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Match Point Blog: Mia Swanegan
March 24, 2016 01:20 PM | Volleyball
Sophomore Mia Swanegan is now a part of Mountaineer Nation after transferring from TCU. She wanted to continue her volleyball career in the Big 12 Conference, and she found that Morgantown, West Virginia, was the perfect fit.
“When I came to visit, I fell in love with it,” Swanegan said. “I like the fact that it’s a bigger campus and that everyone has an extreme amount of school spirit.”
She began training with the team over the summer before the season kicked off. Swanegan instantly bonded with her new teammates.
“I can’t say that I was extremely close to a lot my teammates last year (2014) and that was one thing I was really looking for,” Swanegan mentioned. “When I came here on my visit, everyone seemed so welcoming. When I got here in the summer, we were best friends right away, so that was really huge for me.”
Although the 6-foot-1 middle blocker stated that it was strange to play against her former teammates the first time around.
“The weird thing was being across the net and not being next to them,” Swanegan said.
Swanegan now finds it an advantage during the game. She knows how they play and what their tendencies are by not being on their side.
The Blue Springs, Missouri, native started playing volleyball when she was in middle school, and her family has been extremely important in contributing to her passion for the sport. Swanegan also has a twin sister Zori who has always supported her.
“We’re each other’s best friends, but we’re two different people,” stated Swanegan.
Zori was more of the artistic personality, while Mia was more of the athletic type.Swanegan’s older cousin, who plays basketball at the University of Hawaii, also has influenced her aspirations as an athlete. Swanegan has looked up to him as an athlete ever since she was little.
“Growing up, I watched him play his sport and seeing how passionate he was about it,” Swanegan said. “That’s what drives me. It pushes me a little more to be at his level.”
Swanegan has always been a fighter in the fact that volleyball makes her a tougher person.
“You face a lot of different things,” Swanegan mentioned. “You can either handle it really well or crumble. I think that’s where the toughness came in.”
Swanegan has a wide range of goals for the upcoming season. Personally, she wants to obtain more blocks per set. While she was a Horned Frog, Swanegan posted 22 blocks for 0.73 per set and had a career-best of six blocks against Northern Iowa. Working her way into the starting lineup as a Mountianeer, she also tallied 0.73 blocks per set for a total of 71 on the season.
As for team goals, Swanegan hopes that the team will play harder and come together as a team for a strong finish. The Mountaineers are determined to make the 2016 season the best yet.
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