Lydia Mascari '23 Recruiting Profile

Volleyball has been an influential aspect of my life since I was 9. I fell in love with the sport after my cousin taught me the basics, how to pass and serve. Ever since then I would always be excited when volleyball season for school would come around. I love this sport because it is competitive and it gave me a place to go after a rough day to just let everything go behind me and focus on getting better. I started training as a setter my freshman year of high school and that has been my main focus for the past 4 years. I played my first club season my sophomore year and worked my way up from the second setter to the first. After I started games I got moved to a higher ranked team and had to start over from being the third setter. I then worked harder and became the second setter. Then I was the starting setter for the junior year of my high school season. I tragically sprained my ankle and missed 8 games while I was out. I came back ready to work again and got moved to being the second setter again. I switched clubs for the next season and my skills improved to an elite level. My coaches helped me perfect my craft, and I enjoyed one-on-one setter training, 3 times a week. While being part of an elite travel team, I grew in a lot of ways. I felt myself growing as a leader, and being a better teammate. I was able to read my team's plays and anticipate kills and serving aces. Now for my senior year I was one of the 2 setters on my team. For pre-season my coach tried switching the both of us to set for one set. Then for the regular season I became the sole setter for my team, the other setter now plays as my right side hitter. As you can tell my volleyball experience has increased dramatically throughout the past 3 years, but this is just the start. I strive to be the best and will work my hardest to get there.

Throughout my growth in volleyball I've realized some key exponents that I needed to work on to play for the next level. I tend to be a shy and reserved person, but I knew I needed to step up and out of my comfort zone. This past year and a half, I’ve grown to be a leader on the court, and to help my teammates succeed and get through competitions with grace and integrity. My teammates looked to me for guidance, and my coaches relied on me to help my teammates succeed. I’ve learned to read our opponents on the court, and to help assist our hitters. For my personal game I had to know the right mindset to be the most aggressive on the court. I use what I know about my mindset and encourage my teammates so my whole team can play to the best of our ability. I try my best as one person to keep everyone up and it does become a challenge and I will do anything to help my team succeed.

My passion is volleyball, but also my passion is to continue my journey of learning in college by studying and reaching for a bachelor's degree in Forensic Science. I want to become a crime scene investigator. I still am deciding if that means working out on the crime scene field or in the lab. I've had a passion of wanting to do this for a couple years now and I'm excited to get my career started and learn all there is to know to be the best out there. I want to continue my craft in this beautiful game of volleyball. I want to continue growing and learning from coaches and teammates. I can only continue to get better in this sport I love so much!