San Francisco State University’s women’s club volleyball is ready to head to the Las Vegas Classic on March 13-14 and the National Collegiate Volleyball Federation National Championship tournament on April 2-4 in Kansas City.
Losing a majority of their players in Fall 2025, September tryouts led to a refreshed team roster with new talents. Sanaiya Washington, club treasurer and libero, spoke on the team’s drive to win.
“We’re really motivated, wanted to win, and get out there and put our club out there,” Washington said. “This season, we wanted to focus a lot on building our relationships with the girls and focusing on us playing more like a team.”
Junior Emily Curiel, a transfer student from Sacramento City College, is experiencing her first year with the club. Curiel is excited to play off campus.
“I love the atmosphere within the team, and we’re extremely excited,” Curiel said. “We’ve been practicing a lot. We’ve been playing some challenging teams to prepare for nationals. It’s exciting for all of us to get that experience with the team off campus and together bonding with each other.”
Despite having a small roster and ups and downs during the season, the club has kept its competitive edge. Club President Isabella Jopanda reflected on the nerves coming into the new year while rebuilding a new team during a heavy travel schedule.
“We had a brand new team because the only returning players were the officers, which made me really nervous, but after tryouts, we built a really good, well-rounded team,” Jopanda said. “They’re committed, and honestly, the best team I could have asked for. Currently, in the season, we’re doing okay, but the kind of environment that we built, everyone is very close and very committed to the team, and I think we can build something.”
Struggling at the start of the last season due to the absence of a coach, the arrival of coach Jayden Larios helped the team achieve balance. Larios was brought in at the beginning of the club’s regular season and believes that he built a closer dynamic with the club.
“It’s felt a lot more personal with the ladies on the team, and I’ve gotten to know everyone a lot better than last year,” Larios said. “Unfortunately, I will not be able to travel with them to Nationals, but I’m excited for what they’re going to do out there, and I know I’m setting them up for success.”
The club is run independently, relying mostly on players’ dues at the start of the season and fundraising to cover the team’s travel expenses during the season. The club’s upcoming event “Pie a Player” is a fundraiser to support their approaching tournaments.
“Last season, we did this fundraiser called 99 pledges, and this season, we decided to do two of them so we can get more funds, and we also get a little bit of funds from Associated Students, which we got our new volleyballs this year with that,” Washington said. “At the start of the season, the players pay their dues, which some of that goes towards their gear, playing on the team, and some of our hotel fees.”
Jopanda claims the biggest challenge for the club is the lack of support they are receiving from the university in comparison to other schools. The club doesn’t reap the benefits of an athletics trainer, which makes recovery more difficult.
“Some people don’t consider us student athletes, which I definitely disagree with, as we practice three times a week with travel games on the weekends,” Jopanda said. “ While they get all that extra support, we just have to do whatever we can at home, like, take a hot shower, take a salt bath for recovery. It’s extremely hard, balancing being a full-time student, going to work to support ourselves, still playing well, and staying healthy.”
The Gators are going through more intense practices and some days, they play multiple games a day, which puts the players at more risk of injury. Junior student Taryn Henry serves as a safety officer to make sure all the players are icing and resting themselves to maintain a healthy condition.
“The atmosphere becomes more intense. We want to lock in on the stuff that we’re missing, for what we haven’t done in the past games, we want to make sure that we fine-tune any little mistakes,” Henry said. “Last season was a good vibe still, but I would say it was less intense this season. We have more girls that are more competitive, and overall, it’s a better team dynamic.”
