Women's Volleyball Q&A: Blossom Sato
10/18/2017 9:20:00 AM | Women's Volleyball, Competing With Purpose Blog
Blossom Sato transferred to Pepperdine this year to play on the women's volleyball team. The Waves' setter shares what her transition to Pepperdine has been like and what she hopes to do on and off the court:
Q: How has your transition from Mississippi State to Pepperdine been?
A: It has been super awesome. I actually grew up here,so I am super excited to be back and to be a student here. I've known our coach, Scott (Wong), for a really long time through family. Scott and all the other coaches have been really supportive and the girls have been great too.
Q: What is the major difference between Starkville and Malibu?
A: Other than the view, I would say the size of the school and the environment. Starkville is super focused on football, basketball and baseball. At Pepperdine, academics are the focus, but the school still supports the athletes. It is a really good balance.
Q: What made you decided to comeback to Southern California?
A: Things were not working out in Mississippi with volleyball and I was really homesick and unhappy. I contacted coaches throughout Southern California and Pepperdine wanted me to play for them, and I was excited to play for Pepperdine.
Q: Were you expecting to come in and play right away?
A: I was not expecting anything at all. I knew that they had two setters already. I had seen them play and knew that they were good. I was just excited to be competing again and getting better for myself and to help the team as much as I could.
Q: What are your goals at Pepperdine?
A: I really want to help the team win conference. I know there's a lot of competition, so it would be super huge if we could win conference and make it to the NCAA Tournament. That would be such a great year.I only have two years left, so I am trying to help make that happen.
Q: What do you think your role is on the team? Or what do you hope it will be?
A: Being new was hard because I had to try and learn how my teammates acted and their personalities. I want to be a leader and I want to be a person who anyone can depend on both on and off the court with any problems they may have. I think that is going pretty well so far. We have a lot of leaders on the team, so everyone feels comfortable going to everyone. It is really awesome because I have never been on a team like that before.
Q: Volleyball seems to run in your family. How has your mom and uncles' successful careers influenced you?
A: All I did growing up was be around volleyball. I did not start playing competitively until ninth grade. I have two older cousins who also play, so we were always close and grew up playing volleyball together.Everybody always thought that we had to play volleyball because our family played, but we really didn't. We just enjoyed it so much that we wanted to play. I got to play against my cousin this past preseason, and it was really fun because I had never played against her before.
Q: Do you have any bucket list items to do while you are in Malibu?
A: I want to go on more hikes. I don't get to go on them very often, but I really want to hike more. I know there is a swing along the coast under one of the houses, so I want to find those.
