Leilani's Volleyball Journey

On the SCF volleyball team, there are six freshman from all over the world that have a story to tell about how they got to their volleyball journey. The story I did for on one of the player was the most interesting yet heartfelt stories I ever did.

Leilani Wilcox-Nanai went through many obstacles to get to college and start her volleyball career. Wilcox-Nanai hails from Christchurch, New Zealand, the third biggest city in New Zealand, and played outside hitter at Christchurch Girls High School prior to SCF. Her journey to start her volleyball career came from her own backyard.

"My brother played volleyball in high school, but I never played because I didn't think I was very good at it," said Wilcox-Nanai. "During my junior year of high school, I tried out for the high school team, and for some strange reason I was actually good at it and I don't know how it happened. My father also played volleyball. We would play volleyball for church every Wednesday or Saturday night. When I got there, guys would hit the ball at me, which was helpful for my volleyball career. It made me quicker."

While in New Zealand, Wilcox-Nanai played club volleyball and was a member of the New Zealand Junior Women's Volleyball Team while also playing on club teams at the U19 Interprovincial Championship, the Canterbury School School Championships Tournament Team, and the Youth South Island New Zealand Team. She has also earned several academic awards (Distinction Award, Whannau Te Reo Award, School Leader Award, Mathematics Award, and Te Reo Maori Award) as well as being named MVP of the season for her club team.

"During club season, I had a coach who I trained with that told me to go to the US to see how I can do," said Wilcox-Nanai.

For Wilcox-Nanai and the trip to Florida, this was the second time that she has ever been to the United States. The first time that she went was in California where she had family there.

"It was an amazing experience living there for five weeks," said Wilcox-Nanai. "It was different, especially when I liked the food there."

Prior to SCF, Wilcox-Nanai decided to apply to junior colleges (NJCAA and CCCAA) from her coach's suggestion.

"My coach told me to apply at JUCO schools so I can get a better opportunity for a D1 school and I did have a few offers from schools in Texas, Wyoming and of course Florida," said Wilcox-Nanai. "I chose SCF because it was the nicest out of all the colleges. When I was FaceTiming Coach Byrd, I thought she was gonna be hard and I thought that she and the coaching staff could help me improve my skills."

Wilcox-Nanai is the first out of her whole family to go to college with an influence from her parents and her brother.

"It's different and I know everyone has different lives and different experiences," said Wilcox-Nanai on her college experience. Since I was the last child, all my older siblings made sure that I was okay, so I was very lucky for that."

"My parents wanted me to go more than I did and my brother was my biggest supporter," said Wilcox-Nanai on her brother's support. "He would train me and in the mornings we'd do our own training or whenever we had free time, he would always train me. When we train together, he would tell me things and even pay for our trips. He was a big part of why I'm here."

When Wilcox-Nanai arrived in Florida, she described her first experience as "stormy" from the weather she went through to get there.

"I loved it because I could go swimming in the water," said Wilcox-Nanai. "It was exciting because where I stayed, we had a pool that go out to and enjoy the water. Volleyball-wise, it was cool yet so different in America from New Zealand. We would train a lot in the US whereas in New Zealand, we didn't train much, but I like it."

While she continues to practice her game, Wilcox-Nanai does like to do things outside of volleyball, mainly just being out on the water.

"I just like being outside in the sun and watching the sunset," said Wilcox-Nanai. "But just like being on the water and going to the beach."

While she was getting use to meeting and greeting all of her new teammates, two of her teammates that gave her the most warm welcome was sophomore Barbora Tichackova and freshman Lisa Jaunet.

"Barbora is the nicest person on the whole team," said Wilcox-Nanai. "She was the one that picked me up from the airport along with Lisa (Jaunet) because I met them first. It was kind of hard for me in the beginning because I came in late due to issues with my visa, so I missed out on preseason and everyone had a few weeks of just hanging out with each other, so they would obviously were closer than when I was going to be."

As a result of her late arrival at SCF, Wilcox-Nanai was unable to play the first two matches of the season and practice for a while, but then was finally cleared to play in her first match against Santa Fe and produced eight kills and 13 digs.

"I was kind of nervous when coach Byrd started me," said Wilcox-Nanai on her first match. "I was so appreciative about playing in it. I wasn't even expecting to start straight away and it kind of freaked me out a bit. It was good though even batting through the nerves, but I've managed to battle through it."

Wilcox-Nanai does plan to go back to New Zealand after college and continue her studies while returning to play club volleyball, but through to the end, she has made sure to keep her journey flowing smoothly to the end.