To reach her full potential as a volleyball player, Emma Villaluz knows that she has to be ready for any scenario, stay positive with her teammates, learn from her mistakes, try to control only what she can control and, most importantly, have confidence in her abilities. She believes that she’s good enough to compete with virtually anybody, no matter how talented they may be.
“I know that when I step onto the court,” she said, “I deserve to be there.”
That belief will be tested this fall when the recent Camas High School (CHS) graduate joins Oregon State University’s volleyball team as a walk-on.
“I had already applied to OSU, so it was a place I was interested in already,” she said. “I’ve been to the campus, and I had a feeling that it would be a good fit for me. I played club (volleyball) with a couple of girls on the team, and they reached out to me and talked about their experiences, and that was a green flag moving forward. And of course playing in the Pac-12 Conference is a big draw. (OSU) can’t guarantee me any (scholarship) money — not yet, at least — but I’m honestly excited to be a part of the team.”
Villaluz had received interest from smaller schools in Indiana in California, but was waiting to play in front of recruiters at a club tournament in Denver in mid-March before finalizing her decision. She was “freaked out” after the tournament was cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak, which forced some programs to shut down their recruiting efforts, but kept in contact with OSU coaches, who called in late April to offer her a spot on their squad.