STAFF WRITER

The Fordham Ram: Why did you choose to come and play at Fordham?

Sara Konkel: Well, Fordham chose me. I had just finished my sophomore year of high school and the previous coach had come out and seen me play and offered me a scholarship. So I came out, checked the school out and I committed. It has a beautiful campus, academics obviously are an awesome plus so that’s how I chose Fordham.

TFR: When did you first start playing volleyball and at what point did you first realize you would be able to play in college?

SK: So I started playing volleyball in seventh and eighth grade, middle school and then I played competitively throughout high school. Then I realized when I got my first letter freshman year of high school from a college I was like OK, this is what I’m going to do.

TFR: Coming from California, what has it been like living in New York the past few years?

SK: The winter is terrible. When people ask me what’s the hardest part, the weather. That first winter when I was here, eight feet of snow, I was like, Mom, let me come home. Winter has been a hard transition but other than that all the girls are from the West Coast and Hawaii so it’s like easy to get along and the same mentality and vibe so it’s good.

TFR: Does it help being on a team with a lot of other players from the West Coast?

SK: Definitely. When you first come in you think everyone is going to be like New York mentality but it’s really light and fun.

TFR: How have you seen the team and the program evolve since you first got here?

SK: Well, it’s definitely more serious this past year having a new head coach. Conditioning, lifting, practices, everything is geared towards winning and it’s a lot more competitive, whereas before everything was really repetitive and it got kind of slow at times but now it’s a lot faster paced and it’s a lot better for us.

TFR: The team has a lot of upperclassmen; what’s it been like being able to play for the same group of girls the last couple of years?

SK: We’ve got to see each other grow and improve over the last years, and we know each other, so we know what each other’s weaknesses and strengths are. It’s definitely nice this year having a lot of leaders and seniors on the team and on the court. That makes things easier for us.

TFR: What kind of mark would you like to personally leave on the program and for this team to leave?

SK: Like Coach says, we want to show that it doesn’t matter if we win or lose but that we’re going to go out there and have a good match and fight for the win. I just want to show people that I’m really competitive and that I’m really fun to watch.

TFR: What are your personal and team goals for the rest of this season?

SK: That 3,000 assist mark I really want to make. That will go down in the books, so I have about 450 more to go, so hopefully I get to that. And then team goals, we want to go to A-10s.

TFR: What’s been your favorite moment at Fordham, both on and off the court?

SK: On the court would probably be either last year’s win against VCU. When they first entered our conference, they were top in our conference and we came out and we were able to get it done. Or the last win of the season, when we stopped URI from going to the conference championship. They needed to win the game and we came out and beat them. Off the court, my friends. All the friends I’ve made on and off the team. It’s like we have our little family.

TFR: Do you have  any plans for after graduation?

SK: I’m going to this semester start applying to grad school in New York and California and see where I get into. I plan to go into education so go to grad school for that then teach first grade.