can i play college volleyball?

[gretchenmarie13]

I am a junior in high school, hoping to play DIII volleyball in college. I am an outside hitter who can pass and hit well for coming from a school with less than 100 students and has only played club for on year. My problem is, that I am only 5'5". Is this too short to play in college, even If I can jump high? As of now, off season, I have a vertical of 27 inches. I'm pretty sure I could get it up to 32 at least by senior year. I am a solid passer and server also. Even if I am short, will this give me an advantage?On a side note, my mom is 5'9", but didn't grow until senior in high school/ freshmen in college.
I am just looking to see if it's even worth working on trying to play, or if I should just give up now. Please give me some advice! thanks

[kolohekeiki]

if you believe in yourself and you think you can...anything is possible

it's all on you and your attitude and the work you're willing to put into it...if you're willing to play other positions then you can definitely make it at the next level...

[Not Me]

you will get better answers to all 3 of your questions here: prepvolleyball.yuku.com/

[paloalto]

I am sure you will get some helpful advice either here or on prepvolleyball.com. I just want to comment that a 16 year old kid with a 27 inch vertical jump is amazing. You must know that.

[hammer]

Dec 2, 2010 21:34:16 GMT -5 gretchenmarie13 said:

I am a junior in high school, hoping to play DIII volleyball in college. I am an outside hitter who can pass and hit well for coming from a school with less than 100 students and has only played club for on year. My problem is, that I am only 5'5". Is this too short to play in college, even If I can jump high? As of now, off season, I have a vertical of 27 inches. I'm pretty sure I could get it up to 32 at least by senior year. I am a solid passer and server also. Even if I am short, will this give me an advantage?On a side note, my mom is 5'9", but didn't grow until senior in high school/ freshmen in college.
I am just looking to see if it's even worth working on trying to play, or if I should just give up now. Please give me some advice! thanks

How tall was your dad? You might be aiming too low.

[juniorcoach]

Keep working on it and start searching for colleges at the DIII level that interest you. Check out the programs and rosters on their websites and see what kind of program they have. There are DIII schools that recruit "lots" of freshmen in to the program, not many finish their senior year, but part of the coaching job is to talk to the girls and get them into the school. What you need to do is figure out where you will fit in.
My oldest played DIII and I will tell you there were multiple levels of programs out there. If you keep playing, improving, work hard and do your end of it by finding schools, yes, you can probably play.

The one thing I tell my players is, don't give up on playing until you want to. T\If you have the right attitude there is a program out there that would love to have you.

[truffleshuffle]

do you mean give up as in give up on the hope of playing in college or give up volleyball altogether?

just go to whatever school you feel is best for you and then try out for the team. work on your other skills rather than hitting; even if you're not tall enough to play front row you might make it as a back-row setter, libero or defensive sub. and if you can't make the team that competes at the NCAA level, most schools will have club teams or even local teams that you can join.

[gretchenmarie13]

thanks everyone for the advice! hammer, my dad is 5'10". unfortunately I'm not able to play club this year, can anyone give me some advice on how to keep my strength and skills up? and also on the recruiting process? thanks
and i really would enjoy playing front row, is that feasible at this point?

[honore]

Why not? Whatever you so desire, go for it.
To address the height issue, aren't defensive specialists generally one of the shortest players on the court? That's not to say other positions are out of the question. Lindsey Lee was a 5-5 middle blocker in high school and had a successful career as middle blocker at D-I Fairfield University.

[oldman]

Contact the D III schools you are interested in and talk to the VB coaches. They will let you know if they are interested and if you can play for them. There are all different levels of play at D III so it depends on your skills and their level of play.

[tatertot]

Dec 2, 2010 22:00:40 GMT -5 honore said:

Why not? Whatever you so desire, go for it.
To address the height issue, aren't defensive specialists generally one of the shortest players on the court? That's not to say other positions are out of the question. Lindsey Lee was a 5-5 middle blocker in high school and had a successful career as middle blocker at D-I Fairfield University.

Lindsey was an outside hitter, and is now an assistant coach at Rutgers with CJ.

[Deleted]

If you think you can pass and hit well, then there will probably be some teams you could make. Then the question becomes what level of DIII or NAIA team could you make.

[idiotic]

Gretchenmarie, yes you can play college volleyball. If you are proactive, contact a bunch of coaches, there will be a program who will want you. I can promise you that. D-III has a huge spectrum of levels of play. Find that level that is right for you at the school you want to be at. I played DIII and wouldn't trade it for anything.

[BearClause]

Anything is possible. Even at the D-I level, I've seen 5'6" outsides. Last year San Jose State even went with their 5'2" libero as a hitter; I'm thinking there were probably injuries to other players.

At many D-III programs, a 5'5" outside wouldn't be unusual. I'm looking at the UC Santa Cruz (just pulled a team name out of a hat) roster right now, and they list a 5'4" outside.

[dd2000]

Sure, I have a net set up in the back yard.