Photo by: Roger Horne
Men's Volleyball Q&A: Spencer Wickens
6/14/2021 9:50:00 AM | Men's Volleyball, Competing With Purpose Blog
At first glance, Spencer Wickens is the opposite of a traditional outside hitter. Standing at 5-foot-11 and recruited as a libero, many teammates and opponents tower over him, yet thanks to a rabbit-like vertical and an old-school work ethic, the Rochester, New York, native has made the difficult transition to outside hitter and shone. This season, he led the team in kills and digs en route to being named an AVCA All-American, and was a crucial part of a Waves squad that qualified for the NCAA Tournament.
We caught up with Wickens to discuss his experiences competing during the pandemic, as well as how he has managed to star as a self-described "small guy" in one of the biggest positions on the court:
Q: What was it like competing during the pandemic?
A: It was definitely unusual. You have to bring your own energy when you play in empty gyms, especially with games like when we played at UCLA or USC. These places are huge, and it's hard for 15 guys to fill. It was cool playing at home, because with the smaller gym, we still had that home feel with everybody, but it was weird playing these big matches with nobody there.
We definitely missed the home crowd. Even on the road, having supporters there was huge. It was even tougher than usual on the road this year. It could get quiet, especially when things weren't going well, and we needed to fill the space with energy. It was definitely a new challenge, even without opposing fans talking trash and cheering against you, and it was hard to sometimes gather up the extra energy you needed to fill that space. I'd say it was more difficult to play on the road this year and also more difficult to play at home without everybody there.
Q: This was your second trip to the NCAA Tournament, but in very different circumstances, as you touched on before. What was different during this year's tournament and how did you think that affected your team?
A: We definitely had a younger group, so it was cool to make it back to the tournament with a completely different starting lineup. Noah [Dyer] and I had been there before, but we were both liberos then, so playing a different role was interesting. It was definitely awesome to be able to hit and to contribute that way.
The young guys definitely stepped up this year. A few years ago we were a big team with a lot of seniors, and had that strong leadership, but this year we had a gritty team that was able to compete against anyone.
Both tournaments were both really fun environments to compete in. It was definitely different, not playing in front of 4,000 people like we did in 2019 at Long Beach, but it was still cool to be able to play in a championship environment.
Q: Growing up, when did you start playing volleyball and when did you realize you could play at a high level?
A: I started playing when I was six. Volleyball's in my family, my dad ran a boys junior club, my siblings both played, and my mother played in college. I started traveling to a lot of tournaments and playing competitively when I was 11 or 12, but I went to my first national tournament when I was like eight or nine. I've definitely been playing competitively from a young age, probably younger than most.
I started seriously looking to go play in college and to play with the best guys in the country when I got to high school. I started playing with the high-performance group with the national team, and then I started getting recruited more intensely around my junior year.
Q: Why did you choose to come to Pepperdine from the East Coast?
A: I always thought of Pepperdine as a cool school. I didn't really know what that really meant growing up, I just knew that my dad had a good relationship with Marv [Dunphy]. My dad used to run an event called "The Preview To The Final Four" where he brought Division I schools to Rochester to play. I first heard of Pepperdine at a young age at that tournament when I got to see all these cool schools, so I always kind of wanted to go there.
When I learned more about the school, a small school with Christian fit, by the beach, on the West Coast, playing in the MPSF, it all checked off my list for where I wanted to go. It really was the best fit for me, instead of larger schools or even schools on the East Coast. I think it fit really well.
Q: You were recruited as a libero, but you've developed into an All-American outside hitter. Take us through that process. How was that decision made?
A: I swang a little bit in high school. I played outside my club year during my senior year and for my high school team, but everything before that I played libero, even in college I was recruited as a libero. The transition started during my junior year, when we had a really good libero come in, Diego Perez, and he was a stud.
We also had a couple of guys get hurt, and we needed some guys in practice to play outside. Coach asked me if I wanted to play outside and swing a little bit, and I took advantage of the opportunity. I was just ready to help the team in whatever fashion I could, and then it worked itself out from there.
After last year ended abruptly and this year began, David talked to me about playing outside again. He said that that's where I could help the team the most, so I was all for it and we worked hard together to make that happen. It was cool to get that opportunity and then make the most of it.
Q: What steps did you take throughout lockdown to grow as a player and how did you practice?
A: I played whenever I could. New York was pretty closed down, but the beaches were still kind of open. You could still kind of play pick-up, so we tried to play as much as we could with our friends.
Rochester's volleyball community is small, but very talented, and I have guys that I grew up playing with and playing against. We played most weekends and during the week as well, and as soon as indoor spaces started opening up where we could at least play with masks, we did open gyms as much as we could, just to get touches. It was really hard because you couldn't play as much as you could before, but we just tried to take every opportunity we had.
Q: One of the interesting things about you being an outside hitter is that you are smaller than all your fellow Waves at the position. How do you manage to excel despite that, and do your teammates give you any grief for it?
A: Oh, they gave me tons of grief, but I got back at them. It's good that they motivate me as a small guy, and it's good to have at least a little bit of a little man syndrome. It wasn't necessarily needed though, I have 23 other great players around me in practice pushing me each day, and it was awesome to be able to push them too.
On the court, we have AJ [Austin Wilmot] who's like 6-10, Anderson [Fuller]'s 6-9, Jacob [Steele]'s like 6-9, even Noah's like 6-5, we had all big guys. I felt like I got lost in the mix sometimes, and teams might pay more attention to the big guys, but Bryce [Dvorak] set me a bunch, so that was fun. It's hard not to focus on them when they're so offensive and they're serious threats, so they definitely made it easier for me to contribute and be successful.
Q: Did you think that some of the other teams underestimated you because of your size?
A: Hopefully not, but I don't know. In our first match of the year, we played Concordia and I talked to the coach afterwards, he said that they really weren't prepared for that, and they had scouted me as a possible libero, so that was cool to hear. I'm sure as the season went on, teams began to see me as a threat and as one of the options that we had on the team. I don't think anyone looked at me and was like, oh, that guy is never going to be a contributor, but it's hard not to focus on guys like AJ and Jacob when they're so talented.
Q: What does it mean to you to be named an AVCA All-American?
A: It means a lot. It's cool to earn an individual award, but it makes me think about all the people that have been in my life, pushing me to work hard. I thankfully had people pushing me from a young age to be the best I could be. Even at Pepperdine now, I have coaches and players, my teammates, pushing me every day. It was cool to receive it, but it was also for everybody else at the same time, showing that all their pushing for me and their other efforts for me to succeed paid off.
I'm definitely not stopping there though. I'm definitely going to get back to doing some great things again this year, whatever it is.
Q: How'd you feel the team did this year?
A: I think we were great. We had some of the most intense practices that I've experienced during my time here, and we've had four really good teams. It was really cool having a different group of guys, especially with a younger group, and still competing with the best teams in the country.
We were a whole new group of guys with a lot of new faces, but everyone was competing, everybody worked hard and everybody wanted to play despite being in a weird year with COVID and everything. Everyone gave up being at home to be on campus with the team. Especially with the challenges and the new group of guys, I think we had a great year.
Q: Why have you chosen to use a COVID redshirt year to come back for a fifth season?
A: I believe we have a good chance to win this year. We're bringing most guys back. We didn't finish where we wanted to, although we lost a good match against a great team, but we're hungry to try to win this year.
For me, I've been playing all my life and personally, I don't feel that I'm ready to be done playing yet. I'm going to try to get everything I can out of my body and out of myself before I call it quits, so I'm excited to come back and play for David, the other coaches, and for everybody.
With this opportunity, a bunch of things turned out well and it felt like the stars aligned. I couldn't say no.
Q: What are your goals for the future post-Pepperdine?
A: Before I decided to come back, I was talking to Nebraska. I applied there to go to graduate school and I was talking with their coaches to be a graduate assistant for their women's team. That won't happen this year, but I'm still talking with them and hopefully I can join them when this season's over. Ideally I'd be a graduate assistant for them for a couple of years, and then get into the coaching from there.
I'm going to study educational administration at Nebraska and use that to either go into college athletics as a coach or even as an administrator, hopefully becoming an athletic director one day. I love the idea of working in college athletics.
Q: Lincoln's a little bit different from Malibu. Are you okay with that?
A: Yes, I am. Wherever there are good people, I'll be good. I'm just excited to be around great volleyball.
Q: What are you doing this summer?
A: I'm playing a bunch. I'm golfing with my dad a decent amount as well, I'm giving him the work on the course. I'm going to try to travel and play at a couple of tournaments as well. I'm also helping out with my old club and coaching with those guys. We're going to head to Nationals pretty soon, and that's in Kansas City, so that's going to be a nice little week-long trip or 10-day trip. After that, I was invited to be a part of the National Collegiate Indoor Team in late July, so I'm going to try to get ready for that as best I can, and to be ready for the season to start again.
Q: Last question. I read your bio and I saw you're a Green Bay Packers fan, and I also support the Packers. So from one Packers fan to another, what do you think will happen with Aaron Rodgers?
A: I've been asked this question a couple of times, sadly there's a bunch of Bears fans on our team, Zac Norvid who just graduated, JT Ardell as well. They're both die-hard Bears fans, and they've said a lot about it. I'm a big Rodgers fan, and I hope that they will really communicate with him and give him what he wants. I would hate for him to end his time as a Packer on this note after having a great year last year, so hopefully we can figure things out with him.
I think he'll come back. I think we'll be able to fix it. If not, I think Jordan Love is also a stud, and he'll be successful as well, but I definitely would hope Rodgers would come back.
We caught up with Wickens to discuss his experiences competing during the pandemic, as well as how he has managed to star as a self-described "small guy" in one of the biggest positions on the court:
Q: What was it like competing during the pandemic?
A: It was definitely unusual. You have to bring your own energy when you play in empty gyms, especially with games like when we played at UCLA or USC. These places are huge, and it's hard for 15 guys to fill. It was cool playing at home, because with the smaller gym, we still had that home feel with everybody, but it was weird playing these big matches with nobody there.
We definitely missed the home crowd. Even on the road, having supporters there was huge. It was even tougher than usual on the road this year. It could get quiet, especially when things weren't going well, and we needed to fill the space with energy. It was definitely a new challenge, even without opposing fans talking trash and cheering against you, and it was hard to sometimes gather up the extra energy you needed to fill that space. I'd say it was more difficult to play on the road this year and also more difficult to play at home without everybody there.
Q: This was your second trip to the NCAA Tournament, but in very different circumstances, as you touched on before. What was different during this year's tournament and how did you think that affected your team?
A: We definitely had a younger group, so it was cool to make it back to the tournament with a completely different starting lineup. Noah [Dyer] and I had been there before, but we were both liberos then, so playing a different role was interesting. It was definitely awesome to be able to hit and to contribute that way.
The young guys definitely stepped up this year. A few years ago we were a big team with a lot of seniors, and had that strong leadership, but this year we had a gritty team that was able to compete against anyone.
Both tournaments were both really fun environments to compete in. It was definitely different, not playing in front of 4,000 people like we did in 2019 at Long Beach, but it was still cool to be able to play in a championship environment.
Q: Growing up, when did you start playing volleyball and when did you realize you could play at a high level?
A: I started playing when I was six. Volleyball's in my family, my dad ran a boys junior club, my siblings both played, and my mother played in college. I started traveling to a lot of tournaments and playing competitively when I was 11 or 12, but I went to my first national tournament when I was like eight or nine. I've definitely been playing competitively from a young age, probably younger than most.
I started seriously looking to go play in college and to play with the best guys in the country when I got to high school. I started playing with the high-performance group with the national team, and then I started getting recruited more intensely around my junior year.
Q: Why did you choose to come to Pepperdine from the East Coast?
A: I always thought of Pepperdine as a cool school. I didn't really know what that really meant growing up, I just knew that my dad had a good relationship with Marv [Dunphy]. My dad used to run an event called "The Preview To The Final Four" where he brought Division I schools to Rochester to play. I first heard of Pepperdine at a young age at that tournament when I got to see all these cool schools, so I always kind of wanted to go there.
When I learned more about the school, a small school with Christian fit, by the beach, on the West Coast, playing in the MPSF, it all checked off my list for where I wanted to go. It really was the best fit for me, instead of larger schools or even schools on the East Coast. I think it fit really well.
Q: You were recruited as a libero, but you've developed into an All-American outside hitter. Take us through that process. How was that decision made?
A: I swang a little bit in high school. I played outside my club year during my senior year and for my high school team, but everything before that I played libero, even in college I was recruited as a libero. The transition started during my junior year, when we had a really good libero come in, Diego Perez, and he was a stud.
We also had a couple of guys get hurt, and we needed some guys in practice to play outside. Coach asked me if I wanted to play outside and swing a little bit, and I took advantage of the opportunity. I was just ready to help the team in whatever fashion I could, and then it worked itself out from there.
After last year ended abruptly and this year began, David talked to me about playing outside again. He said that that's where I could help the team the most, so I was all for it and we worked hard together to make that happen. It was cool to get that opportunity and then make the most of it.
Q: What steps did you take throughout lockdown to grow as a player and how did you practice?
A: I played whenever I could. New York was pretty closed down, but the beaches were still kind of open. You could still kind of play pick-up, so we tried to play as much as we could with our friends.
Rochester's volleyball community is small, but very talented, and I have guys that I grew up playing with and playing against. We played most weekends and during the week as well, and as soon as indoor spaces started opening up where we could at least play with masks, we did open gyms as much as we could, just to get touches. It was really hard because you couldn't play as much as you could before, but we just tried to take every opportunity we had.
Q: One of the interesting things about you being an outside hitter is that you are smaller than all your fellow Waves at the position. How do you manage to excel despite that, and do your teammates give you any grief for it?
A: Oh, they gave me tons of grief, but I got back at them. It's good that they motivate me as a small guy, and it's good to have at least a little bit of a little man syndrome. It wasn't necessarily needed though, I have 23 other great players around me in practice pushing me each day, and it was awesome to be able to push them too.
On the court, we have AJ [Austin Wilmot] who's like 6-10, Anderson [Fuller]'s 6-9, Jacob [Steele]'s like 6-9, even Noah's like 6-5, we had all big guys. I felt like I got lost in the mix sometimes, and teams might pay more attention to the big guys, but Bryce [Dvorak] set me a bunch, so that was fun. It's hard not to focus on them when they're so offensive and they're serious threats, so they definitely made it easier for me to contribute and be successful.
Q: Did you think that some of the other teams underestimated you because of your size?
A: Hopefully not, but I don't know. In our first match of the year, we played Concordia and I talked to the coach afterwards, he said that they really weren't prepared for that, and they had scouted me as a possible libero, so that was cool to hear. I'm sure as the season went on, teams began to see me as a threat and as one of the options that we had on the team. I don't think anyone looked at me and was like, oh, that guy is never going to be a contributor, but it's hard not to focus on guys like AJ and Jacob when they're so talented.
Q: What does it mean to you to be named an AVCA All-American?
A: It means a lot. It's cool to earn an individual award, but it makes me think about all the people that have been in my life, pushing me to work hard. I thankfully had people pushing me from a young age to be the best I could be. Even at Pepperdine now, I have coaches and players, my teammates, pushing me every day. It was cool to receive it, but it was also for everybody else at the same time, showing that all their pushing for me and their other efforts for me to succeed paid off.
I'm definitely not stopping there though. I'm definitely going to get back to doing some great things again this year, whatever it is.
Q: How'd you feel the team did this year?
A: I think we were great. We had some of the most intense practices that I've experienced during my time here, and we've had four really good teams. It was really cool having a different group of guys, especially with a younger group, and still competing with the best teams in the country.
We were a whole new group of guys with a lot of new faces, but everyone was competing, everybody worked hard and everybody wanted to play despite being in a weird year with COVID and everything. Everyone gave up being at home to be on campus with the team. Especially with the challenges and the new group of guys, I think we had a great year.
Q: Why have you chosen to use a COVID redshirt year to come back for a fifth season?
A: I believe we have a good chance to win this year. We're bringing most guys back. We didn't finish where we wanted to, although we lost a good match against a great team, but we're hungry to try to win this year.
For me, I've been playing all my life and personally, I don't feel that I'm ready to be done playing yet. I'm going to try to get everything I can out of my body and out of myself before I call it quits, so I'm excited to come back and play for David, the other coaches, and for everybody.
With this opportunity, a bunch of things turned out well and it felt like the stars aligned. I couldn't say no.
Q: What are your goals for the future post-Pepperdine?
A: Before I decided to come back, I was talking to Nebraska. I applied there to go to graduate school and I was talking with their coaches to be a graduate assistant for their women's team. That won't happen this year, but I'm still talking with them and hopefully I can join them when this season's over. Ideally I'd be a graduate assistant for them for a couple of years, and then get into the coaching from there.
I'm going to study educational administration at Nebraska and use that to either go into college athletics as a coach or even as an administrator, hopefully becoming an athletic director one day. I love the idea of working in college athletics.
Q: Lincoln's a little bit different from Malibu. Are you okay with that?
A: Yes, I am. Wherever there are good people, I'll be good. I'm just excited to be around great volleyball.
Q: What are you doing this summer?
A: I'm playing a bunch. I'm golfing with my dad a decent amount as well, I'm giving him the work on the course. I'm going to try to travel and play at a couple of tournaments as well. I'm also helping out with my old club and coaching with those guys. We're going to head to Nationals pretty soon, and that's in Kansas City, so that's going to be a nice little week-long trip or 10-day trip. After that, I was invited to be a part of the National Collegiate Indoor Team in late July, so I'm going to try to get ready for that as best I can, and to be ready for the season to start again.
Q: Last question. I read your bio and I saw you're a Green Bay Packers fan, and I also support the Packers. So from one Packers fan to another, what do you think will happen with Aaron Rodgers?
A: I've been asked this question a couple of times, sadly there's a bunch of Bears fans on our team, Zac Norvid who just graduated, JT Ardell as well. They're both die-hard Bears fans, and they've said a lot about it. I'm a big Rodgers fan, and I hope that they will really communicate with him and give him what he wants. I would hate for him to end his time as a Packer on this note after having a great year last year, so hopefully we can figure things out with him.
I think he'll come back. I think we'll be able to fix it. If not, I think Jordan Love is also a stud, and he'll be successful as well, but I definitely would hope Rodgers would come back.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Volleyball
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/ Men's Volleyball
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/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's Volleyball
