Despite starting late, it didn’t take Sydney Cook long to discover her love for volleyball or her impressive talent.
Last week, Cook, a senior, became the ninth player in program history to reach 1,000 kills in her career.
A Miami native, Cook attended Monsignor Edward Pace High School, which is where she played volleyball for the first time.
“It was my sophomore year of high school when I started,” Cook said. “I’m not going to lie; I was not very good. I was uncoordinated, but I guess I picked it up really fast.”
With year-round practice, Cook became the second freshman in NSU women’s volleyball history to lead a team in kills, earning her the team’s MVP award, as well as recognition on the All-Sunshine State Conference Newcomer Team. Cook also ranks fourth on the program’s career points leaderboard. She has played in all but one of the team’s 347 sets during her career, and holds two of the program’s top four marks in points per set since the Sharks joined the NCAA in 2002.
I recently had the opportunity to ask Cook a few questions.
Who do you look up to as a volleyball player?
“I honestly don’t watch volleyball, so I don’t know many players, but on my team, I could say that I look up to [teammate and fellow senior] Dana [Holger] because I feel like she’s the most consistent player. She’s good at passing; she can do everything. I would want to be like her.”
It’s hard to have a future in volleyball, right?
“Yeah, I guess, unless you go to the Olympics. But I feel like there are a lot of teams overseas. There’s just not much to do after college in the U.S., I don’t think.”
What are you planning to do with your communication studies degree in the future?
“My short-term goal is to, hopefully, get a job at a public relations firm.”
The team improved a lot last year in its first year under the new coaches. What do you attribute that to?
“I honestly don’t know what that was about. It was crazy, but I know that year we just felt confident. We felt like every player on the team benefited the team. This year, we feel even more confident. But yeah, it was crazy to see that flip.”
Was there any adjustment in your first year under coaches Jenn and Dan?
For me, yeah. They switched my position, actually. I was playing on the left, now I play on the right, and I think that I improved my game tremendously. I can do many more things on the right side, whereas on the left side, I would only get high balls and high sets, which are easy to defend because it was just the same set. Switching allowed me to do a lot more for the team.”
You’ve led the team in kills all three years of your NSU career so far. Do you just feel naturally confident as an attacker?
“I guess so, but I mean, the teams I played for since high school weren’t very good, so I felt like every time I would go up to hit a ball, I had to get a kill. So that’s just a mindset that I’ve always had, that I need to get this kill for my team. This year’s crazy; I don’t feel like that, which I think is good because it takes pressure off me, and I feel like when I go up to hit now, I can be more relaxed. I have tons of teammates who are capable of getting kills, as well. But in the previous years, I felt like I had to get a kill, and I think that’s what really motivated me because I felt like my team needed it. But I’m excited for this year because I don’t feel that pressure.”
What are the team’s goals for this season?
“We’re trying to be at least third place. It’s possible. If we take teams that we split with last year, like 1-1 in our conference, and actually beat them, we would be third place.”
What’s the reasoning behind the team’s motto, “INTEGR1TY?”
“The ‘g’ in ‘grit’ stands for ‘genuine,’ ‘r’ is ‘relentless,’ and we actually changed the “i” to a “1” for one percent, and the “t,” “together.” And each letter has its own definition, so for ‘genuine,’ we just want each team player to be herself and to be genuine in everything that she says to her teammates and every action that she takes. “R” is for “relentless,” always playing your hardest, never shutting down. The “1” is one percent, always wanting to get at least one percent better, and “together” because we truly feel like we are a family. I think it’s really cool that once I graduate, it will still be in the program, and I can look back and remember that I was a part of helping define what the program is.”
Photo Credit: COURTESY OF M. GALLNER
