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Another remarkable appearance in the books for Elena Baka who scored 19.5 points and led Saint Mary’s College to yet another victory. Christos Gitersos’ excellent appearance raises the bar with 34 assists. Stavroula Papazoglou’s Odessa College had an incredible start with 7 wins and just one defeat.
1. What inspired you to come to the United States and play volleyball? Why USA?
The truth is that coming to the United States to play volleyball and study was a dream of mine since I was a child. In high school I was constantly watching teams’ highlights from different universities and that was my first contact with college volleyball in the USA. I believe that the USA is one of the few countries, if not the only one, which has many facilities available for the athlete and can help one combine education and sports at a high level.
With the support of NOMOS, 19 female Turkish athletes and 1 Turkish male athlete will compete this upcoming season in intercollegiate athletics in the States.
We are proud of our student athletes who have taken a big step towards their future and will be competing in USA’s elite leagues.
Shortly before the resumption of collegiate volleyball championships in the U.S., NCAA conferences announced the athletes that they expect to have a significant impact on their teams and conferences based on their output and performance last year (2019-2020). Following a vote by all the coaches, Efrosini Alexakou, representing St. John’s University in New York, was named Preseason Big East Volleyball Player of the Year, while her team was unanimously voted the best team in the Big East Eastern Division. On the other side of the U.S., Elena Baka of St. Mary’s College in California, who competes in the West Coast Conference, was selected as one of the best athletes in its region and was therefore declared Preseason ALL-WCC. It is noteworthy that Elena Baka will also play beach volleyball this spring season for her university.
1. Elena, what inspired you to come to the United States and play volleyball? Why USA?
The main reason why I decided to come to the United States and play volleyball was the opportunity that I was given to play the sport that I love and complete my studies at a high level. Unfortunately, with the way the education system in Greece is structured, in order to succeed you usually have to let go one of these two. I wanted both of them.
I believe that my inspiration was the American setter Kristin Carpenter (NCAA champion), who I was lucky enough to have as a teammate. I was 14 years old and she was a young well trained athlete, with a great technique and athletic morals. I couldn’t ask for a better role model and actually admiring her every day during practice.
An additional seven new female Greek players will be competing this year in collegiate volleyball in the United States. By the end of January, the NCAA, NAIA, and NJCAA championships will begin in which the Greek colors will be represented in record high numbers. Thirty-three female Greek athletes and five male Greek athletes will compete this upcoming season in intercollegiate level in the States, the majority of whom have international experience with their national teams and have managed to get a full athletic scholarship with the support of NOMOS.
What inspired you to come to America to play basketball? Why USA?
Coming to the USA was probably one of the toughest decisions my family and I ever made. I reached the decision that I wanted to study and play basketball at a high level and I knew that the best place to combine both is in the USA. It had always been a dream of mine to be able to play college basketball and I felt that the best place for me to grow as a person and as an athlete would be here.
A sharp-shooting way to welcome the new year was the order of the day for recent games in NCAA and NAIA basketball by Ioanna Krimili, Christina Katsamouri, and Alex Priftis.
St. Louis, USA
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