Senior volleyball player is glad she chose SWOSU
Senior SWOSU volleyball player Allie Hoang had never even heard of SWOSU until head coach Josh Collins reached out to her.
When Collins reached out to Hoang, she came on a visit and fell in love with SWOSU and knew she made the right choice coming to SWOSU.
“Looking back now, coach Collins definitely was the selling point of SWOSU,” Hoang said. “I had never heard of SWOSU before he reached out to me. I went on the visit and he made everything about SWOSU perfect. He sold me from the get go and he made my visit super fun and memorable.”
Hoang said beating Northwestern Oklahoma State University was her favorite SWOSU volleyball memory.
“There are so many great memories from playing volleyball at SWOSU, but my favorite memory which comes to mind was beating Northwestern Oklahoma State University 3-0 last season at the PCEC. This was the loudest I remember the gym being and I relive this moment in my head often. There definitely are many memories though.”
Hoang said she had been playing volleyball since she was in the first grade and her favorite memory of playing volleyball as a kid was when she was 14 and her club team made it to a national championship game.
“It was a great experience, even though we lost,” Hoang said. “It was really cool to play on a huge court with all the fans and it was just something I will remember forever.”
Hoang said she tries to be a better person every day and she is self-motivated.
“I want to get better every day, whether it be in volleyball or in school,” Hoang said. “I strive for that motivation every day and I look to find something to better myself.”
Hoang grew up in Plano, Texas, and attended West Plano High School. She said she enjoyed growing up in Plano.
“It was really fun growing up in Plano,” Hoang said. “I was constantly around my friends. It was a nice area to live and playing volleyball in the North Texas Region was super competitive. There were so many great athletes and coaches I got to compete against. This definitely shaped me into who I am as a person and I am super thankful to grow up the way I did.”
Some of her greatest accomplishments while at SWOSU include playing in all 33 games as a freshman in 2017. She was an all honorable mention for the GAC that season as well. As a junior in 2019, she averaged five kills a game and 57 assists.
Hoang said she will graduate this spring, but plans to come back next season to work on her master’s degree in Elementary Education and will use her extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA. She said she is very excited to get back on the court this spring.
“Everyone has been itching to play volleyball,” Hoang said. “Even though it is a shorter season, it should be super fun and I cannot wait.”
Despite not playing volleyball this fall, Hoang said there are some positives they can take from the fall and she learned to enjoy the moment while it lasts.
“I think from the fall, we learned playing volleyball is a privilege,” Hoang said. “With all the uncertainty and being a senior, I learned not to take anything for granted. Fortunately, the Great American Conference rewarded us the spring and I have learned not to take things I love for granted. Every time I step on the court, I need to give it my all, because it could be the last moment and I not even know it.”
Hoang said some advice she would give to the freshmen is to make as many memories as one can because college goes by faster than one thinks.
“I would say to take advantage of what you are given at SWOSU,” Hoang said. “These four years will fly by and your senior year goes by even faster. Every single senior has told me this and I did not believe them, but experiencing my senior year, I believe them now. I still feel like I am a freshman and just arrived on campus and I think they should enjoy it and make as many memories as possible.”
Hoang said her favorite celebrity is Kevin Hart because he is really funny.
“I love Kevin Hart and cannot wait to see his new comedy on Netflix,” Hoang said. “I really want to meet him someday and I want to get roasted by him. I think I would pay money for him to roast me because it would make me laugh.”
Hoang said her favorite movie series is the Hunger Games and Divergent series because they are action packed. Her favorite athlete is Micha Hancock. Hancock was a volleyball player at Penn State University and won two national titles.
“She was a setter who was insanely good,” Hoang said. “She is 28 years old and is playing professional volleyball. I would do anything to meet her and be like her.”