Women’s Volleyball finish 2007 season
Last night the Trojan Volleyball team traveled to Mt. Vernon, WA to play the last league game of the 2007 season against the Skagit Valley College Cardinals. The team was hyped up to play and wanted to do well for their two sophomores who were playing in their last game as an EvCC Trojan. Unfortunately it didn’t go well for the Trojans as they were outplayed by the Cardinals in all three games and they were worried about a missing teammate (On the way to the game, the team van had to pull over as one player became very nauseous due to kidney stones. Unfortunately she was unable to participate in the game and was taken to the hospital by her parents. The team wishes her a speedy recovery!).
We would like to thank sophomores - Hailey Harris and Summer Lopez for their hard work and dedication to the EvCC Trojan Volleyball team the past two years. We would also like to wish them the best of luck in all they set out to do! Good Luck Ladies! We will miss you!
Hailey Harris Volleyball captain and Rodeo Star
On the volleyball court Hailey Harris she seems like your normal team captain with her powerful serves and confident swagger. But, Harris also has something unique abut her hidden under her tough skin. She’s from Idaho and she’s one of the best ropers in the country.
Now what is roping? Roping is one of many events that make up the sport of rodeo. Breakaway roping and team roping are the two events Harris competed in as a kid growing up.
Harris’s knack for roping comes from her parents. Her mom and dad both grew up on farms next door to each other and both loved the sport of rodeo.
“When my parents got married it was only natural for their kids to do rodeo,“ said Harris. “It’s a family tradition for sure.”
As a little girl her parents took her to jack pot barrel races and would lead the horse so she could get the experience. She was competing competitively by the age of five all on her own.
In High School Harris made it to state four years in a row and nationals two years. . The winning came naturally until Harris’s junior year, when something unexpected happened that would change her rodeo career forever. She hit the first brick wall in her athletic career that posed a major decision on what she would do after high school. Her favorite horse had to be put down.
“I always had horses to use, but loosing this one broke my hear,“ said Harris.
With her options open, Harris had a backup plan. She decided to go to college in the direction of another sport, volleyball. Harris was a high school volleyball all-star along with rodeo.
The time arrived for Harris to get herself known at the college level.
“I tried out at many different colleges and four of them said I wasn’t good enough to play at that level,” said Harris.
Being denied by so many places is quite the mental letdown. But, Harris persevered.
“I found Sue’s program here at EVCC and when I talked to her she was excited about my interest so I went for it,” said Harris. “I did get an offer from the University of Idaho to do rodeo for them, but by then I had already signed my letter of intent to come here.”
“It was a big decision for her to go that far, but there wasn’t another college that wanted Hailey as a hitter in volleyball,” said Shannon Harris, Hailey‘s mother.
Harris lived in Soshone, Idaho her whole life in a population no more than 2000. Moving all the way to a city fifty times the size would be overwhelming for most people, not just Harris.
“I’m used to being able to look out my window and seeing a long ways, but now all I see are houses, streets, and more houses, I don’t like that,” said Harris. “I still hear the police sirens at night and jump out of bed thinking something bad is happening, but all of this has been a good change and made me a tougher person.”
Harris’s coach Sue Snow has helped her tremendously with the adjustment, being her second mother when it comes to advice and having someone to talk to. Harris feels that her and Sue have gone through some tough times together, but always manage to work things out.
“Sue will get after me as a player, but at the end of the day she’ll still be there to take care of me,” said Harris.
“Sue is my life line to Hailey if for some reason I can’t get in touch with her,” said Shannon Harris. “Sue is also so kind to pick us up and tack us back to the airport whenever we come to watch Hailey play.”
Harris is now in her second year on the volleyball team and has assumed the position of captain. Harris feels that her role as captain is also shared by another teammate Summer. Summer doesn’t have the title that she does, but because of her leadership ability and communication skills she is co-captain in Harris’s eyes, helping to keep her and Snow on their toes.
When college is over Harris wants to move back to Soshone to be with her family and have fun at the sport she loves, rodeo.
“I will definitely go back to rodeo because you don’t have to be young to play,” said Harris. “Volley ball is really hard on your body physically, but in rodeo you just keep your arm in shape and you can still ride a horse and compete at any age.”
Kas Lisoskie
Clipper Sports