Sabrina King and Emily Brown — Women's Volleyball

Outside Sabrina King and middle Emily Brown are both senior captains on the women's volleyball team. They recently sat down with 'Prince' staff writer Sarah Petry.

'Prince': As captains, you guys are the leaders of this team. Do you feel like you get a lot more respect since you are the seniors this year?

Sabrina King: Umm . . . no. But that's okay, I'm not bitter. We're a pretty tightly knit group and we're all just good friends so we get along.

P: If you don't get any more respect this year, are there any other perks you can think of that come from being captains?

SK: Well, sometimes I get my own room on road trips, but that's mainly just because I snore. It's not a captain thing.

P: Are there any goals that you as a team have set for this season, as well as maybe individual goals that you personally hope to achieve?

Emily Brown: We definitely are hoping to win the rest of our league matches, to win Ivies again and go on to NCAAs. Personally, my own goal for the season is to get coach [Glenn Nelson] to like me better than Sabrina. It's tough though, competing with the best Asian player in the nation or whatever he calls her.

P: Wow Sab, that's a pretty lofty title. How does it feel to be the best Asian player in the nation?

SK: (Laughs) In the Ivy League, not the nation. After Tomo [Nakanishi] graduated from Brown, I feel much more secure with my position. Now that she's gone, I get to represent. So yeah, I'd say I'm the best Asian player in the Ivy League.

P: How do you feel about your volleyball groupies this year? Do you have a good following?

Charlie (Sabrina's visiting friend from Notre Dame): I came all the way out from Indiana just to see them.

SK: I feel like it's more random this year. It's more just a couple of friends here and there and then some random [people] cheering for the other team. We really miss the drunken Zete crowd we had really grown to love. I would say that now we could really use some more fan support.

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P: So, how are you planning to get more crowds out there for your games?

SK: Oh, we have some tricks up our sleeves.

C: You guys should wear bikinis.

SK: We do wear spandex shorts, and I've been told that some guys consider those to be like "eye candy."

C: You should just wear shorter spandex. That would work too.

P: So, what gets you guys fired up for your games?

EB: I feel like it's just my bitterness towards the other schools. I get really mad at them. Like, I really hate the Ivy League schools. I really genuinely hate Brown and Dartmouth and Harvard and Yale. Oh, and Penn this weekend. I hate them all. But I'm not a mean person.

SK: Yeah, Penn is in the same place as us right now, so we're fired up for them. This Friday is really going to be the game to watch. It's so exciting because the Ivy League has really been turned around and we don't know who's the best team anymore.

P: But clearly you guys are the coolest?

EB: And the most fun.

C: And the cutest.

EB: Yeah, our freshmen are really upping our stock this year. We've got some cute new babyheads.

SK: Well, and of course there's always [junior defensive specialist] Martha [Moore], our token cute little blonde. Plus, she's from Texas. No matter how hard I try, I will never be a cute little blonde — or Texan.

P: True. So, I heard that you no longer cram the whole team into a 12-seater van when you go on road trips anymore. Do you feel like you are moving up in the NCAA volleyball world now that you get to travel in a bus rather than a van?

EB: Oh yeah. The bus is great. It gives us a much bigger buffer zone from coach when he's mad.

P: Since last year, the team has lost a few players and also gained some new ones. How has it been adjusting to the new team this season?

EB: [Junior setter] Ana [Yoerg] has been doing a great job taking over the setting position now that Melissa [Ford '00] is gone and [freshman outside] Kellie [Cramm] is playing great on the right where Erika [Hansen '00] used to be. And, [sophomore middle] Abby [Studer] has really been a dominating force in the middle.