By Madyson Montoya (@MadysonMontoya):
Playing beach volleyball was never a part of “the plan” for top-notch senior Lyndi Scholl.
“My first (beach) season ever was when I was 18,” Scholl said.
She grew up in Illinois, and if you look at a map, the state does not provide much opportunity for play time in the sand. Instead, Scholl started playing indoor volleyball in elementary school.
Set on playing volleyball after high school, Scholl went on to continue her career at Kishwaukee Community College just outside of Chicago. It was a great year for her performance, but her body took a beating.
Her initial dreams were centered around her indoor career until the last minute.
“I wanted to get recruited to play indoor out of state,” Scholl said, “but my knees and shoulders were pretty bad.”
Then, she gave it all up. Scholl said goodbye to her scholarship, indoor volleyball and school as she moved to a community college closer to home.
A goodbye like that doesn’t come easy for an athlete like Scholl. Still driven by her undeniable passion for the sport, Scholl trained at her old club facility, starting her beach career.
Scholl was learning a new sport surrounded by athletes who had played for years. This only drove her to push harder and improve fast.
“I owe everything to them,” Scholl said. “The club owner, he convinced me to play beach when I was already graduated.”
Once Scholl stepped foot on the sand, there was no turning back to the hard gym floors. She set a new goal — playing beach volleyball at the college level.
The main drive for the switch to beach? Scholl was now able to play volleyball with a smaller risk for injury.
“It’s way softer on your body,” Scholl said. “Indoor is strictly you want to hit as hard as you can every other time. Beach is more of a finesse game.”
Beach volleyball across the country doesn’t have a lot of money for the athletes.
According to ScholarshipStats beach volleyball is limited to having 37.5 percent of team members on scholarship, which isn’t much compared to the 93 percent of basketball players that receive scholarship money.
This made Scholl’s college search a little difficult.
Teammate and fellow Illinois-native, junior Julia Goldbeck is actually the one who made San Jose State an option for Scholl. Goldbeck knew about Scholl and gave the volleyball coaches her information, which led to her becoming a Spartan.
Scholl came to California for her first time to play in a tournament for the opportunity to display her abilities to the SJSU coaches.
“They offered me [a position] on the spot there,” Scholl said.
From that moment, she has been playing beach volleyball for the past three years at SJSU and leads the No. 1 duo team.
While a majority of the team is playing indoor, Scholl and the three other beach players train on sand all-year.
Head coach Aaron Shepardson said having strictly beach players “has been critical to our success.” Scholl appreciates the amount of focus she can put into her sport year-round to constantly improve.
“She will get better whether she has a coach or not because she is very dedicated to her sport,” Shepardson said.
Her partner this year, indoor and beach senior Nandyala Gama, sees having Scholl with her as a huge advantage. An indoor and a beach player together provides a new dynamic, but the two are on a clear understanding of each other. It’s a true partnership between Scholl and Gama.
“I know that she wants to do things to see her partner succeed,” Gama said. “That makes her play better.”
Gama knows that Scholl wants to continue her beach career after she graduates. They look out for each other on the court, which is why they improve every week.
According to Gama, Scholl is a “great leader” who caters to each person’s needs and coaching styles. Scholl strives to be a player that can play with everyone and her teammates see that.
While being over 1,000 miles away from home would affect most, the distance doesn’t phase Scholl because she has her team.
“I’ve never been on a team like this before,” Scholl said, “I’m extremely lucky to have this opportunity.”
