Junior Amanda Craenembroeck [Craen-Em-Brock], number 6, has been playing for Armijo’s volleyball team for two years, going on three years. In addition to playing the position of outside hitter, she is enrolled into the IB program. Having such a busy schedule, practicing off-court can be difficult, but she tries to train as much as she can.

Her favorite thing about volleyball? “That it’s a team sport,” she answered, “I get to be with my second family.” Before every game, teams usually have a ritual to ease the tension or get in the zone, such as singing or dancing. For our school’s volleyball team, it’s something a little louder. “We [the team] scream really loudly. It’s a good way to wake us up, so we scream really loud.”

In a world full of knee or back injuries and losses, the most difficult thing for Craenembroeck is not getting down on herself. “[Because] I’m a perfectionist. I have a tendency to get really frustrated really easily. So I just have, like, an upbeat attitude all the time by helping your teammates get up and everything.”

Craenembroeck’s proudest volleyball memory was during the beginning of her second year of playing, “[W]hen I was asked to be on Varsity my sophomore year after I’d been playing it [volleyball] for only a year.” Craenembroeck said, “I just felt like I’d really accomplished a lot and I worked really hard and I felt very honored.”

After high school, Craenembroeck wants to go to college and become an equine nurse, but in general, her goal is to be happy and live her life to the fullest. Although not wanting to play professionally, Craenembroeck does think about coaching. “I always think about that [being a coach], and I think there could be a possibility. But I guess it just depends on where the next chapter of my life leads.”