Emerson Nicholas '20 Recruiting Profile

My name is Emerson Nicholas, and I am a class of 2020 Middle Hitter/Blocker. Volleyball is my absolute favorite thing to do and the feeling I get when playing is like nothing else. I am from a very small town named Georgetown, located in northern Massachusetts. Growing up in such a small town definitely has its perks, but also some downsides. One of those being the athletic programs. There are approximately 400 kids in the town’s single high school right now, so the teams are small and usually a lot less competitive than we’d like to admit. The volleyball team was formed in 2015, which was during my 8th grade year.

Before volleyball, I was raised as a gymnast but as you can imagine that got extremely difficult with my height, where the average gymnast is about 5’ 4” and I now stand at about 5’ 11”. Because I was the tallest girl doing gymnastics, I developed confidence problems, especially about my height. Going into my 8th grade year I heard that the school wanted to build a volleyball program and I knew that volleyball was much more accepting of tall girls like myself. I fell in love right away after my first practice and I knew this sport was the perfect fit for me.   

Five years later and I still feel that way about the sport, and I can confidently say that joining the new volleyball team back then was one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life. This year I was nominated captain by my coaches and teammates and it was such an honor. I want to prove to the bigger schools in the Cape Ann league that a small school like mine can be just as competitive. I hope to inspire my teammates to feel the same way. I will use my previous high school volleyball experience as well as my years of club experience to help my team get to where it needs to be for the upcoming season.

I would love more than anything else to continue playing volleyball in college and I know that I would be a great asset to any team. Coming from such a small program and working my way up to an elite club team shows that I have competitive drive and dedication to the sport. In college I am looking for competitive sports and a high expectation when it comes to academics. I am part of the National Honor Society and taking all honors or AP classes this upcoming year. I am looking to study something involving psychology or criminal justice, and can’t wait to look further into college programs.