Sundararaman Leads the Way
By Ethan Davis
As the only senior on the 2012 University of Miami women’svolleyball team, Illinois native Nrithya Sundararaman does not feel the addedpressure that others would assume she should feel. She receives the supportthat is needed from the rest of her team. As a senior, she believes it is herrole “to provide the motivation that is needed” to get the ACC ring which theyseek every year.
“At the beginning of the season people were not expecting usto do real well because we lost a lot of great players,” Sundararaman said. “Tome, this is the last grind, the last chance. It’s my last year and puttingeverything out there is crucial not only for me, but for everyone as well.”
One of the reasons for success this season has been theresiliency of the team.
Sundararaman points to the match at Maryland on Oct. 12 asan example of how they were able to “stay focused and keep cool” underpressure. Down 24-23 in the first set and 24-22 in the second, the Hurricaneswere able to rally to win both sets by a score of 26-24. They won the third set25-17 to win the match.
Because of their their ability to “stay focused and keepcool,” as Sundararaman describes it, the Hurricanes are 21-4 and 13-2 in theACC this season. Getting off to a great start is “all about learning from theexperiences.” Sundararaman points to that same Maryland match as her reason for”always keeping the underdog mentality.”
“We came close to letting it bite us in the butt and itshould not have been that way if we played at our level,” said Sundararaman.”We have to try and stay consistent and get better every day. In the secondround of our ACC play, it’s going to be a dog-fight every game. We need tokeep, as coach Lantagne Welch says, ‘a blue collar mentality.’ We can’t go inthinking we are going to win because of our record.”
On Lantagne Welch, Sundararaman says that she a very passionateperson and cares very deeply about the program. “When she speaks to us, it canbe very inspiring because the program is her baby. She has brought it up fromits roots. You can really see that she wants to be here every day and make eachof us a better player. Coach can be really motivating and understands what ittakes to be successful.”
As the starting setter this year, Sundararaman relishes theleadership role associated with her position. “As a setter you are integralpart of the team,” says Sundararaman. “I love playing that big role as a lot ofmatches depend on how well you play. If you struggle, your team is going tostruggle as well.”
Sundararaman has not always had that leadership role as shestarted her career as a setter, was switched to the hitter’s position, and thentransitioned backed into the role of setter. “It was really tough. I was notable to really focus on one thing and put all my efforts into it,” says Sundararamanon her transition between positions. “It was a lot easier for me in 2011 as Iwas able to just focus on one thing and get better at what I needed to do.”
As she has solidified her position on the team as theprimary setter, Sundararaman has slowly climbed her way up the University ofMiami’s all-time assists list. She recently moved into third with 2,100 as ofNov. 8. “I don’t really keep my eye on stats to much but it would be a greathonor to be a part of the top of something like this.”
In addition to securing her place in Hurricane volleyballhistory, Sundararaman experienced what she refers to as “the greatest game ofher entire career.” On Sept. 7, Miami faced, then-No. 6 ranked Florida State athome on ESPNU. The match was the first ever broadcast at the Knight Complex onthe ESPN family of networks. After dropping the first set 25-18, the Hurricanesrebounded to win the next three sets by the scores of 25-17, 25-22 and 25-18.This victory was the first win over a top-10 team. “The energy was fantastic. Ilove the crowd so feeding off of that was great and of course FSU just makesyou want to play as hard as you can.”
The week prior to the Hurricanes defeat of FSU, Sundararamanand the rest of her teammates traveled to Normal, Ill., to participate in theRedbird Classic. “I really love having them come,” said Sundararaman on havingher mother, father and brother being there in person to watch her play. “Ialways know that I have their support. If they are not watching my matches inperson, they are watching it on television or online. It is just great to playfor them because they have always been there for me throughout my entirecareer.”
Sundararaman has been just as successful in the classroom,maintaining a 3.90 GPA as a neurobiology major to earn Academic All-Districthonors recently.
“Nrithya certainly is a great representative ofstudent-athletes,” head coach Nicole Lantagne Welch said. “She is someone whohas done an incredible job to balance the demands of the highest level ofDivision I volleyball along with all the challenges of being a student here atthe University of Miami, which is an extremely competitive academicinstitution.”
She plans to attend medical school after graduation andhopes to become a doctor. With her winning attitude, Sundararaman has a brightfuture ahead of her.
