Meet Ally Paskas, a sophomore volleyball player here at Wilkes. Ally is from Rutherford, New Jersey where she attended Rutherford High School. In the spring she is also a member of the softball team here and is one of the few student athletes here that have the chance to play two sports during the academic year. The early childhood and elementary major with special education certification hopes to follow in the footsteps of her mother and be a teacher. In her free time she likes to hang out and go out to eat with her friends.
Q: How long have you been playing volleyball for?
A: This will be my 6th year playing volleyball. I started as a freshman in High School.
Q: Who has been your biggest influence so far?
A: My biggest influence has been my parents. My dad has been there since I have been in kindergarten for sports. He has been my coach and my role model. My mom has inspired me to go into teaching, and has been a big part in my decisions as an adult now.
Q: What’s your most memorable moment playing volleyball?
A: Last year as a freshman playing and defeating Desales University. They were ranked higher than us and were supposed to win. We came into the game as the underdogs and won. Apparently they ordered their food to go home on the bus with them before the game was even over.
Q: What have been some of your accomplishments so far as a volleyball player?
A: In high school I was named second team all-county, 1st team all-league three times. As a team we made it into the section finals twice. In college last year as a team we finished second in our conference and we broke the school winning record for wins in a season.
Q: Why did you choose to come to Wilkes?
A: I chose to come to Wilkes because of the relationship I have with my brother. Having him here is a big part on why I am here. Another reason why is because of athletics and the fact that I was able to play two sports here unlike many of the other schools I was looking at.
Q: Have there been any changes from freshman to sophomore year?
A: Freshman year was hard because I didn’t know how the workload was going to be. So coming into sophomore year I was a little more relaxed and I knew what to expect, although classes are getting harder and more in depth with our major.
Q: What do you want to do with your major?
A: Someday I hope to either be a teacher in a general education classroom, or even someday be a special education teacher.
Q: Any advice for freshman student athletes?
A: Focus on school first because we are all here for school considering it is division three we don’t get any athletic scholarships. As an athlete take advantage of all the time we get to play them because these are basically our last four years to play.
Q: What are you looking forward to most here at Wilkes?
A: I hope to achieve and continue honors with my grades. As an athlete either conference making the conference finals and breaking records. I also want to meet new people here.
