend of the show Coach Sue Webber, who introduced Matt to Sophie.
🎙️ Significant Coaching is hosted by Matt Rogers—author of Significant Recruiting: The Playbook for Prospective College Athletes and creator of The Volleyball Recruit’s Journal, available now at CoachMattRogers.com
Learn more and connect with Matt Rogers here: https://linktr.ee/coachmattrogers
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:10):
Welcome back to The SignificantCoaching Podcast.
I'm your host, Matt Rogers.
Today's episode is a specialone.
It's not every week that we getto flip the script and hear from
a current division one athlete,someone who's living the grind,
embracing the process, andcarrying the weight of both
academic and athletic excellenceevery single day.
Sophie Scott is a senior middlehitter for Cal Berkeley
(00:32):
volleyball in the a CC, And shebrings us a rare and unique
perspective.
What it truly feels like to playat the Power four level and
dealing with all the thingsathletes.
Just one generation before her,never had to worry about to the
extent they do today.
The NIL social media branding,coast to Coast conference
(00:52):
travel, and the chaos of thetransfer portal.
What stands out most aboutSophie isn't just her talent,
it's her resilience.
She's battled through majorinjuries that would've ended
many careers.
Yet here she is playing her bestvolleyball as a senior.
Her determination, discipline,and love for the game.
Jump off the page in thisconversation.
(01:13):
You'll hear it in her voice.
She's grateful, grounded, andfully aware of what it takes to
get here.
Sophie also speaks with deeprespect and appreciation for her
parents, her coaches, and everyperson who's helped her along
the way.
That humility, that perspectiveis exactly what separates good
athletes from great ones.
And before we dive in, just aquick shout out to Coach Sue
(01:36):
Weber, a former guest and friendof the show for introducing me
to Sophie.
Sue, you were W right?
She's the real deal.
If you're a parent, a coach, ora young athlete dreaming of
playing at the next level, thisconversation is a must.
Listen, and while you're atcoach matt rogers.com, check out
my book Significant Recruitingand the Brand New Volleyball
Recruits Journal.
(01:56):
A complete roadmap forprospective volleyball players
to organize their recruitingjourney, set goals, prepare for
conversations with collegecoaches, and take control of
their future in the game theylove.
Now, let's get into it.
Here's my conversation withSophie Scott.
Sophie Scott, so great to seeyou.
Thanks for being on the show.
(02:17):
Thank you for having me.
I'm very excited to talk today.
We have a mutual friend, SueWeber, and Sue said I needed to
talk to you because you've hadsuch a an eclectic experience,
but a great experience at Cal,right?
Yes.
It's been amazing so far.
Yeah.
I have a teenage daughter andshe's not playing volleyball
anymore, but she played sevenyears of club and it just burned
(02:39):
her out and she realized shewanted to put her energy towards
other things.
But this question I'm gonnastart with, it really comes from
that'cause I work with so manyteenage girls.
When did you know this wasimportant to you to be a college
athlete?
I think it started, so I startedplaying volleyball in the fourth
(03:00):
grade.
I played basketball most of mylife.
And then from there I kinda didboth for a little while and then
I realized that I was muchbetter at volleyball than I was
at basketball, although I dolove the sport.
And then once I got into club,it was around age 12 I was
playing up on higher teams thanmy actual age group.
And then.
Once I realized I was gettingpretty good, I switched clubs to
(03:22):
a more competitive club, andthen after that, I think it was
like my 14th year.
My coach on my club team went upto my parents and was like, just
so you know, there's collegecoaches on our court today
watching Sophie.
And I was like 14 years old.
I had no idea what I was doing,and my parents told me and I was
like, oh, maybe I'm pretty goodat this and I should start
taking it really seriously.
(03:42):
And so from that point on, Idid.
And I'm always a verycompetitive person, so I just
wanted to get better every dayand push myself.
And I realized I could do thatand I realized I got pretty
good.
From there, it just took off.
It motivated you?
Yeah.
Inspired you.
Absolutely.
Do you think if you wouldn'thave heard that, that the
coaches were there watching, doyou think your path would've
(04:05):
been any different?
Honestly, no, I think I alwaysknew that I really took sports
very seriously no matter what Iwas doing.
And I think whether or not therewas a coach on my court at that
time, I think I would've stillwanted to pursue things'cause my
whole club team like gotrecruited.
So I think just being surroundedby a bunch of really, like other
really good volleyball playersjust motivated me even more to,
(04:27):
keep going with my career.
What did being a D one athletemean to you at 14, 15 years old?
Do you remember that?
Do you remember thinking aboutthat and what that really, what
was that idea like for you?
Yeah it's so funny you askedthat.
'cause shortly after that wholeshort little story I just told
before the rules had changed forrecruiting we were allowed to
(04:50):
talk to coaches on the phone.
So in eighth grade, at age 14, Idid hop on a call and I had no
idea what I wanted.
I was like, I am just a littleeighth grader.
I have no idea what I want inschool or where I'm gonna go.
But from there I just.
Realized that it was gonna bereally fun, and then they
changed the rules.
So I had to stop talking tocoaches.
(05:10):
But we went from there and I didall my own work on that end of
it.
And I started making videos andfilm and sending emails and
stuff like that.
So it just took off.
Did you see D one as attainablein high school?
Did you think that you were goodenough?
Did you understand?
(05:30):
What the reality was when yougot there.
I think at first I did consider,like I talked to my parents and
Sue obviously was a big helpwith this, but just being
realistic and where my skilllevel was at and I didn't really
know at first when I firststarted my process.
So I reached out to as manyschools as possible and I talked
to as many schools as possible.
I didn't really write anyoneoff, but then.
When I started seeing biggernames and being excited about
(05:53):
those things, I was like, ohwow.
Like I could go to the top levelwith this.
And from that point I narrowedthings down even more.
But I did see it as veryattainable.
'cause I was confident in myskill and I was surrounded by a
really gr group of teamteammates and coaches and
everything.
And people were realistic withme and honest with me about
where I was at.
And I was like, okay, here wego.
I think this is where I'm at.
(06:15):
Good.
When you got there, when you gotto Cal, it's it's, this is no
walk in the park, in theclassroom, is it?
I can't, no, it's not, it's avery difficult school.
It's very challenging.
Obviously it's one of the, it'sthe number one public school.
So it is, it's very hard andyou're surrounded by.
A million smart people.
(06:35):
So it's super difficult, but itis really it's really rewarding
at the same time.
And I think being an athlete atthis level, but also being a
student at this level is justlike such a unique experience.
And I'm very grateful to be inthis opportunity.
But it is hard to balancesometimes, but I've been doing a
pretty good job.
All right.
I want you to, I want you tothink back those first five or
(06:58):
six weeks at Cal because.
You weren't, when you're avolleyball player, you're not a
traditional student becauseyou're typically there two,
three weeks before all the otherfreshmen get there, so you don't
get that prototype freshmanorientation and that can be good
and bad because you're reallygoing into a sisterhood right
(07:18):
away and you've got all thesepeople that you get close to
really quickly.
But are there, was there one ortwo things that you were like
either on the court, off thecourt, in the classroom.
They were like, wow I don't knowif I was ready for that.
Was there a couple of thosethings?
Yeah.
Honestly I think going from clubtraining to college training is
(07:43):
very different.
'cause with club volleyball.
You practice three times a week.
You do your own weightliftingand everything like that.
Your nutrition, you don't, Idon't even know if I thought
about it too much in high schoolother than just let me eat a
good meal before a game.
And then I think coming tocollege and practicing every day
and then going into two a daysand lifting every day and having
all these people and resources.
(08:05):
My athletic trainer who can helpme with treatment and my rehab
and like all the resources thatwere like at my fingertips was
definitely something that waslike, whoa, that's really
different and crazy.
And I didn't know I had accessto all of this.
So that was definitely somethingthat was pretty shocking when I
first got there.
And I was obviously it's goodand I also had to adjust to it
and everything like that.
But then I think the other thingthat.
(08:26):
Was a bit of an adjustment andit was very different and it was
good and bad.
In my little freshman brain whenI first got here, it was only
having one class a day and thenjust doing volleyball or doing
and then I was like, whoa, whatelse do I do with my time?
And like trying to just navigatethe college aspect.
But then I have six readings Ihave to do for the next four
hours.
So it's it's very different thanhigh school.
(08:46):
And what you experienced beforethat,'cause you have, a full day
of classes and then you dovolleyball and you have maybe
two hours of homework.
So it's very different and youhave to learn how to adjust your
learning for that.
I thought.
So that was definitely somethingthat was interesting for me.
Yeah, that's cool.
That's probably the hardestthing for any.
Teenager to accept is the factthat, all right, no one's really
(09:06):
paying attention to me anymorein terms of my routine and my
schedule.
I have to create that.
If you could give some advice toyourself at 16, are there things
you wish you would've startedthat you're doing now that you
wish you would've said, gosh,that would've been easy for me
to do that, and I would've beenbetter prepared for college?
(09:27):
I think honestly findingproductive ways to do things
with my free time is somethingthat I could have prepared a
little bit better because whenyou're in college, you have.
You have free time.
But like when you're an athlete,especially in season, you don't
get that much free time and thenyou just wanna lay down, but
then you, like you have stuff todo still.
So I think learning how to belike, all right, I gotta get
this, and this.
Done super early on, like when Iwas 16 years old.
(09:49):
I think that would've been agood skill to have.
I obviously have learned thatnow, and I'm very happy with how
I handle things, but I thinkhaving that, set routine, even
when you do have your free time,of course you have time to relax
and, do things for yourself, butmaking sure you get all your
things done before you can just,let everything go, I think is a
good thing to help you balancewith everything going on in your
life.
(10:10):
And you probably.
Would've told me somethingdifferent two years ago, I would
imagine, or probably would.
Yeah.
As a senior, and somebody's beenthrough this and been through
the gauntlet of what you gothrough, you've probably learned
this is silly to keep makingthese same mistakes or not being
more prepared for this andgiving myself the free time that
I actually want.
Exactly.
(10:32):
When you and I don't want tokeep going backwards, but when
you look back at yourself as afreshman versus now, what do you
think has changed the most?
That is a really good question.
I feel like so much of my lifeand volleyball and school has
changed.
I feel like I've just had a lotof character development.
Obviously I've gotten a lotbetter with my time management
and, my communication skills.
(10:54):
But I think the biggest thingthat I would say would be like.
My relationships with people andhow I navigate those.
And I've learned a lot of thingsthroughout my time, not only
just off the court, but on thecourt and with coaches and
everything like that.
Obviously over time I've grownto be more confident and be able
to use my voice a lot more, andI'm very proud of that.
Whether that's, navigating thetough conversation with one of
my friends or having a toughconvo with a coach or something
(11:16):
like that, or even a professor.
I think advocating for myself issomething that has really grown
for me and I'm very proud ofmyself for that.
'cause obviously when you comein as a freshman, you're, a
little small voice and you don'treally know if you're too sure
of yourself.
And I think having thatcharacter development for myself
is something I'm very happyabout.
I'm very proud of you too forthat because it's probably the
(11:37):
thing I regret the most aboutcollege.
And trust me, I have plenty ofregrets from college, but not
building enough relationshipsand not nurturing those
relationships.
With professors and coaches andadministrators, and because I
had so many people that wantedto help me, and like you said,
when you walk into college, it'samazing how many people you have
(11:58):
around you that wanna help yousucceed.
And it's so important that youlearn how to take advantage of
them.
I wanna dive more you, you said.
About relationships, how you'vegrown in those relationships.
Gimme an example of how you feellike you've grown and matured
and how you create relationshipsand nurture those relationships.
(12:19):
Yeah, I think I've had to have alot of really hard
conversations, not only involleyball, but just in my life,
and I think not shying away fromthose is really important.
I know when I was, maybe afreshman or younger.
I would try to avoid thoseconversations whether I was like
upset with something with mycoaches or my friends did
something, or somebody in mylife did something or I got a
(12:41):
bad grade, but I thought Ishould get a different grade.
I wouldn't necessarily be quickto advocate for myself with
that, and I think.
Being confident enough and sureenough of myself and the people
that I'm talking to, to have atough conversation and want to
get the best out of it for bothof us is something that I'm
really proud of.
And I've had a lot of thoseconversations in my lifetime
(13:03):
whether that was with Playtimeor even just my friends and I
had a little disagreement, butwhatever it was I've gotten
really good at, knowing thatthose tough conversations can
make the relationship with thepeople that you're having them
with better.
And I think being sure of thatand.
Always wanting the best for bothpeople involved is how I go into
it, even if it's a hardconversation.
(13:25):
So yeah, I would think aboutthat.
Speaks volumes about yourcharacter and how you were
raised, Sophie.
'cause you've said twice now,thinking about both sides of the
story.
Thinking about how this otherperson is feeling, how they're
going about it.
'cause you and I both know,'cause I coached women for a
long time at that, at yourlevel.
And I've got a daughter and I'vegot a wife.
(13:45):
It's, boys have these problemstoo, but there's always that
thing on girls teams wherethere's conflict that comes up
and the more you don't addressit, the bigger the problem gets.
Absolutely.
Talk to me about coaching.
Yeah, because that plays a sucha huge role in your development
through college, because collegeis your opportunity to figure
(14:07):
things out and fail a little bitbefore you get out in the real
world, which you're gettingcloser and closer to every day,
tell me about the coaching thatyou've gotten.
Off the court from yourvolleyball coaches in terms of
helping you become the personyou wanna be and giving you the
power and empowering you to bethe person you wanna be.
(14:28):
Yeah, I think.
I've had an interestingexperience throughout college.
I've had several different fullcoaching staffs and that's been
very interesting'cause I'vetaken a few different things
from each one.
My current coaching staff I'mdefinitely very close with.
They've been amazing so far andI've really enjoyed my time with
them.
They've been here for two yearsnow.
And so they've been reallygreat.
But I think with that I do spenda lot of time with them off the
(14:51):
court.
I'm pretty close with all ofthem, especially my assistants
and I think.
They have just told me and myhead coach is a female, and I
think seeing, and then I have anassistant that's a female, and
then I have two male assistantsas well.
But I think seeing.
My female coaches, and this isnothing on my male coaches.
I love them too.
But seeing my female coaches insuch a high place of power and
(15:12):
have so much confidence and somuch knowledge that I can learn
from and life skills has beensuper awesome to watch.
And I've had several reallyamazing female coaches in my
lifetime.
And.
Seeing those women, these strongwomen that have so much to give
to their players, but also justin their lives has been
something that I've really triedto embody.
(15:34):
And I really feel like I'vepicked up a little bit of
everything from each coach I'vehad.
And I think having those skillsis really amazing.
And, I just love, creatingrelationships with my coaches
and I've had really good coachesfrom age 14 to 21.
Just trying to take everythingfrom a little bit a little bit
of everything from each personhas been really awesome.
And yeah, I just, I think whatI've learned the most is my
(15:56):
confidence and just like I said,being sure of myself in all
aspects of my life, not just onthe court.
Awesome.
I'm so happy to hear that, thatyou've, and I played with for
multiple coaches in college too.
And that transition is so hard.
'cause you made a commitment toone person and now they're gone.
Yes, exactly.
And now you gotta decide, do Istay here and try and build a
relationship with a new coachingstaff or do I go somewhere?
(16:19):
And the fact that you stayed andyou've built these relationships
and you're in such a good placewith your new coaching staff is
really cool.
Let's talk about freshmen.
Let's talk about the newcomers.
Okay.
What role do you feel like youhave on this team when new
players come into the program?
I think I try to be a bigsister.
(16:40):
I grew up with two olderbrothers and I had no sisters.
But I think with being on a teamfull of girls, especially being
the oldest on the team full ofgirls, I really do try to play a
big sister.
They know.
And if you were to talk to myfreshman, they would tell you
this too.
They know I always have theirback whatev, whatever that is.
I'll always have their back.
They know that I'll take care ofthem.
They know I'm a call away.
(17:02):
I've picked up calls at any hourto come and help my freshman or
pick'em up.
Or you wanna go to the grocerystore?
You can go to the grocery store.
I think I do that.
But then on the court, I think Ireally push'em to be better.
'cause I know that they can be.
And I think just having themadjust to some.
Obviously like the things thatwe talked about when you first
come in and trying to give themas many.
(17:23):
Tips and tricks and resourcesthat they can just from me.
'cause I've been through it andI know it and it's a little bit
different than when you have anadvisor or other people just
like talking in your ear, oh,this is what you should do in
college.
I think having the person that'shad that shared experience is
really important and easy totalk to.
So I definitely try to be thatperson that they can lean on in
all aspects.
And like I said on the court,i'll give them advice so that I
(17:45):
can if they're playing andthey're not doing a specific
thing, I'll be like, oh, yougotta do this, and this.
You got it.
I'm with you here.
I trust you.
And that's one thing I alwaystry to say to them when I'm on
the court with them, is whetherI give them feedback or not,
it's just knowing that I'm therewith them and I'm gonna do my
job and they're gonna do theirjob for me and then we work
together.
And I think that's the biggestthing is just building trust
(18:05):
with each other on the court.
And then having thoserelationships off the court is
also just as important.
It's such a cool thing to beable to share the things you've
learned and the things you knowyou struggled with when you
start being a college athlete,and how much of what you're
doing now as a role model and aleader is proactive compared to
(18:25):
reactive when you were younger.
Has that changed?
Are you letting these freshmenknow, Hey, practice today, I
want you thinking about this orbe prepared for this, or, this
is gonna happen in this game andthis is how we handle it.
Yeah.
Do you, are you feel like you'redoing a lot more of that?
I do think that is a commontheme in my life.
And also my coaches always usethe, let's be proactive, not
(18:46):
reactive.
So I'm very familiar with that,but I do try to, help'em out as
much as I can before we dosomething.
But also I do think it'simportant to like, have them
have those experience even ifthey do fail.
And I can't save'em fromeverything, I can't always be
there.
So they'll have those momentswhere they'll have something
challenging come up, but.
Trying to prepare them as muchas I can is what I like to do,
(19:08):
but then if there does issomething that comes up.
I do try to.
Help them with what we can do tosolve that problem or what we
can do to fix it.
And I think just being on bothends of that is really
important.
Just in case I can't be there toprevent everything.
You can't, and you know that'sone thing you've learned as
you've gotten, as you've gonethrough this.
You can't fix everything, but ifyou can make their life a little
(19:29):
easier and maybe save your guysfrom losing a set or a game that
you didn't need to because youwere proactive and that's how
coaches think.
That's how leaders think.
So that's awesome.
Talk about the Cal culture.
I'm really intrigued by this.
'cause people don't understandif they're not in the locker
room'cause they see you on tv.
(19:49):
And they see the stands are fulland they're like, wow, this is
on ESPN or this is on the a cnetwork or whatever that may be.
But they don't see when you walkoff the floor and it's just you
15, 16 girls and your coaches inthe locker room.
And it's private and it'spersonal and it's loving and
it's hard.
What is the culture like at Cal?
(20:11):
Yeah, I spoke about this alittle bit, but me and my
teammates are extremely close.
I think of every single one ofthose as my family, and I
wouldn't change that for theworld.
I know that's not very common ona lot of college sports teams,
and I'm very grateful for that.
There's not a single person onmy team that I wouldn't be able
to, spend a whole day with andhave a great time.
So I'm very grateful for that.
(20:31):
And I think that goes back tothe relationship building.
As far as the coaches, like theyhave created a culture where
it's all about hard work, butit's also about having our
relationships off the court.
'Cause it's not just atransactional thing, as much as
it is a business and there's alot of things that go into it
that is business like so muchof.
College sports, you spend somuch time with these people and
(20:53):
you wanna have these greatrelationships.
My, my coaches do nurture thatas well.
And so I think I'm in a veryunique position because.
They also value our school,which is super awesome.
And that's a big aspect.
'cause I mean we are at Cal,like it's Berkeley, it's a super
intelligent school and that kindof goes into all the athletes at
Berkeley as well.
(21:13):
I've had conversations withother athletes where, as much as
it is your sport, it's also alot of school.
I think just the culture overallfor me and my team is we are so
close and we go througheverything together.
If one person feels something,so does everyone else, and I
think that's incredibly special.
And it can be hard sometimes,but it can also be really
rewarding.
And I think sometimes what ourcoaches want from us is, we are
(21:36):
super close off the court.
And that does translate onto thecourt.
But sometimes we do need to havethose tough conversations that
I've talked about and we don'twanna hurt feelings.
But I think because we learn howto have those conversations, our
team has become so much closerbecause we do know how to
navigate these hard things.
Or if something happens in agame or in practice and it's a
little, snippy or whatever it isor there's a disagreement, we
(21:58):
can have that tough conversationoff the court.
And I think that does, that's.
That does contribute to why weare so close as a team.
So I'm really grateful for everysingle person on my team and my
coaches as well.
You guys have had a hard season,you just had a, you had a big
win last week at versus Duke,which is huge.
Whenever you can beat another,another a CC school, and
(22:19):
especially at a school with thatreputation, what are some of the
things that Coach Malcolm'sdoing for you guys to.
Make sure you don't forget aboutwho you are and you don't forget
what that culture means.
Are you guys having thoseconversations?
Yeah.
So we have three big values onour team that we emphasize every
single day.
And it's grit, discipline, andrespect.
(22:43):
And every single day in practiceor in a game, we do the same
thing where we yell out, we saythree things that we did well.
The process of those things.
We are very process based.
'cause like you said, we havehad a hard season and at this
point we kind of wanna focus onwhat's gonna get us there versus
the result.
And I think that is somethingthat's been very valuable and
(23:04):
that's been a shift in ourmindset for our team halfway
through the season.
So we'll always say three thingsthat are really, that we did
really well, that areprocess-based.
So you can't just be like, oh,we killed a bunch of balls.
Okay, cool.
What's the process of that?
We have to go back to that justso we can remind ourselves what
we're doing in practice everyday to get the results that we
want.
Love that.
And then we'll say two thingsthat, yeah, I love that too.
(23:24):
I think that's been a veryvaluable thing that we.
Added to our whole mindset andeverything like that.
After that we'll do two thingsthat we need to improve, also
process based, and then we'll dothree shout outs, but they have
to be within our values, sorespect, grit, and discipline.
And that's those, doing thosethings afterwards I think has
been really helpful for ourteam.
And I know sometimes the resultisn't always where we want it to
(23:46):
be, but there's a lot of goodthings happening on our team and
I do.
I know I'm a senior and I'll beleaving after this season.
But I do wanna leave my teamwith having that mentality and
being focused on what we aredoing to get the results that we
want, even if they don't turnout to be exactly what we want.
What are we doing for theprocess?
And I think having that,especially during this hard
(24:06):
season where we have had a lotof tough games and we have a lot
of tough competition coming upfor the rest of the season, I
think it's very valuable to keepthat mindset and keep pushing
every single day in practice andin games.
I love it.
'cause it is hard.
I've had those years, I've hadyears where I took a team to the
national tournament and then thenext year we lost our best
player.
And you can relate to this,where there was an injury and we
(24:26):
went from, one of the top teamsin the country to a team that
was just trying to win a game.
And it's, and it doesn't meananything about the people that
are there, it's just how lifegoes.
Especially in college sportswhen you get to college.
You can probably define grit.
You can probably give it adefinition.
You can probably say this iswhat discipline means and this
(24:49):
is what respect means to me.
At what point did grit,discipline and respect start
being more than words to you?
Yeah, I think it really did comeafter my second injury.
I think.
Obviously I tore my ICL in highschool and I was very young and
I didn't really know how tonavigate that.
(25:10):
And that was a process in itsown because it was so separate
and I didn't have as manyresources as I do now.
But I think when I had to get asecond surgery, I really had to
make that decision in thatmoment if I wanted to keep
going.
And that goes into the grit.
More than anything, I think.
And I ended up having two moresurgeries after that in my
college career, I definitelyknow what grit is at this point.
(25:32):
I think I've just, I've had tolive it a lot and Yeah.
It's not easy to come back fromthings like that.
So It's easy to quit, isn't it?
It is.
It is.
The easy way out would be togive up and I.
I never made it easy on myselfbecause I, that's just not who I
am.
And I do think all of thesethings, grit, discipline, and
respect, all have to do witheach other.
(25:53):
And so like when I had that gritto keep going, I also had to be
really disciplined in my rehaband in what I was doing.
And my mental especially, I hadto be really disciplined in that
because if I let that falter,it's.
It's not gonna be good foranyone and it's not gonna get me
to where I want to go.
That's right.
And the respect part, like I hadto respect myself enough to keep
going and I had to respect thegame.
(26:14):
'cause obviously I don't think Iwould keep going if I didn't
respect the game of volleyballat this point.
So I think just keeping my headup and embodying those as much
as it's oh, these are my teamvalues.
But I do see a lot of those inmy life and I've had to.
Embody that exactly.
Within the experiences that I'vehad.
So that's awesome because it'swhat you're going through day in
(26:37):
and day out is hard if you werea division three athlete.
But now you throw the Caleducation and what you're doing
in the classroom every day youthrow the incredibly crazy
travel schedule that you have.
Oh yeah.
Mean it's insane.
No one in the history of sportshas had to do what the a CC is
(26:58):
doing right now in terms ofgoing coast to play a conference
game.
And then you throw your injurieson that and it says so much
about your character, Sophie,and your heart, and your grit,
and who you are, that you'restill doing this.
Thank you.
I appreciate that.
It's true and it's obvious.
Let's talk about love of thegame.
I'm writing about it this weekbecause I've been thinking about
(27:19):
it a lot.
Has your love of the gamechanged in the last four or five
years?
Have you learned more about whatit means to love the game?
Yeah, I have.
I think I have gained such alove and respect and.
Appreciation for volleyballitself because of what I've gone
(27:42):
through.
And I think obviously, yes, Iloved it while I was playing and
it's been awesome.
And then when it was taken awayfrom me four times, it's, it
gets you in a completelydifferent mental space with the
sport than it does if you justare playing it.
And I think as much as thethings that I went through were
really difficult and really hardand w.
(28:05):
Really took me for a spin, butthey.
It, it created such a uniqueexperience and I am almost
grateful for the experiencesthat I've had because I do see
the good in the things that Iwent through because I am so
grateful for every single daythat I get to step out there and
be healthy and touch a ball.
That's something that I'vealways talked about going
(28:25):
through the things that I wentthrough, is I try to give that
appreciation and perspective tothe people that are around me.
'cause obviously some days youwake up, oh, I don't wanna
practice today.
Oh, I'm tired.
Oh, I'm sore.
And I'm like, you get topractice today.
You get to touch a ball, you'rephysically able to run, jump,
cut, do whatever you can.
And that is such a uniqueopportunity that so many people.
(28:48):
Might wish that they could bein.
I spent so much time sitting onthe sideline just because I was
forced to due to my injuries andjust watching the sport and
being like, oh, I wish I couldbe out there like itching to be
out there all the time, I thinkhas just made me.
Love the sport so much, and Itruly don't know what I would do
without it.
I don't know what I would'vedone if I ever gave up.
(29:09):
I think I would never forgivemyself.
So I'm really proud of myselfthat I kept pushing, even though
it's been several big injuries.
But, I just I love volleyballmore than anything.
And I know I'm not just avolleyball player.
I know there's more things tome, and I see that perspective
as well.
'cause sometimes people arelike, Sophie there's more to
life.
And I'm like, no, I know.
But I do love volleyball.
It's just so much and it'ssomething that'll always be such
(29:32):
a huge part of my life and I'mreally grateful that I have had
the opportunity to play it well.
This is coming from somebodywho's in their fifties.
It's still one of my greatregrets'cause I got hurt after
my sophomore year.
Yeah.
And it was pretty bad injury.
My shoulders were a mess, myback was a mess, got in a car
accident and I was in so muchpain that it was taking away.
(29:53):
My, my mind process about why Ilove the game.
I attach too much of my identityto being a basketball player and
I felt like that was being takenaway, so I was losing my
identity and I just couldn'tdeal with it emotionally.
So I want you to know whenyou're my age, you're gonna be
so darn proud of yourself andyou're gonna be so thankful
(30:15):
'cause.
Now I'm every day.
There's probably not a week thatgoes by that I don't go.
I wish I would've just stuck itout.
I wish I wouldn't have worriedabout being the starter, being
the major stat producer, beingthe person on the floor all the
time.
I wish I would've justremembered how much I enjoyed
being with that team and being apart of the game.
(30:37):
So it is such a huge complimentto you.
That you've continued to do thisand you're thinking about doing
it some more next year, right?
Yes, I am.
So we're gonna dive into that inthe next episode.
We're in part two, but I wannatalk a little bit about where
you're at emotionally with that.
How much of playing next year isI've got a year.
(30:59):
I'm like you said, I love it.
I'm gonna keep playing, and howmuch of it is I'm finally
getting over this injury.
I'm finally starting to bemyself again.
And I wanna see what love I canget to.
I wanna see what my potentialis.
Where are you at with yourmindset with that?
Yeah.
Of course like you said, it ismy love for the game.
(31:19):
I wanna keep going.
I get an extra year.
Yes, it was due to injury, butwhy not take it and why not keep
playing the sport that I love aslong as I possibly can.
So that's obviously part of it.
That's a big part of it.
But I agree with you.
It is, I just got back.
I feel the best I felt in years,and I'm fast, I'm explosive, I'm
strong.
I wanna see where I can get,because, when you go through the
(31:40):
injuries, there's always themoments of oh, I could have been
so good if I never got hurt.
I've gone through four now.
Might as well keep going andmight as well see how good I can
be.
I that's always, it's a littlebit, like I said, I'm a
competitive person.
I wanna push myself and see howgood I can really get.
So I just wanna keep going.
That's so awesome and I'm soglad you have the opportunity.
(32:01):
It's, and I'm gonna be followingyou wherever you go after this
year and I know you're gonna dogreat things.
You've got such a big heart.
Let's talk a lit.
Let's finish this segment up.
Talking a little bit aboutSophie, the coach.
Do you feel like you've become acoach on the floor?
I think there's aspects that Ido think can be coach-like, but
(32:22):
I try not to.
I try to be a teammate first,and I think that's always where
I'm at.
Yes, I am older and I have moreexperience on the team and I do
give things to my teammates asmuch as I can, but I do think
that it's important to not crossa line when you're a teammate
because there is things thatlike.
You just don't know as well asyour coaches might.
And I think it can getcomplicated, especially in
(32:44):
sports.
People can get rubbed the wrongway if you coach'em too much.
But I do think, like with myyounger girls and the girls in
my position or especially myfreshmen, I do try to like give
them feedback on what I see andthey are very receptive to it
because they know that I havethat experience.
And I do think that is a goodrelationship to have.
And I do think you know it.
Like I said, if I do givefeedback.
(33:06):
Hey, you need to press on theblock.
Dive back into me.
I'll make sure to close yourseam.
I got you here.
It's a two-way street, I thinkis how I try to do it if I am
coaching or having that likecoach-like aspect.
So I think it's more so not somuch coaching, but making sure
that we're both doing our joband we have that trust.
I love that.
Is it different that you're amiddle compared to a setter or a
(33:29):
Liv?
Yeah, I do think it isdifferent.
Middles play a unique role onthe team, obviously.
What I've been told before mycoaches actually made a little
booklet of what each positionkind of entails.
And the middles are called theworkhorse is what they called
it.
Which is very true.
We do a lot of jumping, we do alot of cutting and running, and
we're up on every place.
Yeah, you're everywhere.
(33:50):
We are everywhere.
And so I do agree that we arethe workhorse, but I do think
middles play an important rolebecause you are not expected,
but they want you to touch asmany balls if the other team is
hitting as much as possible.
And that's really important'cause then the people behind
you can get a better pass or abetter dig and or we get a
block.
And it just helps the offense alot more.
(34:11):
So I think being a middle.
Especially a senior middle.
It does play a big role on theteam because, they expect me to
get a touch.
They expect me to kill ball, andthat, that's, I like that
pressure.
I don't shy away from it, but Ido wanna perform as well as I
can for my team.
I do think it plays a uniquerole and I do think people do
listen, especially at the frontwith my pin blockers next to me.
(34:32):
If you watch a game, you'll seeme, I talk, I turn around and I
talk to them the whole timeright before the play starts.
Yeah.
So I think there's a lot oftrust in a lot of respect built
into those relationships.
When I'm up there with my pinsand then my back row, you'll see
me talk to my lib and I'll belike, oh.
This and this.
I'm gonna do this.
And she'll be like, great, I'mgonna do this behind you.
I got you.
So I do think having that strongvoice and like talking to the
(34:54):
people around you on the courtis really important as a middle.
And I think that's beensomething that I try to embody
whenever I'm out there.
Love that.
What do you wanna do afteryou're done with school and
after Done with father?
I would love to go into sportsmarketing.
I'm from Portland, Oregon, so Iwould love to work at Nike.
That's been my dream.
Wake.
Alright.
Nike execs.
Let's start paying attentionhere.
(35:14):
Exactly.
We got a superstar.
Hi Sophie.
No, I would love to work there.
I, I.
I got Jordan on my wall here.
I got a whole shoe rack overhere of a million shoes.
I would love to, be at that.
I wouldn't be opposed to workingfor a sports team either.
I just know I wanna stay in thesports world just because I've
grown up around it.
I've played it and I want tojust stay in it.
Seeing where that takes me aftercollege.
(35:35):
I think that would be reallyinteresting.
And I'm hoping that there'sreally good opportunities coming
my way, so I'm gonna keepworking on it.
You're built smart you'll dogreat in that world.
I wanna do a little rapid firewith you.
Just some quick questions so theaudience and all your teammates
can giggle a little bit and letpeople get to know you a little
bit.
What's your go-to pre-game meal?
Normally pasta.
(35:56):
Any pasta of any sort.
'cause I like to carb load, butthen a little bit of protein
too.
But definitely pasta is coach.
Is coach detailed like I wasthat we eat four hours before
the game and things like that.
Yeah.
If we have a seven o'clock game,we'll eat at three.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Love that.
Song that gets you locked inbefore a match.
Ooh.
I'd say Hustle and Motivate byNipsey Hussle.
(36:19):
All right.
It's a really good song.
Love that song to check that oneout.
All right.
Favorite way Jim to play in andwhy?
Ooh, it's so interesting you askthat.
'cause I've played in Pac 12 andnow I've played in a CC I, I
really do like Oregon Shim.
I think it's awesome.
I grew up watching the gamesthere, so that's really awesome.
Love that arena and then.
(36:42):
USC is also really fun to playin.
I would say USC is a really coolarena.
Is it?
Yeah.
That's cool.
It looks cool on tv.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I just, I love the energy of alltheir, all those schools are so
cool.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Aren't they so cool?
The fan?
It's a different vibe.
Yeah.
The lights and the arena and thespirit.
It's so cool.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Toughest hitter blocker you'vehad to go up against.
(37:05):
That's a good question.
I would say, okay.
Washington State, a few yearsback, my freshman year, Magda
was the, I think she still holdsthe record for the amount of
blocks in, in all of the ncaa,so she's just a phenomenal
blocker.
She was at Washington State andtough to get a ball pass.
(37:26):
She was really good at her job,so found out her, she was
amazing.
Do you find yourself watching,when you know you're going up a
player like that, do you findyourself watching a little extra
film trying to find the weaknessor a flaw?
Yes.
I try to see where could I,where's that hole that I can hit
you, right?
Yes.
Where's the open court that Ican find?
Yeah, no, definitely.
I try to do that a lot.
(37:46):
What's a classic Cal that hassurprised you in a good way?
I would say I'm in a televisionstudies class right now and I
really enjoy that because.
This sounds dumb because you'relike, you go to Berkeley, you do
all these hard things.
We watch TV for our homework.
So I've actually really enjoyed,obviously we write essays and do
(38:08):
all these other things aboutthem, but like my homework is
literally come home and watchthe show.
Like one of the other week myhomework was.
To binge watch an entire season.
Like I like, I dunno, it's sofunny.
So that was surprising.
You just did an infomercial forkids and why they need to go to
college exactly.
There's so many fun things like,yes, it's hard, but there's so
many fun things you can do.
So it's awesome.
What have you learned in thisclass that's got, that's kinda
(38:30):
surprised you?
Honestly just like the, likeintentionality behind what these
shows are doing.
And it's like you watch thesekind of passively sometimes or
like you're like, you'll getinvolved in a show, but they're
very intentional.
Like the companies and thenetworks are very intentional
with when they air them, howthey air them, what their
content is, how long theepisodes are.
So it's just been interesting tolearn about that and how it's
(38:52):
like really, actually veryintentional.
Sounds perfect for your sportsmarketing future that It is.
It's great.
Yeah.
Love.
It's been great so far.
That's great.
Favorite spot on campus to studyand chill.
I really like Mezo.
So there's this restaurantcalled Mezo.
It's got sandwiches in saladsand soups, but they're like this
(39:12):
big, but they're delicious.
Every single one.
But they have all these tablesinside, but then they have a
back patio that's really cute.
And so sometimes me and myteammates will go grab a
sandwich and then go sit in theback patio and study and do
things like that.
And so that's been really cute.
Love that spot.
Awesome.
Yeah.
Awesome.
The teammate, most likely tobecome a coach someday.
(39:32):
That's.
Oh, I would say my freshman,Annmarie O'Gara, she, her
parents, I, her mom is like afitness instructor and she just
has that she has that littlevibe.
So I think it'd be her.
She's bossy.
Let's say it.
Yeah.
She's a little, she has a littleattitude, but it's okay.
(39:53):
You gotta have an attitude ifyou're gonna come.
You gotta, you have to.
It's so funny.
So I love Annmarie.
She's like my little sister.
I we joke around a lot.
It's awesome.
That's awesome.
Best piece of advice a teammatehas given you.
That's a tough one.
Or a coach doesn't have to be ateammate, I think.
(40:15):
Just keep going.
And I've heard that fromteammates and coaches and
everything, and I think that'ssomething that I think about a
lot just because, like I said,what I've been through has been
hard, but in all aspects of yourlife, you can always keep going
and there's ceilings to breakevery time you keep.
Doing different things, and Ithink just reminding yourself
that there's good things coming,whether you're in the thick of
(40:38):
it or you're in a great spot,there's always gonna be more
things coming good and bad.
So you just gotta keep going.
It's, the great thing aboutbeing on a team is there's
always somebody reminding youthat you have value.
And you're important.
And you're necessary, right?
Absolutely.
Yeah.
We all need so much more ofthat, so I love that too.
Is there anything you miss abouthigh school and club volleyball?
(41:02):
I do think the club tournamentswere really fun just because
like you play like you can playanywhere from four to six games
in a day and that's like crazyto think about now because like
I feel like I'm old and like I'mlike, oh, I gotta do an hour
warmup before I sit on thecourt.
But it's just so funny how Iused to be like, oh, let me just
do a quick little stretch andnow I'll play like six games in
a row.
Like it's just so funny.
So I do miss that aspect.
(41:23):
And those were just like.
So fun with my little club team,and obviously it was like two
outta three sets, not threeoutta five.
So it's a little bit shortergames, but those tournaments
were so fun.
I've been to a lot of those.
I'm glad you, I'm sure you have.
I know you, you and I werecommiserating about your Michael
Jordan poster that we share onyour wall.
If you were playing volleyball,what sport would you be playing?
(41:45):
Basketball.
Basketball probably.
I love the sport so much.
My dad played in college.
I.
I go to all the games here.
I watch a lot of NBA games.
Yeah, I was at I was literallyat the women's basketball game
last night.
My roommate's a women'sbasketball player.
Like awesome.
And I do love the sport a lot.
So definitely that.
Where did dad go to school?
He went to UDub Washington forthe first year.
(42:06):
He played there and then hetransferred to a smaller school,
Willamette University.
And he played there Willamette?
Yeah.
I almost took the coaching jobat Willamette.
Many.
Really?
It was beautiful there.
Yeah that's a great, that'sawesome.
That's a great environment.
That's so cool.
That's so funny.
What has your mom and dad beenlike for you through this
experience with all yourinjuries and everything you've
(42:27):
gone through?
How important is thatrelationship to you?
My parents are my rock.
Like I, I would not be where Iam without them.
My mom is a tough cookie.
She is the strongest woman Iknow and she, she is an Italian
woman from New York, so you canimagine she, she keeps me in
check.
She doesn't let my head hangever no matter what I'm doing.
(42:50):
And, she gets, that's where Iget a lot of my confidence as
well and my personality.
And people like to say myattitude too.
So I get that from my mom andI'm so grateful for her for
that.
And my dad is like my bestfriend.
He is just the sweetest personI've ever met in my life.
And he is the biggest heart.
And I, they're such a goodbalance of each other and they
(43:11):
mean the world to me.
And I, like I said, I wouldn'tbe where I am and I.
I take little aspects of both ofmy parents and I try to embody
that as much as I can.
Yeah, and it's so cute how muchthey've invested in my
volleyball and invested in justme as an athlete.
Like whatever it was always, myparents are gonna be there no
matter what.
Like my dad took, I rememberwhen I first started playing
(43:32):
volleyball, he was watchingYouTube videos about.
The different rotations andpositions and everything like
that.
And it was just so cute.
'cause obviously when I playedbasketball he knew everything
like he was my coach.
So it's different.
My mom still doesn't knoweverything about volleyball, but
she will cheer her heart out, sothat's great.
Absolutely.
My mom's been like team mom for20 years.
'cause I had my older brother'splayed sports too, so she's
(43:52):
been.
Did all the meals and did allthe extra things.
They've been so involved and I'mobviously very fortunate to have
that experience with my parentsand I'll forever be grateful for
them and everything that they'vetaught me.
And I can't ask for a bettersupport system than those two.
Fantastic.
And you can tell dad, I cancommiserate with him about
watching the YouTube videos tofigure out rotations.
I was one.
(44:13):
Perfect.
I was one of those volleyballdads too.
There we go.
Now he'll be like, oh, you're inrow one now.
And I'm like, yeah exactly.
How many rotation, how manysubstitutions do I have?
Yes.
Literally.
He's so funny.
So impressed with you, Sophie.
I'm, we're gonna come back,we're gonna do another segment.
We're gonna share yourrecruiting history and what's
(44:34):
cool is we get to talk aboutyour recruiting history and then
we get to talk about yourrecruiting experience that
you're going through now.
'cause it's completelydifferent.
So come back for segment two.
But so glad we got to talk andI'm I'm so happy for you that
you get to keep doing this thingyou love.
Thank you so much.
This was awesome.
I really appreciate it.
What an awesome conversationwith Sophie Scott.
(44:57):
You could hear it in her voice.
The maturity, the gratitude, thelove for her teammates, her
coaches, and the game itself.
It's easy to talk about wins andstats, but what stood out most
to me was her resilience.
Her ability to fight throughadversity and still find joy in
the process.
That's what college athletics isreally about, learning who you
are, who you can become, andwho's been in your corner along
(45:19):
the way.
Sophie's story is a greatreminder that behind every great
athlete are great people,parents, coaches, teammates, and
for her athletic trainers anddoctors and physical therapists
who choose to believe even whenthings get tough.
If you're a parent or a youngathlete listening today and you
want to take ownership of yourjourney, head over to coach matt
(45:39):
rogers.com.
You'll find my book SignificantRecruiting and the new
Volleyball Recruits Journal, apowerful guide designed to help
volleyball players.
Build confidence, stayorganized, and navigate the
recruiting process with clarityand purpose.
And of course, a big thank youagain to Coach Sue Weber for
introducing me to Sophie.
Make sure you come back onMonday to hear part two of my
(46:02):
conversation with Sophie, wherewe'll dive into Sophie's
recruitment journey outta highschool and her present
recruitment journey into theportal to finish her fifth year
at a new program.
Until next time, stay focused onwhat you can control.
Stay humble and keep chasing.
Significance.
Welcome back to The SignificantCoaching Podcast.
I'm your host, Matt Rogers.
Today's episode is a specialone.
It's not every week that we getto flip the script and hear from
a current division one athlete,someone who's living the grind,
embracing the process, andcarrying the weight of both
academic and athletic excellenceevery single day.
Sophie Scott is a senior middlehitter for Cal Berkeley
(00:32):
volleyball in the a CC, And shebrings us a rare and unique
perspective.
What it truly feels like to playat the Power four level and
dealing with all the thingsathletes.
Just one generation before her,never had to worry about to the
extent they do today.
The NIL social media branding,coast to Coast conference
(00:52):
travel, and the chaos of thetransfer portal.
What stands out most aboutSophie isn't just her talent,
it's her resilience.
She's battled through majorinjuries that would've ended
many careers.
Yet here she is playing her bestvolleyball as a senior.
Her determination, discipline,and love for the game.
Jump off the page in thisconversation.
(01:13):
You'll hear it in her voice.
She's grateful, grounded, andfully aware of what it takes to
get here.
Sophie also speaks with deeprespect and appreciation for her
parents, her coaches, and everyperson who's helped her along
the way.
That humility, that perspectiveis exactly what separates good
athletes from great ones.
And before we dive in, just aquick shout out to Coach Sue
(01:36):
Weber, a former guest and friendof the show for introducing me
to Sophie.
Sue, you were W right?
She's the real deal.
If you're a parent, a coach, ora young athlete dreaming of
playing at the next level, thisconversation is a must.
Listen, and while you're atcoach matt rogers.com, check out
my book Significant Recruitingand the Brand New Volleyball
Recruits Journal.
(01:56):
A complete roadmap forprospective volleyball players
to organize their recruitingjourney, set goals, prepare for
conversations with collegecoaches, and take control of
their future in the game theylove.
Now, let's get into it.
Here's my conversation withSophie Scott.
Sophie Scott, so great to seeyou.
Thanks for being on the show.
(02:17):
Thank you for having me.
I'm very excited to talk today.
We have a mutual friend, SueWeber, and Sue said I needed to
talk to you because you've hadsuch a an eclectic experience,
but a great experience at Cal,right?
Yes.
It's been amazing so far.
Yeah.
I have a teenage daughter andshe's not playing volleyball
anymore, but she played sevenyears of club and it just burned
(02:39):
her out and she realized shewanted to put her energy towards
other things.
But this question I'm gonnastart with, it really comes from
that'cause I work with so manyteenage girls.
When did you know this wasimportant to you to be a college
athlete?
I think it started, so I startedplaying volleyball in the fourth
(03:00):
grade.
I played basketball most of mylife.
And then from there I kinda didboth for a little while and then
I realized that I was muchbetter at volleyball than I was
at basketball, although I dolove the sport.
And then once I got into club,it was around age 12 I was
playing up on higher teams thanmy actual age group.
And then.
Once I realized I was gettingpretty good, I switched clubs to
(03:22):
a more competitive club, andthen after that, I think it was
like my 14th year.
My coach on my club team went upto my parents and was like, just
so you know, there's collegecoaches on our court today
watching Sophie.
And I was like 14 years old.
I had no idea what I was doing,and my parents told me and I was
like, oh, maybe I'm pretty goodat this and I should start
taking it really seriously.
(03:42):
And so from that point on, Idid.
And I'm always a verycompetitive person, so I just
wanted to get better every dayand push myself.
And I realized I could do thatand I realized I got pretty
good.
From there, it just took off.
It motivated you?
Yeah.
Inspired you.
Absolutely.
Do you think if you wouldn'thave heard that, that the
coaches were there watching, doyou think your path would've
(04:05):
been any different?
Honestly, no, I think I alwaysknew that I really took sports
very seriously no matter what Iwas doing.
And I think whether or not therewas a coach on my court at that
time, I think I would've stillwanted to pursue things'cause my
whole club team like gotrecruited.
So I think just being surroundedby a bunch of really, like other
really good volleyball playersjust motivated me even more to,
(04:27):
keep going with my career.
What did being a D one athletemean to you at 14, 15 years old?
Do you remember that?
Do you remember thinking aboutthat and what that really, what
was that idea like for you?
Yeah it's so funny you askedthat.
'cause shortly after that wholeshort little story I just told
before the rules had changed forrecruiting we were allowed to
(04:50):
talk to coaches on the phone.
So in eighth grade, at age 14, Idid hop on a call and I had no
idea what I wanted.
I was like, I am just a littleeighth grader.
I have no idea what I want inschool or where I'm gonna go.
But from there I just.
Realized that it was gonna bereally fun, and then they
changed the rules.
So I had to stop talking tocoaches.
(05:10):
But we went from there and I didall my own work on that end of
it.
And I started making videos andfilm and sending emails and
stuff like that.
So it just took off.
Did you see D one as attainablein high school?
Did you think that you were goodenough?
Did you understand?
(05:30):
What the reality was when yougot there.
I think at first I did consider,like I talked to my parents and
Sue obviously was a big helpwith this, but just being
realistic and where my skilllevel was at and I didn't really
know at first when I firststarted my process.
So I reached out to as manyschools as possible and I talked
to as many schools as possible.
I didn't really write anyoneoff, but then.
When I started seeing biggernames and being excited about
(05:53):
those things, I was like, ohwow.
Like I could go to the top levelwith this.
And from that point I narrowedthings down even more.
But I did see it as veryattainable.
'cause I was confident in myskill and I was surrounded by a
really gr group of teamteammates and coaches and
everything.
And people were realistic withme and honest with me about
where I was at.
And I was like, okay, here wego.
I think this is where I'm at.
(06:15):
Good.
When you got there, when you gotto Cal, it's it's, this is no
walk in the park, in theclassroom, is it?
I can't, no, it's not, it's avery difficult school.
It's very challenging.
Obviously it's one of the, it'sthe number one public school.
So it is, it's very hard andyou're surrounded by.
A million smart people.
(06:35):
So it's super difficult, but itis really it's really rewarding
at the same time.
And I think being an athlete atthis level, but also being a
student at this level is justlike such a unique experience.
And I'm very grateful to be inthis opportunity.
But it is hard to balancesometimes, but I've been doing a
pretty good job.
All right.
I want you to, I want you tothink back those first five or
(06:58):
six weeks at Cal because.
You weren't, when you're avolleyball player, you're not a
traditional student becauseyou're typically there two,
three weeks before all the otherfreshmen get there, so you don't
get that prototype freshmanorientation and that can be good
and bad because you're reallygoing into a sisterhood right
(07:18):
away and you've got all thesepeople that you get close to
really quickly.
But are there, was there one ortwo things that you were like
either on the court, off thecourt, in the classroom.
They were like, wow I don't knowif I was ready for that.
Was there a couple of thosethings?
Yeah.
Honestly I think going from clubtraining to college training is
(07:43):
very different.
'cause with club volleyball.
You practice three times a week.
You do your own weightliftingand everything like that.
Your nutrition, you don't, Idon't even know if I thought
about it too much in high schoolother than just let me eat a
good meal before a game.
And then I think coming tocollege and practicing every day
and then going into two a daysand lifting every day and having
all these people and resources.
(08:05):
My athletic trainer who can helpme with treatment and my rehab
and like all the resources thatwere like at my fingertips was
definitely something that waslike, whoa, that's really
different and crazy.
And I didn't know I had accessto all of this.
So that was definitely somethingthat was pretty shocking when I
first got there.
And I was obviously it's goodand I also had to adjust to it
and everything like that.
But then I think the other thingthat.
(08:26):
Was a bit of an adjustment andit was very different and it was
good and bad.
In my little freshman brain whenI first got here, it was only
having one class a day and thenjust doing volleyball or doing
and then I was like, whoa, whatelse do I do with my time?
And like trying to just navigatethe college aspect.
But then I have six readings Ihave to do for the next four
hours.
So it's it's very different thanhigh school.
(08:46):
And what you experienced beforethat,'cause you have, a full day
of classes and then you dovolleyball and you have maybe
two hours of homework.
So it's very different and youhave to learn how to adjust your
learning for that.
I thought.
So that was definitely somethingthat was interesting for me.
Yeah, that's cool.
That's probably the hardestthing for any.
Teenager to accept is the factthat, all right, no one's really
(09:06):
paying attention to me anymorein terms of my routine and my
schedule.
I have to create that.
If you could give some advice toyourself at 16, are there things
you wish you would've startedthat you're doing now that you
wish you would've said, gosh,that would've been easy for me
to do that, and I would've beenbetter prepared for college?
(09:27):
I think honestly findingproductive ways to do things
with my free time is somethingthat I could have prepared a
little bit better because whenyou're in college, you have.
You have free time.
But like when you're an athlete,especially in season, you don't
get that much free time and thenyou just wanna lay down, but
then you, like you have stuff todo still.
So I think learning how to belike, all right, I gotta get
this, and this.
Done super early on, like when Iwas 16 years old.
(09:49):
I think that would've been agood skill to have.
I obviously have learned thatnow, and I'm very happy with how
I handle things, but I thinkhaving that, set routine, even
when you do have your free time,of course you have time to relax
and, do things for yourself, butmaking sure you get all your
things done before you can just,let everything go, I think is a
good thing to help you balancewith everything going on in your
life.
(10:10):
And you probably.
Would've told me somethingdifferent two years ago, I would
imagine, or probably would.
Yeah.
As a senior, and somebody's beenthrough this and been through
the gauntlet of what you gothrough, you've probably learned
this is silly to keep makingthese same mistakes or not being
more prepared for this andgiving myself the free time that
I actually want.
Exactly.
(10:32):
When you and I don't want tokeep going backwards, but when
you look back at yourself as afreshman versus now, what do you
think has changed the most?
That is a really good question.
I feel like so much of my lifeand volleyball and school has
changed.
I feel like I've just had a lotof character development.
Obviously I've gotten a lotbetter with my time management
and, my communication skills.
(10:54):
But I think the biggest thingthat I would say would be like.
My relationships with people andhow I navigate those.
And I've learned a lot of thingsthroughout my time, not only
just off the court, but on thecourt and with coaches and
everything like that.
Obviously over time I've grownto be more confident and be able
to use my voice a lot more, andI'm very proud of that.
Whether that's, navigating thetough conversation with one of
my friends or having a toughconvo with a coach or something
(11:16):
like that, or even a professor.
I think advocating for myself issomething that has really grown
for me and I'm very proud ofmyself for that.
'cause obviously when you comein as a freshman, you're, a
little small voice and you don'treally know if you're too sure
of yourself.
And I think having thatcharacter development for myself
is something I'm very happyabout.
I'm very proud of you too forthat because it's probably the
(11:37):
thing I regret the most aboutcollege.
And trust me, I have plenty ofregrets from college, but not
building enough relationshipsand not nurturing those
relationships.
With professors and coaches andadministrators, and because I
had so many people that wantedto help me, and like you said,
when you walk into college, it'samazing how many people you have
(11:58):
around you that wanna help yousucceed.
And it's so important that youlearn how to take advantage of
them.
I wanna dive more you, you said.
About relationships, how you'vegrown in those relationships.
Gimme an example of how you feellike you've grown and matured
and how you create relationshipsand nurture those relationships.
(12:19):
Yeah, I think I've had to have alot of really hard
conversations, not only involleyball, but just in my life,
and I think not shying away fromthose is really important.
I know when I was, maybe afreshman or younger.
I would try to avoid thoseconversations whether I was like
upset with something with mycoaches or my friends did
something, or somebody in mylife did something or I got a
(12:41):
bad grade, but I thought Ishould get a different grade.
I wouldn't necessarily be quickto advocate for myself with
that, and I think.
Being confident enough and sureenough of myself and the people
that I'm talking to, to have atough conversation and want to
get the best out of it for bothof us is something that I'm
really proud of.
And I've had a lot of thoseconversations in my lifetime
(13:03):
whether that was with Playtimeor even just my friends and I
had a little disagreement, butwhatever it was I've gotten
really good at, knowing thatthose tough conversations can
make the relationship with thepeople that you're having them
with better.
And I think being sure of thatand.
Always wanting the best for bothpeople involved is how I go into
it, even if it's a hardconversation.
(13:25):
So yeah, I would think aboutthat.
Speaks volumes about yourcharacter and how you were
raised, Sophie.
'cause you've said twice now,thinking about both sides of the
story.
Thinking about how this otherperson is feeling, how they're
going about it.
'cause you and I both know,'cause I coached women for a
long time at that, at yourlevel.
And I've got a daughter and I'vegot a wife.
(13:45):
It's, boys have these problemstoo, but there's always that
thing on girls teams wherethere's conflict that comes up
and the more you don't addressit, the bigger the problem gets.
Absolutely.
Talk to me about coaching.
Yeah, because that plays a sucha huge role in your development
through college, because collegeis your opportunity to figure
(14:07):
things out and fail a little bitbefore you get out in the real
world, which you're gettingcloser and closer to every day,
tell me about the coaching thatyou've gotten.
Off the court from yourvolleyball coaches in terms of
helping you become the personyou wanna be and giving you the
power and empowering you to bethe person you wanna be.
(14:28):
Yeah, I think.
I've had an interestingexperience throughout college.
I've had several different fullcoaching staffs and that's been
very interesting'cause I'vetaken a few different things
from each one.
My current coaching staff I'mdefinitely very close with.
They've been amazing so far andI've really enjoyed my time with
them.
They've been here for two yearsnow.
And so they've been reallygreat.
But I think with that I do spenda lot of time with them off the
(14:51):
court.
I'm pretty close with all ofthem, especially my assistants
and I think.
They have just told me and myhead coach is a female, and I
think seeing, and then I have anassistant that's a female, and
then I have two male assistantsas well.
But I think seeing.
My female coaches, and this isnothing on my male coaches.
I love them too.
But seeing my female coaches insuch a high place of power and
(15:12):
have so much confidence and somuch knowledge that I can learn
from and life skills has beensuper awesome to watch.
And I've had several reallyamazing female coaches in my
lifetime.
And.
Seeing those women, these strongwomen that have so much to give
to their players, but also justin their lives has been
something that I've really triedto embody.
(15:34):
And I really feel like I'vepicked up a little bit of
everything from each coach I'vehad.
And I think having those skillsis really amazing.
And, I just love, creatingrelationships with my coaches
and I've had really good coachesfrom age 14 to 21.
Just trying to take everythingfrom a little bit a little bit
of everything from each personhas been really awesome.
And yeah, I just, I think whatI've learned the most is my
(15:56):
confidence and just like I said,being sure of myself in all
aspects of my life, not just onthe court.
Awesome.
I'm so happy to hear that, thatyou've, and I played with for
multiple coaches in college too.
And that transition is so hard.
'cause you made a commitment toone person and now they're gone.
Yes, exactly.
And now you gotta decide, do Istay here and try and build a
relationship with a new coachingstaff or do I go somewhere?
(16:19):
And the fact that you stayed andyou've built these relationships
and you're in such a good placewith your new coaching staff is
really cool.
Let's talk about freshmen.
Let's talk about the newcomers.
Okay.
What role do you feel like youhave on this team when new
players come into the program?
I think I try to be a bigsister.
(16:40):
I grew up with two olderbrothers and I had no sisters.
But I think with being on a teamfull of girls, especially being
the oldest on the team full ofgirls, I really do try to play a
big sister.
They know.
And if you were to talk to myfreshman, they would tell you
this too.
They know I always have theirback whatev, whatever that is.
I'll always have their back.
They know that I'll take care ofthem.
They know I'm a call away.
(17:02):
I've picked up calls at any hourto come and help my freshman or
pick'em up.
Or you wanna go to the grocerystore?
You can go to the grocery store.
I think I do that.
But then on the court, I think Ireally push'em to be better.
'cause I know that they can be.
And I think just having themadjust to some.
Obviously like the things thatwe talked about when you first
come in and trying to give themas many.
(17:23):
Tips and tricks and resourcesthat they can just from me.
'cause I've been through it andI know it and it's a little bit
different than when you have anadvisor or other people just
like talking in your ear, oh,this is what you should do in
college.
I think having the person that'shad that shared experience is
really important and easy totalk to.
So I definitely try to be thatperson that they can lean on in
all aspects.
And like I said on the court,i'll give them advice so that I
(17:45):
can if they're playing andthey're not doing a specific
thing, I'll be like, oh, yougotta do this, and this.
You got it.
I'm with you here.
I trust you.
And that's one thing I alwaystry to say to them when I'm on
the court with them, is whetherI give them feedback or not,
it's just knowing that I'm therewith them and I'm gonna do my
job and they're gonna do theirjob for me and then we work
together.
And I think that's the biggestthing is just building trust
(18:05):
with each other on the court.
And then having thoserelationships off the court is
also just as important.
It's such a cool thing to beable to share the things you've
learned and the things you knowyou struggled with when you
start being a college athlete,and how much of what you're
doing now as a role model and aleader is proactive compared to
(18:25):
reactive when you were younger.
Has that changed?
Are you letting these freshmenknow, Hey, practice today, I
want you thinking about this orbe prepared for this, or, this
is gonna happen in this game andthis is how we handle it.
Yeah.
Do you, are you feel like you'redoing a lot more of that?
I do think that is a commontheme in my life.
And also my coaches always usethe, let's be proactive, not
(18:46):
reactive.
So I'm very familiar with that,but I do try to, help'em out as
much as I can before we dosomething.
But also I do think it'simportant to like, have them
have those experience even ifthey do fail.
And I can't save'em fromeverything, I can't always be
there.
So they'll have those momentswhere they'll have something
challenging come up, but.
Trying to prepare them as muchas I can is what I like to do,
(19:08):
but then if there does issomething that comes up.
I do try to.
Help them with what we can do tosolve that problem or what we
can do to fix it.
And I think just being on bothends of that is really
important.
Just in case I can't be there toprevent everything.
You can't, and you know that'sone thing you've learned as
you've gotten, as you've gonethrough this.
You can't fix everything, but ifyou can make their life a little
(19:29):
easier and maybe save your guysfrom losing a set or a game that
you didn't need to because youwere proactive and that's how
coaches think.
That's how leaders think.
So that's awesome.
Talk about the Cal culture.
I'm really intrigued by this.
'cause people don't understandif they're not in the locker
room'cause they see you on tv.
(19:49):
And they see the stands are fulland they're like, wow, this is
on ESPN or this is on the a cnetwork or whatever that may be.
But they don't see when you walkoff the floor and it's just you
15, 16 girls and your coaches inthe locker room.
And it's private and it'spersonal and it's loving and
it's hard.
What is the culture like at Cal?
(20:11):
Yeah, I spoke about this alittle bit, but me and my
teammates are extremely close.
I think of every single one ofthose as my family, and I
wouldn't change that for theworld.
I know that's not very common ona lot of college sports teams,
and I'm very grateful for that.
There's not a single person onmy team that I wouldn't be able
to, spend a whole day with andhave a great time.
So I'm very grateful for that.
(20:31):
And I think that goes back tothe relationship building.
As far as the coaches, like theyhave created a culture where
it's all about hard work, butit's also about having our
relationships off the court.
'Cause it's not just atransactional thing, as much as
it is a business and there's alot of things that go into it
that is business like so muchof.
College sports, you spend somuch time with these people and
(20:53):
you wanna have these greatrelationships.
My, my coaches do nurture thatas well.
And so I think I'm in a veryunique position because.
They also value our school,which is super awesome.
And that's a big aspect.
'cause I mean we are at Cal,like it's Berkeley, it's a super
intelligent school and that kindof goes into all the athletes at
Berkeley as well.
(21:13):
I've had conversations withother athletes where, as much as
it is your sport, it's also alot of school.
I think just the culture overallfor me and my team is we are so
close and we go througheverything together.
If one person feels something,so does everyone else, and I
think that's incredibly special.
And it can be hard sometimes,but it can also be really
rewarding.
And I think sometimes what ourcoaches want from us is, we are
(21:36):
super close off the court.
And that does translate onto thecourt.
But sometimes we do need to havethose tough conversations that
I've talked about and we don'twanna hurt feelings.
But I think because we learn howto have those conversations, our
team has become so much closerbecause we do know how to
navigate these hard things.
Or if something happens in agame or in practice and it's a
little, snippy or whatever it isor there's a disagreement, we
(21:58):
can have that tough conversationoff the court.
And I think that does, that's.
That does contribute to why weare so close as a team.
So I'm really grateful for everysingle person on my team and my
coaches as well.
You guys have had a hard season,you just had a, you had a big
win last week at versus Duke,which is huge.
Whenever you can beat another,another a CC school, and
(22:19):
especially at a school with thatreputation, what are some of the
things that Coach Malcolm'sdoing for you guys to.
Make sure you don't forget aboutwho you are and you don't forget
what that culture means.
Are you guys having thoseconversations?
Yeah.
So we have three big values onour team that we emphasize every
single day.
And it's grit, discipline, andrespect.
(22:43):
And every single day in practiceor in a game, we do the same
thing where we yell out, we saythree things that we did well.
The process of those things.
We are very process based.
'cause like you said, we havehad a hard season and at this
point we kind of wanna focus onwhat's gonna get us there versus
the result.
And I think that is somethingthat's been very valuable and
(23:04):
that's been a shift in ourmindset for our team halfway
through the season.
So we'll always say three thingsthat are really, that we did
really well, that areprocess-based.
So you can't just be like, oh,we killed a bunch of balls.
Okay, cool.
What's the process of that?
We have to go back to that justso we can remind ourselves what
we're doing in practice everyday to get the results that we
want.
Love that.
And then we'll say two thingsthat, yeah, I love that too.
(23:24):
I think that's been a veryvaluable thing that we.
Added to our whole mindset andeverything like that.
After that we'll do two thingsthat we need to improve, also
process based, and then we'll dothree shout outs, but they have
to be within our values, sorespect, grit, and discipline.
And that's those, doing thosethings afterwards I think has
been really helpful for ourteam.
And I know sometimes the resultisn't always where we want it to
(23:46):
be, but there's a lot of goodthings happening on our team and
I do.
I know I'm a senior and I'll beleaving after this season.
But I do wanna leave my teamwith having that mentality and
being focused on what we aredoing to get the results that we
want, even if they don't turnout to be exactly what we want.
What are we doing for theprocess?
And I think having that,especially during this hard
(24:06):
season where we have had a lotof tough games and we have a lot
of tough competition coming upfor the rest of the season, I
think it's very valuable to keepthat mindset and keep pushing
every single day in practice andin games.
I love it.
'cause it is hard.
I've had those years, I've hadyears where I took a team to the
national tournament and then thenext year we lost our best
player.
And you can relate to this,where there was an injury and we
(24:26):
went from, one of the top teamsin the country to a team that
was just trying to win a game.
And it's, and it doesn't meananything about the people that
are there, it's just how lifegoes.
Especially in college sportswhen you get to college.
You can probably define grit.
You can probably give it adefinition.
You can probably say this iswhat discipline means and this
(24:49):
is what respect means to me.
At what point did grit,discipline and respect start
being more than words to you?
Yeah, I think it really did comeafter my second injury.
I think.
Obviously I tore my ICL in highschool and I was very young and
I didn't really know how tonavigate that.
(25:10):
And that was a process in itsown because it was so separate
and I didn't have as manyresources as I do now.
But I think when I had to get asecond surgery, I really had to
make that decision in thatmoment if I wanted to keep
going.
And that goes into the grit.
More than anything, I think.
And I ended up having two moresurgeries after that in my
college career, I definitelyknow what grit is at this point.
(25:32):
I think I've just, I've had tolive it a lot and Yeah.
It's not easy to come back fromthings like that.
So It's easy to quit, isn't it?
It is.
It is.
The easy way out would be togive up and I.
I never made it easy on myselfbecause I, that's just not who I
am.
And I do think all of thesethings, grit, discipline, and
respect, all have to do witheach other.
(25:53):
And so like when I had that gritto keep going, I also had to be
really disciplined in my rehaband in what I was doing.
And my mental especially, I hadto be really disciplined in that
because if I let that falter,it's.
It's not gonna be good foranyone and it's not gonna get me
to where I want to go.
That's right.
And the respect part, like I hadto respect myself enough to keep
going and I had to respect thegame.
(26:14):
'cause obviously I don't think Iwould keep going if I didn't
respect the game of volleyballat this point.
So I think just keeping my headup and embodying those as much
as it's oh, these are my teamvalues.
But I do see a lot of those inmy life and I've had to.
Embody that exactly.
Within the experiences that I'vehad.
So that's awesome because it'swhat you're going through day in
(26:37):
and day out is hard if you werea division three athlete.
But now you throw the Caleducation and what you're doing
in the classroom every day youthrow the incredibly crazy
travel schedule that you have.
Oh yeah.
Mean it's insane.
No one in the history of sportshas had to do what the a CC is
(26:58):
doing right now in terms ofgoing coast to play a conference
game.
And then you throw your injurieson that and it says so much
about your character, Sophie,and your heart, and your grit,
and who you are, that you'restill doing this.
Thank you.
I appreciate that.
It's true and it's obvious.
Let's talk about love of thegame.
I'm writing about it this weekbecause I've been thinking about
(27:19):
it a lot.
Has your love of the gamechanged in the last four or five
years?
Have you learned more about whatit means to love the game?
Yeah, I have.
I think I have gained such alove and respect and.
Appreciation for volleyballitself because of what I've gone
(27:42):
through.
And I think obviously, yes, Iloved it while I was playing and
it's been awesome.
And then when it was taken awayfrom me four times, it's, it
gets you in a completelydifferent mental space with the
sport than it does if you justare playing it.
And I think as much as thethings that I went through were
really difficult and really hardand w.
(28:05):
Really took me for a spin, butthey.
It, it created such a uniqueexperience and I am almost
grateful for the experiencesthat I've had because I do see
the good in the things that Iwent through because I am so
grateful for every single daythat I get to step out there and
be healthy and touch a ball.
That's something that I'vealways talked about going
(28:25):
through the things that I wentthrough, is I try to give that
appreciation and perspective tothe people that are around me.
'cause obviously some days youwake up, oh, I don't wanna
practice today.
Oh, I'm tired.
Oh, I'm sore.
And I'm like, you get topractice today.
You get to touch a ball, you'rephysically able to run, jump,
cut, do whatever you can.
And that is such a uniqueopportunity that so many people.
(28:48):
Might wish that they could bein.
I spent so much time sitting onthe sideline just because I was
forced to due to my injuries andjust watching the sport and
being like, oh, I wish I couldbe out there like itching to be
out there all the time, I thinkhas just made me.
Love the sport so much, and Itruly don't know what I would do
without it.
I don't know what I would'vedone if I ever gave up.
(29:09):
I think I would never forgivemyself.
So I'm really proud of myselfthat I kept pushing, even though
it's been several big injuries.
But, I just I love volleyballmore than anything.
And I know I'm not just avolleyball player.
I know there's more things tome, and I see that perspective
as well.
'cause sometimes people arelike, Sophie there's more to
life.
And I'm like, no, I know.
But I do love volleyball.
It's just so much and it'ssomething that'll always be such
(29:32):
a huge part of my life and I'mreally grateful that I have had
the opportunity to play it well.
This is coming from somebodywho's in their fifties.
It's still one of my greatregrets'cause I got hurt after
my sophomore year.
Yeah.
And it was pretty bad injury.
My shoulders were a mess, myback was a mess, got in a car
accident and I was in so muchpain that it was taking away.
(29:53):
My, my mind process about why Ilove the game.
I attach too much of my identityto being a basketball player and
I felt like that was being takenaway, so I was losing my
identity and I just couldn'tdeal with it emotionally.
So I want you to know whenyou're my age, you're gonna be
so darn proud of yourself andyou're gonna be so thankful
(30:15):
'cause.
Now I'm every day.
There's probably not a week thatgoes by that I don't go.
I wish I would've just stuck itout.
I wish I wouldn't have worriedabout being the starter, being
the major stat producer, beingthe person on the floor all the
time.
I wish I would've justremembered how much I enjoyed
being with that team and being apart of the game.
(30:37):
So it is such a huge complimentto you.
That you've continued to do thisand you're thinking about doing
it some more next year, right?
Yes, I am.
So we're gonna dive into that inthe next episode.
We're in part two, but I wannatalk a little bit about where
you're at emotionally with that.
How much of playing next year isI've got a year.
(30:59):
I'm like you said, I love it.
I'm gonna keep playing, and howmuch of it is I'm finally
getting over this injury.
I'm finally starting to bemyself again.
And I wanna see what love I canget to.
I wanna see what my potentialis.
Where are you at with yourmindset with that?
Yeah.
Of course like you said, it ismy love for the game.
(31:19):
I wanna keep going.
I get an extra year.
Yes, it was due to injury, butwhy not take it and why not keep
playing the sport that I love aslong as I possibly can.
So that's obviously part of it.
That's a big part of it.
But I agree with you.
It is, I just got back.
I feel the best I felt in years,and I'm fast, I'm explosive, I'm
strong.
I wanna see where I can get,because, when you go through the
(31:40):
injuries, there's always themoments of oh, I could have been
so good if I never got hurt.
I've gone through four now.
Might as well keep going andmight as well see how good I can
be.
I that's always, it's a littlebit, like I said, I'm a
competitive person.
I wanna push myself and see howgood I can really get.
So I just wanna keep going.
That's so awesome and I'm soglad you have the opportunity.
(32:01):
It's, and I'm gonna be followingyou wherever you go after this
year and I know you're gonna dogreat things.
You've got such a big heart.
Let's talk a lit.
Let's finish this segment up.
Talking a little bit aboutSophie, the coach.
Do you feel like you've become acoach on the floor?
I think there's aspects that Ido think can be coach-like, but
(32:22):
I try not to.
I try to be a teammate first,and I think that's always where
I'm at.
Yes, I am older and I have moreexperience on the team and I do
give things to my teammates asmuch as I can, but I do think
that it's important to not crossa line when you're a teammate
because there is things thatlike.
You just don't know as well asyour coaches might.
And I think it can getcomplicated, especially in
(32:44):
sports.
People can get rubbed the wrongway if you coach'em too much.
But I do think, like with myyounger girls and the girls in
my position or especially myfreshmen, I do try to like give
them feedback on what I see andthey are very receptive to it
because they know that I havethat experience.
And I do think that is a goodrelationship to have.
And I do think you know it.
Like I said, if I do givefeedback.
(33:06):
Hey, you need to press on theblock.
Dive back into me.
I'll make sure to close yourseam.
I got you here.
It's a two-way street, I thinkis how I try to do it if I am
coaching or having that likecoach-like aspect.
So I think it's more so not somuch coaching, but making sure
that we're both doing our joband we have that trust.
I love that.
Is it different that you're amiddle compared to a setter or a
(33:29):
Liv?
Yeah, I do think it isdifferent.
Middles play a unique role onthe team, obviously.
What I've been told before mycoaches actually made a little
booklet of what each positionkind of entails.
And the middles are called theworkhorse is what they called
it.
Which is very true.
We do a lot of jumping, we do alot of cutting and running, and
we're up on every place.
Yeah, you're everywhere.
(33:50):
We are everywhere.
And so I do agree that we arethe workhorse, but I do think
middles play an important rolebecause you are not expected,
but they want you to touch asmany balls if the other team is
hitting as much as possible.
And that's really important'cause then the people behind
you can get a better pass or abetter dig and or we get a
block.
And it just helps the offense alot more.
(34:11):
So I think being a middle.
Especially a senior middle.
It does play a big role on theteam because, they expect me to
get a touch.
They expect me to kill ball, andthat, that's, I like that
pressure.
I don't shy away from it, but Ido wanna perform as well as I
can for my team.
I do think it plays a uniquerole and I do think people do
listen, especially at the frontwith my pin blockers next to me.
(34:32):
If you watch a game, you'll seeme, I talk, I turn around and I
talk to them the whole timeright before the play starts.
Yeah.
So I think there's a lot oftrust in a lot of respect built
into those relationships.
When I'm up there with my pinsand then my back row, you'll see
me talk to my lib and I'll belike, oh.
This and this.
I'm gonna do this.
And she'll be like, great, I'mgonna do this behind you.
I got you.
So I do think having that strongvoice and like talking to the
(34:54):
people around you on the courtis really important as a middle.
And I think that's beensomething that I try to embody
whenever I'm out there.
Love that.
What do you wanna do afteryou're done with school and
after Done with father?
I would love to go into sportsmarketing.
I'm from Portland, Oregon, so Iwould love to work at Nike.
That's been my dream.
Wake.
Alright.
Nike execs.
Let's start paying attentionhere.
(35:14):
Exactly.
We got a superstar.
Hi Sophie.
No, I would love to work there.
I, I.
I got Jordan on my wall here.
I got a whole shoe rack overhere of a million shoes.
I would love to, be at that.
I wouldn't be opposed to workingfor a sports team either.
I just know I wanna stay in thesports world just because I've
grown up around it.
I've played it and I want tojust stay in it.
Seeing where that takes me aftercollege.
(35:35):
I think that would be reallyinteresting.
And I'm hoping that there'sreally good opportunities coming
my way, so I'm gonna keepworking on it.
You're built smart you'll dogreat in that world.
I wanna do a little rapid firewith you.
Just some quick questions so theaudience and all your teammates
can giggle a little bit and letpeople get to know you a little
bit.
What's your go-to pre-game meal?
Normally pasta.
(35:56):
Any pasta of any sort.
'cause I like to carb load, butthen a little bit of protein
too.
But definitely pasta is coach.
Is coach detailed like I wasthat we eat four hours before
the game and things like that.
Yeah.
If we have a seven o'clock game,we'll eat at three.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Love that.
Song that gets you locked inbefore a match.
Ooh.
I'd say Hustle and Motivate byNipsey Hussle.
(36:19):
All right.
It's a really good song.
Love that song to check that oneout.
All right.
Favorite way Jim to play in andwhy?
Ooh, it's so interesting you askthat.
'cause I've played in Pac 12 andnow I've played in a CC I, I
really do like Oregon Shim.
I think it's awesome.
I grew up watching the gamesthere, so that's really awesome.
Love that arena and then.
(36:42):
USC is also really fun to playin.
I would say USC is a really coolarena.
Is it?
Yeah.
That's cool.
It looks cool on tv.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I just, I love the energy of alltheir, all those schools are so
cool.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Aren't they so cool?
The fan?
It's a different vibe.
Yeah.
The lights and the arena and thespirit.
It's so cool.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Toughest hitter blocker you'vehad to go up against.
(37:05):
That's a good question.
I would say, okay.
Washington State, a few yearsback, my freshman year, Magda
was the, I think she still holdsthe record for the amount of
blocks in, in all of the ncaa,so she's just a phenomenal
blocker.
She was at Washington State andtough to get a ball pass.
(37:26):
She was really good at her job,so found out her, she was
amazing.
Do you find yourself watching,when you know you're going up a
player like that, do you findyourself watching a little extra
film trying to find the weaknessor a flaw?
Yes.
I try to see where could I,where's that hole that I can hit
you, right?
Yes.
Where's the open court that Ican find?
Yeah, no, definitely.
I try to do that a lot.
(37:46):
What's a classic Cal that hassurprised you in a good way?
I would say I'm in a televisionstudies class right now and I
really enjoy that because.
This sounds dumb because you'relike, you go to Berkeley, you do
all these hard things.
We watch TV for our homework.
So I've actually really enjoyed,obviously we write essays and do
(38:08):
all these other things aboutthem, but like my homework is
literally come home and watchthe show.
Like one of the other week myhomework was.
To binge watch an entire season.
Like I like, I dunno, it's sofunny.
So that was surprising.
You just did an infomercial forkids and why they need to go to
college exactly.
There's so many fun things like,yes, it's hard, but there's so
many fun things you can do.
So it's awesome.
What have you learned in thisclass that's got, that's kinda
(38:30):
surprised you?
Honestly just like the, likeintentionality behind what these
shows are doing.
And it's like you watch thesekind of passively sometimes or
like you're like, you'll getinvolved in a show, but they're
very intentional.
Like the companies and thenetworks are very intentional
with when they air them, howthey air them, what their
content is, how long theepisodes are.
So it's just been interesting tolearn about that and how it's
(38:52):
like really, actually veryintentional.
Sounds perfect for your sportsmarketing future that It is.
It's great.
Yeah.
Love.
It's been great so far.
That's great.
Favorite spot on campus to studyand chill.
I really like Mezo.
So there's this restaurantcalled Mezo.
It's got sandwiches in saladsand soups, but they're like this
(39:12):
big, but they're delicious.
Every single one.
But they have all these tablesinside, but then they have a
back patio that's really cute.
And so sometimes me and myteammates will go grab a
sandwich and then go sit in theback patio and study and do
things like that.
And so that's been really cute.
Love that spot.
Awesome.
Yeah.
Awesome.
The teammate, most likely tobecome a coach someday.
(39:32):
That's.
Oh, I would say my freshman,Annmarie O'Gara, she, her
parents, I, her mom is like afitness instructor and she just
has that she has that littlevibe.
So I think it'd be her.
She's bossy.
Let's say it.
Yeah.
She's a little, she has a littleattitude, but it's okay.
(39:53):
You gotta have an attitude ifyou're gonna come.
You gotta, you have to.
It's so funny.
So I love Annmarie.
She's like my little sister.
I we joke around a lot.
It's awesome.
That's awesome.
Best piece of advice a teammatehas given you.
That's a tough one.
Or a coach doesn't have to be ateammate, I think.
(40:15):
Just keep going.
And I've heard that fromteammates and coaches and
everything, and I think that'ssomething that I think about a
lot just because, like I said,what I've been through has been
hard, but in all aspects of yourlife, you can always keep going
and there's ceilings to breakevery time you keep.
Doing different things, and Ithink just reminding yourself
that there's good things coming,whether you're in the thick of
(40:38):
it or you're in a great spot,there's always gonna be more
things coming good and bad.
So you just gotta keep going.
It's, the great thing aboutbeing on a team is there's
always somebody reminding youthat you have value.
And you're important.
And you're necessary, right?
Absolutely.
Yeah.
We all need so much more ofthat, so I love that too.
Is there anything you miss abouthigh school and club volleyball?
(41:02):
I do think the club tournamentswere really fun just because
like you play like you can playanywhere from four to six games
in a day and that's like crazyto think about now because like
I feel like I'm old and like I'mlike, oh, I gotta do an hour
warmup before I sit on thecourt.
But it's just so funny how Iused to be like, oh, let me just
do a quick little stretch andnow I'll play like six games in
a row.
Like it's just so funny.
So I do miss that aspect.
(41:23):
And those were just like.
So fun with my little club team,and obviously it was like two
outta three sets, not threeoutta five.
So it's a little bit shortergames, but those tournaments
were so fun.
I've been to a lot of those.
I'm glad you, I'm sure you have.
I know you, you and I werecommiserating about your Michael
Jordan poster that we share onyour wall.
If you were playing volleyball,what sport would you be playing?
(41:45):
Basketball.
Basketball probably.
I love the sport so much.
My dad played in college.
I.
I go to all the games here.
I watch a lot of NBA games.
Yeah, I was at I was literallyat the women's basketball game
last night.
My roommate's a women'sbasketball player.
Like awesome.
And I do love the sport a lot.
So definitely that.
Where did dad go to school?
He went to UDub Washington forthe first year.
(42:06):
He played there and then hetransferred to a smaller school,
Willamette University.
And he played there Willamette?
Yeah.
I almost took the coaching jobat Willamette.
Many.
Really?
It was beautiful there.
Yeah that's a great, that'sawesome.
That's a great environment.
That's so cool.
That's so funny.
What has your mom and dad beenlike for you through this
experience with all yourinjuries and everything you've
(42:27):
gone through?
How important is thatrelationship to you?
My parents are my rock.
Like I, I would not be where Iam without them.
My mom is a tough cookie.
She is the strongest woman Iknow and she, she is an Italian
woman from New York, so you canimagine she, she keeps me in
check.
She doesn't let my head hangever no matter what I'm doing.
(42:50):
And, she gets, that's where Iget a lot of my confidence as
well and my personality.
And people like to say myattitude too.
So I get that from my mom andI'm so grateful for her for
that.
And my dad is like my bestfriend.
He is just the sweetest personI've ever met in my life.
And he is the biggest heart.
And I, they're such a goodbalance of each other and they
(43:11):
mean the world to me.
And I, like I said, I wouldn'tbe where I am and I.
I take little aspects of both ofmy parents and I try to embody
that as much as I can.
Yeah, and it's so cute how muchthey've invested in my
volleyball and invested in justme as an athlete.
Like whatever it was always, myparents are gonna be there no
matter what.
Like my dad took, I rememberwhen I first started playing
(43:32):
volleyball, he was watchingYouTube videos about.
The different rotations andpositions and everything like
that.
And it was just so cute.
'cause obviously when I playedbasketball he knew everything
like he was my coach.
So it's different.
My mom still doesn't knoweverything about volleyball, but
she will cheer her heart out, sothat's great.
Absolutely.
My mom's been like team mom for20 years.
'cause I had my older brother'splayed sports too, so she's
(43:52):
been.
Did all the meals and did allthe extra things.
They've been so involved and I'mobviously very fortunate to have
that experience with my parentsand I'll forever be grateful for
them and everything that they'vetaught me.
And I can't ask for a bettersupport system than those two.
Fantastic.
And you can tell dad, I cancommiserate with him about
watching the YouTube videos tofigure out rotations.
I was one.
(44:13):
Perfect.
I was one of those volleyballdads too.
There we go.
Now he'll be like, oh, you're inrow one now.
And I'm like, yeah exactly.
How many rotation, how manysubstitutions do I have?
Yes.
Literally.
He's so funny.
So impressed with you, Sophie.
I'm, we're gonna come back,we're gonna do another segment.
We're gonna share yourrecruiting history and what's
(44:34):
cool is we get to talk aboutyour recruiting history and then
we get to talk about yourrecruiting experience that
you're going through now.
'cause it's completelydifferent.
So come back for segment two.
But so glad we got to talk andI'm I'm so happy for you that
you get to keep doing this thingyou love.
Thank you so much.
This was awesome.
I really appreciate it.
What an awesome conversationwith Sophie Scott.
(44:57):
You could hear it in her voice.
The maturity, the gratitude, thelove for her teammates, her
coaches, and the game itself.
It's easy to talk about wins andstats, but what stood out most
to me was her resilience.
Her ability to fight throughadversity and still find joy in
the process.
That's what college athletics isreally about, learning who you
are, who you can become, andwho's been in your corner along
(45:19):
the way.
Sophie's story is a greatreminder that behind every great
athlete are great people,parents, coaches, teammates, and
for her athletic trainers anddoctors and physical therapists
who choose to believe even whenthings get tough.
If you're a parent or a youngathlete listening today and you
want to take ownership of yourjourney, head over to coach matt
(45:39):
rogers.com.
You'll find my book SignificantRecruiting and the new
Volleyball Recruits Journal, apowerful guide designed to help
volleyball players.
Build confidence, stayorganized, and navigate the
recruiting process with clarityand purpose.
And of course, a big thank youagain to Coach Sue Weber for
introducing me to Sophie.
Make sure you come back onMonday to hear part two of my
(46:02):
conversation with Sophie, wherewe'll dive into Sophie's
recruitment journey outta highschool and her present
recruitment journey into theportal to finish her fifth year
at a new program.
Until next time, stay focused onwhat you can control.
Stay humble and keep chasing.
Significance.
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