The women’s volleyball team is already well into its season with a 4–13 record heading into its fourth North Coast Athletic Conference game against the Denison University Big Red on Wednesday, Oct. 8 at home. Before the Yeowomen will have an opportunity to contend with the Big Red, they will travel to Pittsburgh to face Penn St.-Behrend and La Roche College in a doubleheader. This year’s squad is younger than ever with 11 underclassmen bolstering the Yeowomen’s roster, five of whom are first-years. Leading the group is first-year Claudia Scott, who hails from San Antonio, Texas.

Scott has been on the volleyball court since the age of eight, and she has followed her passion all the way to Ohio as a middle hitter for the Yeowomen. When discussing her decision to pursue volleyball at Oberlin, Scott said it was a combination of Oberlin’s academics and athletics that ultimately persuaded her to attend.

“I think it was a mix of the two. I really like the College itself, and getting to play volleyball was a bonus. I found Oberlin through volleyball,” she said.

On the academic front, Scott is still exploring her options within a diverse schedule. Currently, she is toying with the idea of studying biology, international politics or environmental politics, which led her to take classes such as her first-year seminar, “Race-ing the Environment.” Despite the heavy workload and intense practice schedule, Scott says she actually has more leisure time than she did back home.

“[Volleyball] is less time-consuming here than it was in high school. [But] it’s a little bit more intense here, and you can tell people care more because we’re not on scholarships; we are here to just play,” she said.

Despite Scott’s standout season thus far, she hasn’t always had her sights set on playing volleyball at the collegiate level.

“I kind of decided my sophomore year of high school. It was more of a ‘If I can play in college, I will,’ but it wasn’t a goal,” she said.

Scott certainly can play in college. So far in her rookie season, the 5-foot-11-inch middle hitter has already managed to tally 128 kills, averaging 2.03 kills per set and 2.26 points per set. Defensively, Scott has also put points on the board, with 86 digs and 30 reception errors.

Looking forward, Scott and the rest of the Yeowomen still have a long way to go this season with conference play finally underway. Currently, the Yeowomen are on a seven-game losing streak and are 0–3 in conference play. Still, the packed schedule leaves much room for improvement. Last year, the team finished its season with a 12–19 record, playing a total of 31 games. With 30 games slated for the 2014 season, the Yeowomen still have time to shift gears and match or better their record from last year.

Despite the rough first half of the season, Scott has maintained a positive mindset and says volleyball has positively contributed to her Oberlin experience thus far.

“[Volleyball] is going really, really well. All the girls are great, and it’s definitely a positive experience,” she said.