By Jonathan Okanes, Cal Athletic Communications
BERKELEY – Cal Associate Head Coach Meagan Schmitt is all for her student-athletes putting in extra work to get better – except when it comes to the two players who want to work more than anyone else.
Seniors Inanna Eshoo and Allison Leong are what Schmitt fondly calls “Volleydorks.” They simply can’t get enough sand volleyball in their lives, and Schmitt has to ban them from playing extra on certain days.
But let’s just say Eshoo and Leong may be sneaking in some extra time on the courts anyway. There have been times when Schmitt has gone to the Clark Kerr Sand Courts to get something out of the team’s storage area and caught a glimpse of her seniors playing.
“They swear they weren’t playing,” Schmitt said. “They just can’t get enough. I know that sand volleyball is going to be a huge part of their lives for the rest of their lives.”
Eshoo and Leong would be playing a lot of sand volleyball regardless if they were playing for the Bears. But it’s their commitment to the game that earned them spots on the Cal roster in the first place.
As the Bears began their fall season, Schmitt kept noticing Eshoo and Leong playing on the courts after Cal’s practices. She observed them and got to know them a little bit. It didn’t take long for Schmitt to decide she needed both players on the team.
“I basically begged them to be part of the program,” Schmitt said.
There was only one problem. Both Eshoo and Leong were planning on wrapping up their degrees after the fall semester. To play for the Bears, they would have to delay their graduation and stay in school for one semester.
It took both players about an hour to decide it would be worth overhauling their entire plans for graduation to get a chance to play for the Bears.
“Pretty much overnight we changed our entire schedules to accommodate the practice schedule,” Leong said. “It’s a decision I will never regret.”
With the Bears playing their second season ever of sand volleyball and the first with predominantly sand-only student-athletes (the first season was made up of primarily student-athletes from Cal’s indoor team), Schmitt was looking for as much experience as possible on the roster. Cal’s squad features six freshmen and a transfer, none of whom had ever played collegiately before this season.
Although Eshoo and Leong had never played collegiate sand volleyball either, Schmitt felt their experience as college students and their passion for the game would be a significant benefit to the program.
“I knew they could have a pretty positive influence on our team,” Schmitt said. “I want kids that just can’t get enough of playing sand volleyball and always want to be out there. I figured it was worth me getting down on my hands and knees and asking if they would be part of the program.”
Eshoo and Leong spent their first four years in Berkeley playing on Cal’s club volleyball team. In fact, they were freshmen when Schmitt was a senior defensive specialist for the Cal intercollegiate team that advanced to the NCAA Final Four in 2010. Schmitt is one of only two Cal volleyball players ever to play in two Final Fours.
When Schmitt was a senior, the Bears donated their warm-up jerseys to the club team. Eshoo received Schmitt’s warm-up jersey.
“I feel so lucky to have this opportunity to play for the program,” Eshoo said. “As a person who loves playing volleyball and just someone who loves competing, this was really an opportunity to do something that I maybe didn’t even know myself but would have loved to do during college. It’s just a wonderful and extremely lucky opportunity for me.”
Schmitt thought it would be a long shot when she initially asked Eshoo and Leong to join the team. She invited them to coffee and made her pitch, but never guaranteed either of them playing time.
But both have been part of the regular playing rotation all season. In fact, Eshoo has played most of the 2015 season alongside freshman Katie Regalia as the team’s No. 3 pair, and they have gone 11-6 on the season. Leong has played with a few different partners anywhere between the No. 2 and No. 5 slots in the lineup.
“It’s been an awesome experience,” Leong said. “I never would have guessed that this could happen, but I’m also so grateful that it did because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I’ll remember forever. I think it’s kind of changed me as a person. I’m really proud to step on the court wearing my Cal jersey to face other colleges.”
