Sophia Kim '26 Recruiting Profile

Hi Coach!  Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to view my recruiting profile.

My name is Sophia Kim, and I am a 5'11" Left-handed Setter, who plays for Newport Harbor High School Varsity Volleyball team (CIFSS-Open Division / Division 1, ranked #8 in California) since my freshman year and for Balboa Bay Volleyball Club that is located in Southern California. I have played sports for well over ten years, eight of which was spent playing Goalkeeper for an extremely competitive soccer team, called Slammers F.C. which consistently ranks top in the U.S. year-in and year-out.  I discovered the sport of Volleyball at the age of ten and fell in love with it.  I have been playing Club Volleyball since I was eleven years old, and decided in the fall of 2021 to singularly focus on pursuing this sport that I love. 

My freshman volleyball season was memorable because I was selected to play on the Varsity team due to my ability to play "all positions" on the court, according to my coach.  I was the only regular rotation player from the Freshman/Sophomore class, and contributed to our team from the very beginning.  Our team started the season ranked below #30 in the state of California, but through hard work and perseverance, we reached the state ranking of #8 by the year end.  We finished ranked #2 in Orange County, just below Mater Dei, and #4 in the CIF-SS.  We competed against four of the Top-10 teams in the USA - including Marymount (2021 #1 in the USA), Sierra Canyon, Mira Costa, and St. Francis (Mountain View, CA) - , and captured the extremely competitive Surf League Championship for the first time in our school history.  

I play up in age with older players at the Balboa Bay Volleyball Club as its main Setter and Opposite, and have been training with Chris P. Austin as my private Setting coach, Cole Fiers (former Stanford Setter) and Adrianna Nora (former All-Big Ten, played for Minnesota and Baylor) as my overall volleyball skills coach, and work out at ProSports for strength and agility.  

Coming from a family that emphasizes education, my goal is to not only play volleyball in college, but also get an excellent education in the process.  Currently, I am looking to major in Psychology at college, because I have been exposed to number of sports psychologists who helped my teammates and other athletes.  How these psychologists can help affect quality of people's lives and performance is fascinating to me.  So, I am inspired to study Psychology in college, which happens to be what my mother studied at Wellesley College.  

Thank you once again for your time, Coach.  I look forward to getting a chance to meet you.  

Sincerely,

Sophia Kim