Georgia volleyball’s junior middle hitter Valentina Gonzalez was born and raised in Monterrey, Mexico before making the trek to the University of Georgia. The Red & Black caught up with her to discuss her serve, designing clothes and what sport she would play if not for volleyball.

You are second on the team in kills this season with 148, what is going through your head as you go up to get a kill?
It’s not so much just scoring and scoring and scoring, I just want to beat the other team. So whatever I do up there is just about beating the other team. My mom used to tell me to just hit them in the head or something like that, so since I was little I’ve been like, ‘I just want to beat the team.’

Last year you were one of the younger players on the team as a sophomore, and now you are one of the older players as a junior, how does it feel to be the leader on the team?
It is different because I came from Mexico and everything is new and I couldn’t even speak very well English; like I struggle right now, that’s bad, but it was just kind of like I followed other people and now it’s like, this is my program and I’m on the older side rather than the younger side and I’ve got to be a leader and be there.

You lead the team in aces for the season with 24, what is the secret behind your serve?
I don’t even know. Honestly, I go back to serve and I’m just trying to stay focused on the serve rather than getting an ace or not [getting an] error and stuff like that. I just go up there and sometimes I do see where I can serve and sometimes I feel confident enough after serving some good ones, so I just think that I can put it here and sometimes it works, you know. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t work very well.

The volleyball team is heading to Tennessee this Friday and it’s going to be on television, are you excited about it being on TV?
I love the crowd, I play for the people. Since I was little, being in a gym full of people is just exciting. Practice is not as exciting obviously, but being on TV or having a crowd in Tennessee or stuff like that is just way much more exciting for me, I love it. I play for the crowd.

Your major is fashion merchandising, what do you want to do with that?
I want to be a fashion designer. I’ve been doing some stuff with the FDSA (Fashion Design Student Association) group here. There’s some fashion shows that I’ve had and I made my own prom dress and stuff like that, so hopefully it’s either volleyball or fashion or just being a mom, but those are my options.

If you could play one other sport at UGA, what would you play?
Well, I’d have to say basketball because I played in middle school a little bit, but I played every other sport. Probably soccer also, because it’s big and different.