Trinity Stanger has yet to appear in competition for Pepperdine. An incoming freshman on the women's volleyball team, Stanger is a ball of energy, a libero who has a knack for being everywhere on the court at once, and someone who prides herself on being an encourager and a hard worker. She's had her eyes set on becoming a Wave since sixth grade, and describes coming to Pepperdine as "a dream come true."
 
We caught up with Stanger to discuss what the last year and a half of high school was like during the pandemic, the process of joining the team, and the excitement of seeing her dream become reality:
 
Q: What was completing your final year and a half of high school like during COVID?
 
A: It was a little rough, honestly. Transferring to online classes and then going back to in person was stressful, and I was nervous that taking tests and learning in person wasn't going to be as easy as it was before, but my school and my teachers made it easy. They were understanding with everything, and it made it a relatively easy transition.
 
Being able to be on campus after not being on campus for over a year felt great. It was so nice to see my friends and to get back to creating in-person relationships with teachers that I had only known from Zoom. When we went back, I actually got to connect with them.
 
As for my senior year volleyball season, it was pretty rocky. We started off playing on my school's turf football field for a couple months, only in pods with eight other girls and we couldn't share balls. Our coach did his best to make it fun, but it just wasn't the same. When we finally came back to in-person school, we were able to have a scrimmage against a school from our league, and we had a senior night in person, and it was really cool to have something close to normal. My senior year was definitely one to remember. I had fun, made the most of it, and loved every second of it.
 
Q: What was your final club season like?
 
A: We started club much later than usual, and in the beginning, we were only in pods of about five people. We could only practice in the gym for an hour, so if you wanted extra reps, you'd have to do it individually. Once things started opening up, we were able to play in tournaments. All players had to wear masks and the ball was switched after every rally, but we got a few in. When travel tournaments started opening up, we traveled three weekends in a row, going to Reno, Vegas, and Ohio. We were able to play in three-day tournaments, and it felt like life was back to normal.
 
The club season for my age group is pretty short and it ended in May, so we missed the tournaments where you could go maskless. Playing with masks definitely built up our stamina, so it honestly was almost like a blessing in disguise. Even in the beginning of quarantine, when we weren't allowed to be on the court at all, we were able to focus on things like building strength, stamina, focusing on our form rather than just the result aspect of it. We were able to focus on the journey and the process, so once we were on the court, we had all made so much progress.
 
Q: Why did you choose Pepperdine?
 
A: Pepperdine's been my number one choice since sixth grade. It's genuinely a dream come true for me.
 
I came from a really small middle school and high school, so I liked the size of the campus and the school, I felt I would be comfortable here. I also loved the location, I didn't really want to go far from home.
 
Also, I like the faith aspect of Pepperdine. Throughout my life, I've never really been in touch with my faith, and I feel like Pepperdine will help me grow personally and will help me find what faith means to me. Pepperdine is such a welcoming and inclusive community, and it will allow me to grow, as well as to take risks and find which path I want to follow in my future. I feel like I will be so welcomed and supported and comforted here.
 
I'll also be challenged academically and athletically. The school balances academics and athletics well, because after four years of volleyball, although there's chances and opportunities I can follow after, volleyball won't be my whole life. I love how Pepperdine stresses the importance of finding who you want to be and what you want to do with your life outside of athletics.
 
Q: What made the Pepperdine volleyball program the best fit for you? Was there anything that made you choose the Pepperdine team over any other team you were talking to?
 
A: I had phone calls and emails with all of the coaches, and although we talked volleyball, they all cared about me as a person over anything else. They wanted to know how I was doing and what I was doing outside of volleyball, talking to me and finding my identity outside of just being a volleyball player. No one had really asked me that. Everyone saw me as Trinity the volleyball player, but Pepperdine was able to meet me and notice things about me that were outside of just who I am on the court. That made me feel like I'm not just a volleyball player, I'm not just a number at this school. I'm not just like a girl on the team, I am Trinity and I'm someone to them.
 
There's a lot of schools that you'll be on the phone with, and all they care about is your stats, your numbers, how many aces you had, how many kills, how many digs, and how many errors you made. They focus on the error aspect, but on the phone calls with Pepperdine, they wouldn't talk about how many aces you had, they'd ask "How did you improve your serving?" Or, "Did you focus on any form or techniques in your passing?" They never asked for a result, they asked for the process or how you're improving rather than the number of errors you made.
 
Also, when I went to Pepperdine camps where I was able to play with the team, they were so supportive and so kind. When I made mistakes, they didn't insult me or talk behind my back, but they encouraged me, and helped me focus on the importance of making mistakes and learning. So I just feel like, at Pepperdine, even on the court I'm learning life lessons that I'll take with me for the rest of my life.
 
Q: Your club teammate Kate Kilroy also committed to Pepperdine. What was it like going through the commitment process with her and knowing you would be joining the team with a familiar face?
 
A: Honestly, it excited me so much. She committed her freshman year, and I committed my sophomore year, and when I found out that she was going to Pepperdine while I was just talking to the school, I was so excited for her, even wishing it was me. Then I assumed that because they committed someone on my team, they probably wouldn't commit me, so I broadened my search, but I just kept coming back to Pepperdine. I couldn't think of any other school the way I thought of Pepperdine. When I was able to receive an offer, she was the first person I told, and we both started crying and jumping up and down.
 
We were best friends on our club team as well, not just teammates. We hang out all the time outside of volleyball, so being able to go to college with my best friend, who's now my roommate, is unreal. Having a familiar face with me starting college is so comforting.
 
Q: What are you most excited about in coming to Pepperdine?
 
A: I'm excited about meeting new people. I've been surrounded by people from California and from my city all my life, so the opportunity to meet people from out of state and learn about them and their lives is exciting to me.
 
I'm also excited to compete. There's a lot of girls I used to compete with who I'm now playing with and girls I used to play club with that I'm now playing against, so getting to play in a school setting is really exciting to me. That's about it as of right now though, I don't want to set too many expectations for myself, I want to go in with a clear mind.
 
Q: What has the team done to welcome you and the other incoming freshmen?
 
A: They've done a great job. It's been as simple as forming group chats, where we can talk about practices or team workouts, but also listening to podcasts as a team and honestly just talking and seeing how everyone's doing. We've had Zoom calls set up where we've hung out with each other virtually. A lot of the players have reached out to all of us individually, asking if we have any questions about anything. They know what this period is like, especially with athletes being the only people on campus right now. They've all lent an arm out to guide us through joining the team.
 
Q: What do you feel that you bring to the team?
 
A: Energy. That's my thing. I'm very energetic, I'm very competitive, I'll be a spark. As a freshman, the most important thing for me to do is learn from the older girls and to help keep up the energy and to build the culture. I'll be there to support everyone, cheer everyone on, and make everyone better. Challenge them, compete, and have fun.
 
Q: What are you doing this summer?
 
A: My high school got out pretty late, so I only had about a month of summer before I got on campus and started summer school and summer workouts. We're training, lifting and having captain-led practices because the coaches aren't allowed in the gym with us yet.
 
Lately I've been honestly just trying to hang out with as many of my friends as I can because I know I'm going to be really busy. I'm trying to just keep in touch with all my friends before they leave for college as well. I'm honestly trying to not have too much of a strict schedule, just kind of going with the flow before I get on campus.
 
Q: How much are you expecting to play either this season or in the future?
 
A: As a freshman, you don't really expect that much playing time. However, I'm not really going off that, I believe you work for how much you play. If you work hard in practice and you're improving, then there's a chance that you will play. I don't really have an expectation of how much I'm going to play or if I'm even going to play, I'm just going to go into practice and work hard and see what happens.