As SSU enters the final months of the Fall semester, staff and students alike are rushing to finish their workloads in time for the holiday season. As for SSU’s student athletes that have been competing all semester, they’re beginning to see the final stretches of their seasons on top of all their classes and other responsibilities. Kiana Richardson of the women’s volleyball team, who is about to start their final playoff tournament this Tuesday, is no exception. 

  Between classes, participating in high level competition and dealing with the post-pandemic transition back to ‘normal’, this semester has been one of the most eventful for the redshirt sophomore who has been patiently waiting for the opportunity to play. She described it as, “The first full semester without fires or being home from the pandemic.” 

Going in as the number 6 ranked team, the Lady Seawolves will play until losing and be given a chance at winning the conference, regional and state tournaments. The team will travel about 400 miles south to San Bernardino for the first round of the conference tournament. Travelling is nothing new for the team, as they have already played in multiple different states across several tournaments and competed against some of the nations best collegiate teams. Kiana Richardson and the rest of the Volleyball squad after not knowing if they would even play this season have come a long way to compete in this week’s tournament. 

Having played some top notch competition this year, Richardson says that she is happy with the way her team has battled against their opponents. Richardson said, “It is more fun to play really good teams and the exposure helps the team get better especially because a lot of the girls are younger, if we lose a good game it brings more drive for us to come back and win in the future.” 

With all the traveling the team has been doing, everybody has more opportunity to grow as an athlete and compete at high levels. Travel and good competition forces the team to handle the pressures of playing top notch competition and for a predominantly young team, this adversity will benefit the team for years to come. 

Richardson loves being a part of her team, and the community it has provided along the way is a huge plus. During the down year resulting from the COVID pandemic, it was hard to predict what the future was going to entail, however being on the team helped keep Kiana focused on school and bettering herself. Richardson loves pushing herself, and when describing her team she explained that, “Everybody is nice, wants to get along and plays hard.” 

Richardson spends most of her time making sure she is in the best physical condition possible, balancing an upper division class schedule and picking up shifts at her aunt’s body shop. However, during her free time, Richardson loves to spend her time enjoying the finer arts and spending time doing things like dancing and drawing. She has also always loved dance, but with the extensive season schedules, she has never had the chance to take any dancing classes at Sonoma State. Despite this fact, she still finds time to let out an expressive and artistic side not always seen on the court. Richardson’s favorite genre of music is R&B, her favorite artists are Her and Russ and she often shares  her teammate’s headphones before games and practices to listen to music that gets her hyped up. 

For more information, updated scores and to follow the Volleyball team closer as they travel and finish their season, visit the Sonoma State Athletics website: www.sonomaseawolves.com/index.aspx.