Nia Nix is an attacker for the Citrus volleyball team and is the front runner for volleyball player of the year according to head volleyball coach Shin Jung.
Jung nominated Nix for volleyball player of the year. He said Nix is a hard worker on and off the court. Jung praised Nix’s work ethic, which makes his job easier.
The Citrus Owls volleyball team ended its season 6-6 in conference and 9-17 overall.
“The first half of the season wasn’t very good in the sense that we didn’t play as a team; we played way too many individualistic plays,” Jung said. “But the second half of the season was much better.”
In addition to being an elder sister, a nursing major and an exceptional student, Nix is also an amazing player for the team.
Nix has a kill/spike ratio of 4.7 and a hitting percentage of 0.248.
Nix started playing volleyball when she was a freshman at Chino Hills High School. She said her father inspired her to start playing volleyball and continues to motivate her to keep playing.
“My dad told me, ‘When you get to high school, you’re going to play a sport,’ so I tried out for the (volleyball) team and I made it because I was tall,” Nix said. Nix is 5’11”.
Jung said Nix is an asset because she brings a lot of experience from being a four-year varsity player in high school and was one of the top players being recruited for colleges.
Nix’s playing style is aggressive and she doesn’t tire easily. She said performing well in games is a product of constant practicing and grinding to get better.
The Citrus volleyball team constantly sets Nix up to spike the ball and Nix takes the chance every time she can.
“I love hitting, serving and blocking even though I haven’t really gotten any blocks this season,” Nix said.
Jung said Nix was reluctant to lead the team because in a community college setting, players are only together on a team for one to two years, and becoming good teammates is difficult in that amount of time.
Despite her reluctance, Nix managed to lead the team. “She did what she was supposed to as a leader on and off the court,” Jung said.
Jung said he thinks Nix’s sense of knowing when to step up and when to say the right things make her a good volleyball player.
“Her clutch plays on the court and just being a smart person all-around are some qualities that are hard to find, not only in a volleyball player but as an athlete,” Jung said.
Jung said he wants to see Nix move on to the next level and thinks she has an opportunity to do that.
Jung said Nix’s weakness is not communicating and she holds onto her anger too much so sometimes it hurts her play.
Mistakes and stress are occupational hazards in sports and happen whether wanted or unwanted. Nix said all the women on the team are very critical of themselves to ensure their mistakes aren’t repeated.
Nix said she struggles with not getting upset over mistakes despite both coaches not wanting the team to be hypercritical of themselves.
“I can’t think of one girl that doesn’t get mad when she messes up,” Nix said.
Aside from Nix’s mistakes, she said this is the best she’s played in any season so far. She said opposing teams make it a point to try and smother her aggressive play style.
In a game against Bakersfield on Oct. 25, Nix scored 15 kills out of the team’s 29 kills. Despite losing the game, 3-0, Nix said she felt she performed well as she could. She adjusted to the situation and continued to rack up kills relentlessly despite the coverage Bakersfield put on Nix.
“They were focused on me,” Nix said. “They were only serving me, they had three players blocking me so I feel like I did good adjusting to that.”
Nix crowds the net constantly, with her hands raised in preparation for the next opportunity to either defend or spike the ball.
Jung said Nix’s strength is that she can do everything on the court.
Stress is a large factor in a player’s performance and can mean the difference between the victory lap or the walk of shame. Nix said she feels the most stress when it’s game point and she’s serving. She said she knows she needs to stay calm and breathe to serve to the correct spot on the court.
“I just tell myself, ‘Nia you got this, you’re fine,’” Nix said. “I try to breathe because I know I get really frustrated.”
Despite the team’s overall record, Nix said she remains positive and looks forward to each of the team’s games.
