Ajay Bijlani '22 Recruiting Profile

My name is Ajay Bijlani, I'm currently a Senior at Billerica Memorial High School which is located in Massachusetts.  I live in Billerica with my parents, 2 sisters, and grandparents.  I am a third generation Indian American.  My goal is to  study Engineering in college starting the Fall of 2022 and continue playing volleyball.

Growing up I’ve had the privilege to compete in multiple sports.  In high school I've played football, ran cross country and track, and played volleyball.  Also I'm a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, a great ice skater, a strong swimmer and I played youth travel soccer for 4 years. 

Basketball however was my passion.  I played travel basketball from 4th to 8th grade followed by high school basketball my first 2 years. I signed up to play volleyball during my sophomore year, then the pandemic hit.  We were locked down and stuck at home, couldn’t see our friends, and continued school online. There was no sports conducted during the Spring of my Sophomore year.  

As I started my Junior year and due to the uncertainty of the pandemic I did not sign up for a fall sport.  Then came basketball tryouts- for the first time in 7 years I was cut from the team since they had to keep teams small due to the pandemic.   I was CRUSHED!!  Up until this moment everything I did was to get ready for basketball tryouts.  That winter was a reality check for me not making the basketball team, doing remote school and not seeing friends all led to a junior year that I’m not proud of.

Then came spring volleyball tryouts and I was chosen to play on Varsity and start as Middle Blocker.  I had the opportunity of playing both Varsity and JV which helped me improve my skills very quickly. Throughout the season I learned so much about the game of volleyball and am grateful that it helped lift me out of the lowest state of mind I had ever been in. Moving forward as I start my Senior year in high school I plan on improving my volleyball skills so I can play at a collegiate level.  There are very few Indian Americans in high school sports, collegiate or professional levels.  I would love to be one that can change that trend where I can get a great education and continue playing a sport I love in college.