It was almost a dream come true for rising senior Haley Roe as her two passions came together 2,000 miles away from home. Roe knew what she wanted at the age of 12, and all she had to do was set her mind to it. Six years later, the Campbell, California, native found herself on a path to West Virginia University where she could accomplish her athletic and career goals all in one place.
From day one, Roe knew that she wanted to play volleyball at the collegiate level. She dabbled into every sport that she could think of, but her love for volleyball was so much more. She started going to her older sister’s volleyball tournaments when she was five, and as Roe grew up, she saw her sister Ashley succeed as a Division I student-athlete at UC Berkeley.
“I was five when my sister started playing volleyball, and I would go to her tournaments all the time,” Roe explained. “I looked up to her a lot, so I started to play competitively when I was 12 years old. I was always in and out of sports, but volleyball was the one. I just knew that I wanted to play volleyball at the collegiate level. I knew it when I was 12 years old. That was always a goal of mine, and then when my sister played at Cal, I realized that goal was attainable.”
It only took one phone call and one visit for everything to fall into place for the 5-foot-10 setter. Roe fell in love with the Pride of West Virginia, as she traveled from coast-to-coast to follow her dreams of becoming a Division I athlete and pursuing a career in the fashion industry. Unlike other schools, West Virginia gave her the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.
“I always wanted to do fashion,” Roe stated. “It was always a hobby. I have no idea what sparked my interest though. In fourth grade, we had to dress up as what we wanted to do when we grew up, so I went to school as a fashion designer. I used to draw all the time, and then I realized that drawing was not my strong suit. Now, I want to go into styling and buying. I want to make sure that the season trends are up to date. I have always wanted to do that, and that was a big factor in why I chose West Virginia in the first place.
“When it came down to it, I had to choose between fashion and volleyball. I could have gone to a trade school, but I really wanted to play Division I volleyball. I worked so hard since I was 12 years old, and I did not want to give it up so quickly. I was given other opportunities, but no one had a fashion merchandising degree. Everything just clicked here.”
There were some bumps along the way though, as Roe went through a tough coaching change during the 2014-15 season. Coach Reed Sunahara was named the fourth head coach in WVU volleyball program history in March of 2015. Sunahara joined the Mountaineers after spending the previous season as the head coach at Buffalo, accruing a 17-15 mark in his one season with the Bulls.
“As a volleyball player, you have different coaches all the time (club to high school),” Roe noted. “From a player standpoint, it was easy for me to adapt to new coaching philosophies, but it also was a lot of change and transition between teammates. My dad helped me put into perspective when he said ‘this is going to happen when you’re in the working world. You have to be able to adapt.’ I had to decide if I was going to be in it for the long haul, and I was. I took a lot from that experience.”
During the 2015 season, senior Brittany Sample was the team’s starting setter, but injury sidelined Sample in a match vs. TCU on Sept. 30. Roe then stepped into Sample’s role shortly after that, as she played in 100 sets to record 17 kills, 10 service aces and 157 digs in 29 matches as a junior for the Mountaineers.
“It was an opportunity,” Roe explained. “Brittany (Sample) was our starting setter. She was our leader. When she was injured, it was an opportunity for me to step up. I had to rise to the occasion. I had not been in the setting role for a while, so it was tough going into it. My teammates made sure that I knew they had trust in me. They trusted that I would give them everything I had, and that helped a lot.”
With her collegiate career coming to an end, she wants her teammates to continue to hold that trust going into her senior year. Roe is confident in her abilities, and she is sure that that this program is on the right track for greatness. In her final season as a Mountaineer, Roe wants to rise to the occasion one last time while donning the Old Gold and Blue, and there is no better time than the present.
“I am just hoping for the best,” Roe said. “We are a rebuilding program. Last season was rough. We were strung together as a team. I want to create a team culture with the seniors.
“Hannah Shreve is a huge part of our team as far as leadership goes, and I think that we can really start to build something here. Going along with that, our team success would only grow. We have some great girls coming in that work hard. With all those pieces, it is going to be a good season.”
