Victoria Cirillo '22 Recruiting Profile

I can trace my love of volleyball to a family vacation I took in Mexico during the summer of 2015, just a few weeks before the start of sixth grade. It was a hot, humid afternoon, and I decided to join in on a game pool volleyball. Though I was generally shy and had never played before, there was something about the game that made me want to jump in and get involved. And though it was far from “competitive,” I immediately fell in love with the sport, so much so that on the trip back home I asked my parents if I could find a way to keep playing. That fall, we found a grade school league run by the local Police Athletic League, and the rest, as they say, is history.

I’ve been playing competitive volleyball for five years now, as Libero on my club’s national team for the last three years and as a starter on my high school varsity team since Freshman year. I love everything about the game of volleyball, from the multiple practices a week, to the travel and multi-day tournaments, to the feeling of camaraderie that I share with all of my teammates and coaches.

Over the last five years, volleyball has given me the opportunity to test myself in ways that I could never have imagined, both physically and mentally. I love playing the back row and have been told by my coaches that I’m very teachable and a good listener, someone who can effectively translate instruction into action. I also enjoy sharing my passion for the game with others and have volunteered at local clinics where I help to teach the basics to grade-school students.

Beyond my love of volleyball, I’m extremely focused on my education. I take all advanced and/or honors classes and am on my school’s high honor roll. While I am still undecided in terms of what major I may want to pursue in college, I am very interested in finding a school that provides me the right balance between academics and athletics so that I can continue to play competitively while also having ample time for my studies and a well-rounded college experience.