Choices can be a burden on life, mainly because we don’t want to be wrong in our thinking, but for UVU’s standout senior volleyball player Erica Nish, choices have led to great decisions and success.
Early on, the Utah native had to choose between pursuing basketball or volleyball. Despite offers to play college basketball, Nish decided her junior year of high school to focus on volleyball.
“I really started thinking about it,” Nish said. “I had offers since 9th grade and I really started loving it (volleyball) more and more and decided to play.”
By choosing volleyball, Nish was able to make an immediate impact here at UVU, playing as a freshmen and receiving many All-Conference honors both on the court and in the classroom.
“We knew when we recruited her, she was going to make an impact on the program,” said head coach Sam Atoa about Nish’s immediate success. “She’s a one-of-a-kind kid.”
The choice to attend UVU was an easy one for Nish. Despite having offers to play at Hawaii, Villanova and the major programs in Utah, Nish liked Utah Valley the best.
“I wanted to stay in Utah and it felt right to go here,” Nish said. “ UVU definitely is the place for me.”
Being the only senior on the team, one might think that adds pressure to perform well or added responsibility to get everyone ready to play. For Nish, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
“I don’t feel like there’s a difference. I feel like another part of the team,” Nish said. “I do help motivate the team and make sure energy is high.”
The volleyball team has had a huge boost this year with Nish back on the court after suffering a knee injury that ended her season last year, and forced her to miss some of this season’s games.
“Its exciting to see her back on the court,” Atoa said. “ Her presence has been really good for the team.”
That presence has been helping the Wolverines win matches and practice hard as she helps them prepare to accomplish their goals of winning the Great West Conference Championship this year.
Nish knows that her success has been, in large part, due to the effort she has put in. She is constantly looking for ways that she can improve and being dedicated to a sport she loves.
“Anyone who is passionate about something, knows about the time it takes to be committed and what it takes to succeed,” Nish said.
That dedication and passion will hopefully continue for Nish as she plans to leave a winning legacy here at UVU and to go on to teach high school art and coach, what else? Volleyball.
