Since the first kill psychology freshman, Gina Gill, scored when she was in fifth grade in Baton Rouge, La., she knew volleyball was going to be a part of  her life.

Having a long volleyball career so far, Gill has played all the positions in the sport except the middle. She prefers playing outside and libero and avoids playing middle because, according to her, she isn’t good.

“Volleyball was my outlet in life. When I played volleyball and hit the ball, I would hit the ball, and it would let out aggression, just a way of getting away from everything,” Gill said.

Gill was always a multi-sport athlete. She participated in basketball, volleyball and track at different moments in her life and believes that her parents’ support really helped her achieve this success. “My parents supported me the whole time, so having them there pushed me even harder,” Gill said.

Despite starting at a very young age, Gill always managed to balance her life, avoiding the possibility of getting tired of the sport. “For me, the more I played the better it was, because I went out each time trying to do better and improve on different things,” Gill said.

In high school she lettered all four years, was named All District for three years, All Metro for three years, All State for one year and MVP for two years.

Gill practices with her team at Loyola two and a half hours every day, as well as attending weekend practices. Over summer she continues to focus on her game, working on her conditioning. She also plays beach volleyball. “Even though it’s a different type of volleyball, it still lets me have contact with the ball, which is an important thing because it’s hard to go from the season to having this whole time and not be able to touch a volleyball, because it just throws you off,” Gill said.

There are a few moments that Gill will never forget. “My first college game will always be memorable, but also my senior year in high school, we made it to state and got second, and just the whole experience was unforgettable,” Gill said.

Gill said the jump from high school to college was a smooth transition. “It’s been great. They were so welcoming, even during recruitment. I don’t think I couldn’t have started college as well as I did if I didn’t have them,” Gill said.

Eduardo Gonzalez can be reached at [email protected].