Ella Rishwain '23 Recruiting Profile

I began playing volleyball in the fourth grade on my small 12 minis team; I remember how much fun I had playing and that I knew I wanted to continue playing volleyball.  I have learned many things throughout my eight  years of playing club volleyball.  I have discovered my leadership qualities.  On every team I have played on, I find myself being the loudest and most energetic on the court.  I believe that those are two very important qualities a coach looks for in a player.  These qualities translate into my academic life.  I show these same qualities through my involvement in clubs and student government I participate in at Saint Mary’s High School (Stockton, California).   Secondly, I have learned that in order to grow as a player, I need to be open to listen to what coaches have to teach me and apply it to my personal game.  As someone who loves doing things independently, I struggled at first to accept that some of the things I was doing could be improved.  I started seeing progress in my skills once I took my coach’s advice.  I believe being a coachable player is a quality coaches look for.  

My academics is one of the most important things to me.  I set my goals very high as it helps me work hard to reach them.  During my freshman year in high school, I took all honors classes, which included one sophomore math honors class, and finished with straight A’s and a 4.17 GPA.  As a sophomore, I am currently ranked number two in my class, maintaining a 4.71 GPA, taking mostly AP and honors courses, and completing the first semester with straight A’s.  Academically, my main goal is to graduate number one or top five in my class.  My second goal is that I want my high school varsity volleyball team to win a section title.  This high school volleyball season, I played on varsity as a setter and defensive specialist for Saint Mary’s High School, and we went undefeated in our Division 1 league.  We competed in playoffs, but unfortunately lost in a five sets in the second round of playoffs.  I was selected Second Team All-League.

I started to compete at the highest level of club volleyball in the sixth grade when I joined Rage Volleyball Club.  As a twelve year old sixth grader, I started on the Rage’s 14’s team as a setter.  We finished ninth place in NCVA league.  We concluded our year by going to nationals in Minneapolis.  The next club season, I decided to play Rage’s 14s as setter again, but I was playing one year above my age level as a thirteen year old seventh grader.  We finished third in NCVA league and competed at nationals in Detroit.  In the 2018-2019 season as a fourteen year old, I played on the Rage’s 16s team as the starting libero, and I can say that was my favorite year.  I loved playing libero, and my team was very strong and some girls were already being recruited by Division I colleges.  We finished second in NCVA league and competed at nationals in Indianapolis.  Last club season, I decided to play my age level (15s) as setter, and the team was looking very promising; I was chosen as captain on this team.  I believe we could have finished top three in Northern California.  This year, I am starting libero on Rage 17-1 team.  Through my years, I have come to the conclusion that, although I like both positions, libero is what I hope to play going forward.  

I have large dreams and high goals I want to achieve that I know I must work hard for.  I take pride in my academics, and I want to find the best college I can grow academically.  Secondly, I strive to continue growing my volleyball skills.  I am always the loudest player on the court and most driven.  I love competing at the highest level possible and growing my skills on the court everyday.  To achieve these goals, I must stay driven and focused with a good attitude to ensure I am ready to compete at the next level.