Volleyball: Whitewood adjusting to life in America

For many freshmen, going to college means filling every space in their parents’ car with… For many freshmen, going to college means filling every space in their parents’ car with boxes, driving a few hours to their dorms, and perhaps even going home the first possible weekend to cure the onslaught of homesickness.

But for Pitt volleyball player Krista Whitewood, it meant getting on a plane that would take her 22 hours from her home in New Zealand and drop her a world away in a brand new country and the city of Pittsburgh.

“[I miss] my family and all my friends … and just everything and everyone I know,” said Whitewood, a freshman. “Coming to America, you just kind of have to make all those connections again. And it’s not like I can just run around the corner to go see them as they are all the way on the other side of the world.”

Whitewood received interest from volleyball programs in the United States after a worker for American Volleyball Scouting Report wrote about her online. She eventually narrowed her choices to four favorites — Pitt, St. Louis, Syracuse and Indiana.

Pitt head coach Toby Rens said Whitewood’s passion and enthusiasm for the game made him want to make her a Panther.

“Her ability and potential as a leader is great, too,” Rens said. “Her work ethic is great. Those are things we were certainly looking for. Everybody had nothing but really positive things to say about her.”

Whitewood made her visits to the schools in April and eventually decided on Pitt. Two months later, she arrived on campus for summer school and training.

“It may be considered cliché, but I actually chose Pitt because, when I came on my visit, I completely fell in love with the campus, the people and the volleyball team,” she said. “I could really just see myself going here as a Pitt student-athlete.”

Whitewood said living in Pittsburgh turned out better than she expected.

“I like that the campus is in the city,” she said. “That’s one thing I noticed that was different from the other universities that I went to visit. Pittsburgh is actually in the middle of somewhere rather than just having a campus by itself.”

She added that the biggest difference she noticed between New Zealand and the United States is the lifestyle, saying that everything from food portions to cars just seems bigger in America.

“In New Zealand, everything just seems a lot more laid-back, smaller and different,” she said. “But the difference is something I can definitely get used to.”

But there is one activity that Pittsburgh’s missing — and Whitewood hasn’t adjusted to this change quite yet.

“I miss surfing.” Whitewood said. “In New Zealand, I lived close to a lot of beaches, so I’m used to that ‘chill out’ scene.”

She said that when she visits home over Christmas break, it will be summer in New Zealand, and she’s looking forward to getting the chance to surf then.

Despite the slight culture shock and lack of beaches in Pittsburgh, Whitewood said she’s handling the change well and isn’t homesick yet. She said having a team around definitely helped her adjust.

“I think if you’re on the volleyball team or any sports team at Pitt, you’re really lucky as your teammates almost become your family and you can make some really great friends,” she said. “You’re always spending a lot of time together.”

Before joining her teammates in America, Whitewood had a successful volleyball career in her home country and is considered one of the top volleyball players ever to come out of New Zealand.

“The potential of her all-around game is great,” Rens said. “That could be one of her greatest strengths. Her ability to stay dialed in. Every skill is really good already.”

He said that Whitewood is a strong server and is very focused. He added that the freshman is at a very good level for her first year of college play.

“The more she’s able to work in a team setting and develop her game technically, the better she’ll get,” Rens said. “She could potentially be a great fit for our program.”

Whitewood was the captain of the New Zealand Youth National Volleyball Team where she played in the 2010 Asian Youth Girls’ Volleyball Championships in Malaysia.

She counts that experience as one of her favorite volleyball moments. She said her team was placed in a pool with No. 1 seed Japan. They got knocked out 3-0 in pool play and Japan went on to win the tournament. But Whitewood said getting the opportunity to watch Japan’s best player made the experience memorable.

Whitewood said the player, Mari Horikawa — who was ranked as the top spiker in the world for her age group and was eventually named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player — was one of the best players she’d ever seen.

“Every time she went up to hit you couldn’t help but watch, like, in full amazement,” Whitewood said. “She was just awesome. In the finals, I remember watching her like ‘Wow, this is the reason why I want to continue playing volleyball. I want to be just like her.’ She was that good.”

From there, Whitewood said she gained the confidence and motivation to come to America, in hopes of improving both as a player and as a person.

“This right-side hitter from Japan was just so good, she became my idol,” Whitewood said.

So far her experience with the Pitt volleyball team has been great, Whitewood said. She started conditioning with lifting, running and light training in the summer and is now into the full swing of the season.

Whitewood started playing volleyball because both of her parents played — they actually met through the sport. Her parents coached a high school boys’ team when Whitewood was about 4 years old, so she hung around the gym, trying to join in the drills and spike in the hitting lines.

She said that she traveled with the team to nationals and tournaments and would sit on the bench, watching the wins and the rough patches.

“It was here that, as a little girl, I grew a passion for the game,” Whitewood said. “I just knew that I wanted to play this sport. I wanted to spike like the boys … with my parents being so involved with the sport, I was just lucky that they could help me achieve all that I wanted to.”

Whitewood said the passion she has for the game is one of the qualities that help define a great player.

“You need to be hard-working, you need to know the game inside and out and most importantly, you need to not just play the game, but you need to do it with a passion,” she said. “And I think that these are some of my best strengths.”

Whitewood hasn’t declared a major yet, although she said that she’s considering industrial design. Whatever she decides, she knows she wants to keep volleyball in her life after college.

“Whether it be playing the sport I love or teaching it to others, it doesn’t matter as long as I’m in it somehow,” she said.