Julia O'Connor '19 Recruiting Profile

Academically, I am enrolled in all honors or AP courses, and I strive to maintain good grades while also balancing athletics. I consider myself a strong, hard-working, and respectful student. My academic interests draw me to health and medicine, and I plan to study and become a Physician Assistant. Thus, I am looking for schools with either a Biology or Health Sciences undergraduate path. I am also searching for a college or university that can challenge me both academically and athletically with structure.

On the volleyball court, I am always the loudest one, and my goal is to always be positive under any circumstances. I have learned throughout my three years of varsity experience that mental toughness is one of the most important, if not the most important, aspects of the game. One of my best character traits in regards to athletics is my temperament, and my drive to win. I challenge myself and my teammates, while remaining calm and collected. I believe that I am a good candidate for the middle blocker position because I enjoy the challenges that I face concerning speed and quick decision making. I am very passionate about continually improving my skills on and off the court, and would love to pursue this at the collegiate level. Within my time on my high school team, I am a two-time captain and three-time recipient of the 1st-team All Conference award. I also compete for a high performance team with my club, Husky Volleyball, named Husky 18 National / Grand Central. 

One thing that makes me different from other potential recruits is the activities I take part in. I enjoy community service, as well as helping to teach the younger generations about the sport of volleyball. My team annually completes a local service project, cleaning up (i.e. removing garbage, maintaining the trails, etc.) our local quarry. I also participate in summer mission trips with my church; in 2017, I went to Louisiana and rebuilt houses for people in need. I was known as "the power-tool girl".  And this past year, I also was an assistant coach for my town's middle school girls volleyball team. With the help of a few other teammates, we did our best to teach eighth graders the basics and foundations of volleyball, and prepare them for the upcoming high school team tryouts.