Alexia Enache ’27 is an outside hitter on the volleyball team from Campbell, CA. This week, she had seventeen kills and eight digs against DeSales University and fifteen kills, nine digs, and a career best of five aces in the win against Gettysburg College. This outstanding performance follows last week’s, where Enache led the Garnet in a 3-1 win over Baldwin Wallace University with a career-high 24 kills, eleven digs, and two aces. Additionally, Enache has contributed to Swarthmore’s unbeaten conference record as she leads the team in kills (229) and kills per set (3.47). The repeat Centennial Offensive Player of the Week (Oct. 15 and Oct. 22) also leads the conference in points per set and is a close second for points total. Defensively, Enache is second on the Garnet for total number of digs with 147. Swarthmore is currently 13-6 on the season and plays next on Oct. 25 against Eastern University.
Abby Chang: How do you feel about the wins against DeSales and Gettysburg this weekend?
Alexia Enache: I was proud of the way the team played together and worked hard for each point, set, and game. To me, both teams had different styles of play that our team does not see as much, so being able to take in that information quickly and respond with a win was very gratifying.
AC: What have been some highlights of the season thus far?
AE: I think Gettysgurg was a huge win for us because last year it was a very challenging loss. Other games I’m proud of are the No. 3 Hope College and No. 10 Millikin University games because we held our own with top ranked teams of the country. Though we lost both matches, the way we played and the level of competition we reciprocated against these teams was very good.
AC: What are some team or personal goals for the rest of the season?
AE: Personally, I really want to work as hard to get as many kills as possible by the end of the season so I can hopefully be on track to reach 1,000 career kills by the end of my time at Swat. This is a pretty daunting task to picture so, for this season, reaching 300 total kills would be spectacular. As a team, it would be great to make it to the Centennial Championship!
AC: Do you have any pre-game or post-game rituals?
AE: I would say my pre-game ritual would be to take an amazing nap on the bus before away games then slowly begin waking up and getting excited for the game when we start playing hype or upbeat music on the bus just before we arrive.
AC: Do you have an athlete role model or someone in the sport you look up to?
AE: My favorite athletes growing up would always be the under the radar team players who were very reliable and executed their role. In my eyes for volleyball this usually would be a setter, libero, or an undersized, smart shot outside hitter. I really looked up to Morgan Hentz, Jenna Gray, and Megan McClure on the Stanford 2019 Women’s Volleyball team because of this.
AC: Why did you decide to play volleyball?
AE: I chose volleyball because while I did try out most sports when I was younger, I realized contact sports weren’t for me because I would be too hesitant to initiate contact. So, when I started playing volleyball for the first time, I really liked the way I could control my individual growth in specific skills but also have and contribute to a team.
AC: Why did you choose Swarthmore? What is your area of study?
AE: I chose Swat because of the community, location, and vibe. When I first visited, it was like nothing I imagined a college being like in the typical sense. While at first I was scared that may have been a bad sign, being here for almost two years now has proven that every quirk or anything that may run differently at Swat versus at another school are vital and extremely useful for my success as a student. I’m so lucky that I made the decision to come here because it has begun to feel like home. I’m currently studying economics and trying to decide on a minor because I have had the opportunity to try out so many different classes and cannot seem to pick which interests me the most.
AC: What is your favorite class that you’ve taken at Swarthmore?
AE: So far, a class I was very pleasantly surprised by was Pedagogy and Power: An Introduction to Education. I loved all the discussion points of the class and found it very interesting, but best of all was that as part of the class you get to work directly with kids in a field placement. It really brought a light to my day every time I would visit my elementary school because of the nostalgia of being a child but also because I got to experience and witness the joys of childhood as an adult.
AC: How has being a student athlete impacted your experience at Swarthmore?
It is definitely a significant part of who I am. I have built my strongest connections on campus with my teammates, but it also connected me to athletes on other teams and even athletic staff members. Sometimes it comes as a struggle, as it would be juggling any type of extracurricular, but it does pay off heavily as an outlet for having connections with people, playing a sport I love, and just getting a break from schoolwork itself.
AC: What do you like to do outside of school and volleyball?
AE: Outside of school and volleyball, I love to go on picnics in Crum Woods or on Parrish Beach and take in all the beauty that this campus offers while relaxing and taking a break from reality. I also enjoy dabbling in other sports when I find the time and proper competition. Finally, a recent discovery has been photography because I am taking Photography I: Foundations in Photography this semester and I find it very fun and entertaining, so maybe I’ll try to implement that more in my life after the class ends.
