Q&A with Jayna Baker, Holly Clay and Kari Kelley
Dec 06, 2002 | Volleyball
December 06, 2002
| AggieAthletics.com sat down with three of the Texas A&M volleyball team's newest members--freshmen Jayna Baker, Holly Clay and Kari Kelley--and talked about life on and off the court, deciding to play at A&M, being a freshman, high school rivalries and more.
On the court...each of you have gotten some playing time this year. Is the speed of the collegiate game something you had to really adjust to coming out of both high school and club volleyball? Jayna: "Most definitely. The middle is just so much faster. (The) middle's always been really fast for me, but now it's like, as soon as you hit the ground from blocking, (the other team's) pass is already up to the setter." Kari: "At first it was hard for me to get used to setting it quicker. I've been setting for seven years. As soon as I got here I had to change everything I did, which is good because I think I'm going to get quicker." Holly, you're one of the smaller players fans will see on the court. Was that intimidating at first? Holly: "Not really. I never thought that I was small until I came here and everyone was huge, giant people (laughs). It wasn't really that intimidating though. I play defense anyway, so (height) really doesn't matter that much." Off the court, have you enjoyed your first year of college? Holly: "We don't get to do as much (because of volleyball), but second semester we'll be able to (experience) college life more because we don't have practice every day." Kari: "We've gotten to go to a lot of football games and yell practices and stuff, so it's been really fun. We've gotten to take part in the Aggie tradition and that's been fun." Did all of you know you were going to go to Texas A&M? Jayna: "Yeah, ever since my brother came here in 1998. I came to (volleyball) camp and met everybody, and I knew this is where I wanted to go." Kari: "I wanted to say in Texas, and I loved the volleyball program, (I think it's) the best volleyball program in Texas. It was an easy choice." Holly: "I didn't know I was coming here until April." So you didn't have the Aggie thing going in the family? Holly: "Not so much. They used to make fun of A&M but now they can't (laughs)." Did you know each other before you got here? Kari: "Me and Holly were huge high school rivals. The Cy Falls-Cy Creek rivalry was massive in high school. My junior year, we played each other to go to the state championship, and my team won." Holly: "I tore my ACL two weeks before playoffs. That's the only reason they won!" Kari: "It's kind of weird playing with her (now), because I'd always (thought of her as) that girl that doesn't let anything hit the floor. And, she'd make me very angry. But it was cool. We get the scoop from each other now that we're teammates, you know, what the teams used to say about each other." So, when you saw her walk on to the court this summer, did you have any clue she was coming here? Kari: "I had heard that she was but I wasn't sure. Not that I was intimidated (or anything), but we've always been huge rivals. We totally hit it off and get along really well right now." As freshmen, when you come into school-especially in athletics-do you have to almost band together to get through what may be a very rough first month or so? Jayna: "You really do." Kari: "They're the only ones that understand what we're going through. Most other students have to worry about being a student, but we have school and volleyball. So they understand where we are coming from, where a lot of other people wouldn't. It's really nice to have that." Jayna: "Me and Kari went out to eat the other night, and we sat there for like 10 minutes and didn't say a word. Usually people talk about what they did during the day, but we're around each other all day." Holly: "I don't know what we'd do if we weren't close, because we're together all the time. When we go do things, we do them together." Kari: "We're all close, we get along together really well." What was it like watching the NCAA selection show this past Sunday? Kari: "It was the most nerve-racking experience of my life. (The show started) 10 minutes later than they said it would, so it made us even more nervous." So, who's been to L.A. before? Jayna: "I've never been anywhere in California." Holly: "I've been to L.A., but it was when I was 7. I went to San Francisco this summer and it was sweet. I'd love to live in California when I get older." Kari: "I went to Los Angeles when I was 11. We went to Disneyland. I hope we go again! (laughs)" Jayna: "I went to Disney World once." But that's not in California, that's in Florida. Holly: "Good call. (laughs) So, how was your Disney experience, Jayna?" Jayna: "It was fun, it was my 14th birthday, and I met Mickey and he told me happy birthday." You showed cows in high school, Jayna. How did you get into that? You live in Duncanville, which is urban, so do you live on some land up there? Jayna: "We actually live on 75 acres in the middle of Duncanville. It's kind of random. My dad's been an Ag teacher ever since I was born. When I was about seven years old I started showing steers at county shows. When I turned eight, I got my first heifer." Holly: "Tell them about your jacket!" Jayna: "That's how all my jackets are." Holly: "Oh, come on, the blue windbreaker..." Jayna: "Holly thinks my windbreaker's funny because all of my jackets say, 'Grand Champion Heifer' on them." Holly: "(laughing) They say 'Jayna' on the front and 'Grand Champion Heifer' on the back. I wanted to wear that jacket!"
Did she let you wear it? Holly: "They dared me to wear it outside. And I did it, too!" Jayna, was Greg Ostertag (center for the NBA's Utah Jazz) really your babysitter? Jayna: "He was my babysitter. He was the best babysitter in the world!" How'd that come about? Jayna: "He went to Duncanville, so he was in my dad's class. One day my dad was trying to find a babysitter and none of the other normal ones could, and Greg said, 'I'll babysit.' My dad said, 'Okay, go for it!'" You guys plan to live together next year. Who gets the big room in the house? Kari: "I do! I'll pay extra because I want that big room and my own bathroom." Who'll be in charge of cleaning the house and doing the dishes and all that? Holly: "Our moms, but don't tell them that (laughing)." Kari: "They come up every week for games, so we'll tell them on the way home to swing by the house (laughs)." Holly: "Seriously. My mom still does my laundry." So you're in trouble if you need to wash clothes yourself? Holly: "If I'm desperate, I'll go throw clothes in the wash. But it's hard to find a time when you'll be in the dorm for two hours." And then you have to battle the other people for spots in the washroom... Jayna: "It's brutal." Holly: "(If you leave the clothes in too long) they'll take them out. Even if they're wet." Holly: "There's one girl though, that we haven't seen in a while, that would fold our laundry for us." Jayna: "We kind of started taking advantage of that. We would purposely leave our clothes in the dryer a bit longer, hoping that she would fold them. That was sweet." |
