Anderson at home in the Spectrum
Stepping out onto a familiar court, playing in front of fans – these are all things an athlete loves doing.
Since Rebecca Anderson grew up in Logan, stepping out on the floor of the Spectrum is like a welcome home.
“I feel like I can connect really well with the fans because I know so many of them personally,” she said. “It’s just kinda fun for me.”
Anderson, a senior middle blocker/opposite side hitter, started her volleyball career here in Cache Valley when she was in middle school.
“My older sister played when she was in high school, and I wanted to be just like my older sister,” she said. “In seventh grade I started playing club, and pretty much by eighth grade I was in love with it.”
After earning all-region and first team all-Cache Valley honors in high school, Anderson played for a year at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn. She decided it wasn’t the best fit, and opted to take some time off of school.
“I was in the wrong major and I just didn’t really like it,” she said.
After taking a year off, Anderson heard that Utah State had hired a new volleyball coach. The new coach was Grayson DuBose, who had been one of her club coaches in middle school.
“When I heard he got the job, I thought, I’m kinda comfortable talking to him. I’ll just go up and say, ‘Hey, here’s my video. Can I play for you?'”
Fortunately for Anderson, Dubose didn’t have many players that year and let her walk on.
Anderson is now in her third and final season at Utah State, and, despite being ready to graduate, says she will miss playing volleyball at this level.
“It kinda gets to you and you really learn to appreciate every minute that you’re in the gym, every minute that you get to play volleyball,” she said.
Anderson said she quit St. Olaf thinking that she was done with collegiate volleyball, so she knows what it feels like to be done.
“It helps me appreciate it [playing volleyball] even more because I know I’ll never get this level of competition back,” she said.
In the meantime, Anderson said she enjoys playing at USU because the team gets along so well.
“Everyone on the team is really nice and laid-back,” she said. “I think we’re a really funny team. We joke around with each other really well. I’m fortunate that I got on a team like that.”
Anderson said she likes playing for her hometown team because her high school coaches and teammates will come to the games. She also said she has enjoyed playing at USU because she has been able to grow as a player.
“Grayson [DuBose] always jokes about how when I first came here, I couldn’t even get a serve over the net. I’m not going to lie, it was pretty ugly,” she said. “DuBose and Tom Peterson have been really good coaches. I’ve definitely been able to grow the most here as a player.”
Anderson will graduate in the spring with a degree in actuarial science, which, as she describes it, is basically a statistics major with business classes. After graduating, Anderson said she will move to Illinois to work for the Department of Defense at an Air Force base.
But until then, Anderson will continue to be an integral part of the Aggie volleyball team. So far this season, she is averaging 1.22 kills per game and 0.91 blocks per game, while hitting .212.
Currently sitting in fourth place in the WAC, Anderson said as a team, the Aggies still haven’t hit their highest mark this season.
“We still have so much more potential going throughout the year,” she said.
Anderson said that she thinks nobody on the team needs to have an amazing game for the team to win. Instead, she said she feels that if everybody on the team has a solid game, USU would be able to beat anyone in the WAC.
In Saturday’s sweep of Boise State, Anderson said the team was able to come out hard and grind it out, even when they were behind.
“I think that shows a level of maturity that we’re starting to hit. We can be good under pressure and especially at the end, which has been a struggle,” she said. “I think we’ll just continue to develop as we get further in the WAC.”
With just a month left in her last season, Anderson is happy to be playing at Utah State.
“I have been really fortunate to be here,” she said.
–Joseph.W@aggiemail.usu.edu