The Mirror | October 2020 | Van Nuys High School | Los Angeles, California USA

16 | OCTOBER 2020 | | A T H L E T I C S |
theMIRROR
By ANDRE DAVANCENS
THE MIRROR SPORTS EDITOR
Bookworm, musician, gamer
and team captain of the
VNHS Volleyball team are all
descrptions of Jake Stanley.
With a 6’2” physique that resembles
a Greek demi-god, Stanley has prepared
himself for a huge upcoming season.
How long have you been playing volleyball?
“I started when I was in seventh grade
making this my sixth year.”
What made you get into volleyball so
early?
“I had played sports when I was youngersuch
as baseball and soccer but I’d kind
of bounced between those and never
took to one. After a two year break from
How was it joining the team as a freshman
varsity player?
“Well, I’d actually gone out to see a game
of the boys team when I was in eighth
grade. After that game, I had already
decided to go to VNHS so I introduced
myself to the coach.
He was starting up the program at
that time, he had just taken over that year
from the previous coach. It was a fairly
simple process to get into the program
after that, Coach Omri knew who I was
so he invited me to play a bit. It was kind
of informal but, at tryouts it was all about
getting to know the kids that you have.
He just wanted to get people into the
program, as any sports program does
really. He saw I had prior experience so he
decided to put me on the varsity team.”
Was there any uncertainty going in as a
What was your progression from freshman
to senior team captain?
I’d always always had that sort of senior
role because I’d been there a year before
my current teammates. I took a lot of
roles outside of the game. I was making
sure everyone was doing okay mentally.
How has your academic life been outside
of sports?
“Sophomore year I had to really double
down on the amount of time I was spending
on homework.
Junior year was the same way, outside
of practicing and school I had very little
time other than doing homework and
eating. It got to be a little tough to deal
with but because I love the sport as much
as I do, it was a little easier. Even if I didn’t
get to rest as much as maybe would be
preferred.
the summer I did a lot of work putting
together videos and reaching out to colleges.
I have not committed to any college
yet but, I do have several colleges that are
interested in having me in their program
or at least would be interested to see me
as a walk on, should I decide to go to their
school.
Out of the schools that I’ve reached
out to, those who have responded back
so far are top D3 schools. The Milwaukee
School of Engineering has shown interest
in me and want me to visit their school
sometime in November. I don’t know if
that’s going to happen still, though due to
covid-19. I had also contacted Santa Cruz,
unfortunately to get back to me, they’re
also a top school.
The universities that have shown an
interest in considering me as a walk on
would be UCSD, which is a D1 program,
THE MIRROR | ILLUSTRATION BY ANDRE DAVANCENS; STANLEY COURTESY VARSITY VOLLEYBALL
SPIKE BALL Stanley takes on
the role of middle hitter and
at times opposite hitter.
PREP PROFILE
Varsity team captain
Jake Stanley has
volleyball in his veins
SUPER
SPIKER
sports, my parents pushed me to play
sports again. That sport happened to be
volleyball.”
Why’d you stick with it? What made it
different from the other sports?
“I just found it to be a very interesting
sport. It’s very dynamic and complicated.
It requires a very, very precise control
over movements, both in the air and on
the ground.”
Was volleyball love at first sight or did
you grow into it?
“My first club year was in eighth grade
and that’s when I really took a liking
to it.
It was my ninth grade year though
when I decided that it was something that
I really wanted to stick with and that I
loved to do.”
freshman?
“Well I was the only freshman on the varsity
team and I was one of the few freshmen
who joined that year. Going into it. I
thought it was good and I felt that I was
made welcome. There were a lot of good
kids on the team my first year.”
Is there a sense of pride starting in this
program?
“Yeah, I’m just proud of my coach for doing
all that he’s done. He has done a whole
lot for the program. In the short time
that he’s been here, he set up our website
on his own, he videotapes most of our
games — all of them for this year. And he’s
been responsible for getting us into a lot
of tournaments and really expanding the
level of play and amount of play we have
inside and outside of the season.
I’m just thankful for all that he’s done. ”
It was a lot of work but, I think it was
definitely worth it. I strive for academic
success as much as I do athletic success.
I have to reiterate, I’m a studentathlete
but student always comes first.
At one point in your life athletics will
end. But what you’ve learned in school
will be carried with you, at least for
some time.”
What colleges are you looking at?
“As much as I’ve been doing work to put
myself out there, I started fairly late in
the recruitment game. Volleyball recruiting
for men’s volleyball starts as early as
eighth grade. I was still learning the sport
when I was in eighth grade, I’m still learning
the sport now.
Even junior year is a bit late to start the
recruitment process. But I have reached
out to a lot of colleges recently. Over
and Harvard. But so far, that’s still sort of
in the middle, neither here nor there. They
need to see more of me, and I need to
show them a bit more.”
What is your dream school?
“I have several but if we are looking
overall, UCLA just because it’s such a solid
school. It’s close and I like big schools, just
because I’ve grown up in a fairly big city.
Stanford is also great unfortunately, they
stopped their men’s volleyball program
after this year. The Board of Trustees decided
to strike it down along with 12 other
programs, but who knows, maybe they’ll
reconsider?
Harvard would be great, Princeton
would be great, UCSD and UC Irvine
would be great, all these big name schools.
They are all big schools, all good schools,
all solid volleyball schools as well.”