Aleena Jia '28 Recruiting Profile

Although I have only been playing volleyball since I was 12, I have worked harder than I ever have to become the player I am today. The past two years of my life has been filled with team practices, extra fitness and going to the gym on my own time. By my second season of volleyball, I joined IMG Academy to learn from very experienced coaches and started on their Black Varsity high school team, and their Ascender 15-1 Club team as an undersized outside hitter. Ever since I made that commitment, playing volleyball at a collegiate level has been a clear long term goal for me. 

As an undersized hitter at 5'8, I have a high vertical, strong arm swing, and I have good use of my high volleyball IQ to score points on the court and lead my team to success. Because of that, I am a good team leader and assist my team by helping them contain courage and confidence on the court, while still holding them at a high standard that I know they are capable of. 

While volleyball has sectioned seasons, I work hard throughout the whole year to become a better person on and off the court. During high school season, I was named on the AVCA Phenom Watch List after one home game. During Club season, after the MLK Invitational in Orlando, I was nominated and voted to be named on the 15 Club and Premier All Tournament Team. As of now, I have my second season of beach volleyball coming up. Last season, My partner and I strived through 4 tournaments and earned Gold at all four of them. By the end of the season, we placed as 1st runner ups at provincials and 13th at nationals. 

Outside of volleyball, I know how to balance heavy school load with training. In the classroom, I work hard and maintain a GPA of 3.8 on a scale of 4.0. Last year in 8th grade, I was chosen to visit Atlanta, GA to join a school conference with students from all around the world based off the topic of identity. I also received an honourable mention at Duke University after an overnight summer school camp where I studied Biomedical Engineering. I also finished grade 9 in RCM levels of piano, and also finished as 1st runner up at many dance competitions as a former dancer of 8 years. I was eventually invited to perform in Florida at a national competition of excellence. At 7 years old, I represented Canada at the Pan-Am games of badminton held in Vancouver. 

My long term goal for volleyball is to see myself being a consistent player on a collegiate team. I want to be able to learn life skills from the court and be able to apply them to my outside life. I also am hoping to see myself be pushed to become a great player mentally and physically. I am open to many different options at the time, as I am looking out for the best option for myself as I want to study something in the medical field. I look up to my older brother as he was a possible candidate at the Olympics for badminton. I hope that one day someone can look up to me as a role model like I do to my brother.