CRESTVIEW— It didn’t take Crestview High School volleyball Coach Kathy Combest long to decide Marisa Rogers is a special player.
“The first day I saw her, I knew,” Combest said.
That was two years ago, when Rogers was a freshman.
“Everything comes easy to her," Combest said. "She means so much to this team. She can hit, she can set, she can block and she can serve. And she’s a fighter.”
The junior now carries high expectations with a winner's grace and determination.
We now catch up with Marisa Rogers.
Q: How old were you when you started playing volleyball?
A: I was in the sixth grade. So what’s that? I was about 10 or 11.
Q: What's the best part of volleyball?
A: The atmosphere in the gym, especially for a rival game.
Q: What's the worst part of volleyball?
A: Conditioning. I hate that part.
Q: What are your expectations this season?
A: I’m going to state this year.”
Q: If you had to pick a different sport to play, what would it be?
A: Soccer, because I played soccer before I played volleyball and I loved it.
Q: What is your favorite volleyball experience?
A: Big South, when we travel in the summer.
Q: What are your hobbies outside volleyball?
A: I’m in the Dog Pound (Crestview High School’s student cheering section). I guess that counts as a hobby. And I play volleyball a lot. I play year-round.
Q: What's your dream career?
A: I want to be an anesthesiologist.
Q: Do you want to play college volleyball?
A: Of course. I don’t really have a dream school in mind right now. I’m trying to decide. I like Pepperdine and USC (the University of Southern California). I would love to go to school in California.
Q: What is your favorite movie?
A: I like “Alice in Wonderland” a lot.
Q: Who is your favorite singer?
A: That’s a tough question. I don’t really have one.
Q: If you could be a cartoon character, who would you be?
A: I don’t know. I’d probably be the girl duck, Daisy Duck.
Q: If you could go back and live in any other period in history, which one would you choose?
A: I’d like to live in the (19)80s — that was pretty cool. They were wild and crazy.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 13 things you didn't know about Marisa Rogers