Episode #124: Sophie Scott

🎧  Sophie Scott | Resilience, Leadership, and the Grind of Division I Athletics

On this week’s Significant Coaching Podcast, Matt Rogers sits down with Sophie Scott, Senior Middle Hitter for Cal-Berkeley Volleyball, to explore what it truly means to be a student-athlete at the highest level. Sophie opens up about her journey through injury, recovery, and rediscovering her love for the game. She shares what what it truly feels like to play at the Power 4 level and dealing with all the things athletes just one generation before her never had to worry about:  NIL, social media branding, coast to coast conference travel, and the chaos of the Transfer Portal.

Sophie’s story is one of resilience, gratitude, and perspective—an inspiring reminder that success in college sports isn’t just about performance, but about purpose and perseverance.

This episode also includes a quick shoutout to former guest and friend of the show Coach Sue Webber, who introduced Matt to Sophie.

🎙️ Significant Coaching is hosted by Matt Rogers—author of Significant Recruiting: The Playbook for Prospective College Athletes and creator of The Volleyball Recruit’s Journal, available now at CoachMattRogers.com

Transcript

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Welcome back to The Significant Coaching Podcast. I'm your host, Matt Rogers. Today's episode is a special one. It's not every week that we get to flip the script and hear from a current division one athlete, someone who's living the grind, embracing the process, and carrying the weight of both academic and athletic excellence every single day. Sophie Scott is a senior middle hitter for Cal Berkeley volleyball in the a CC, And she brings us a rare and unique perspective. What it truly feels like to play at the Power four level and dealing with all the things athletes. Just one generation before her, never had to worry about to the extent they do today. The NIL social media branding, coast to Coast conference travel, and the chaos of the transfer portal. What stands out most about Sophie isn't just her talent, it's her resilience. She's battled through major injuries that would've ended many careers. Yet here she is playing her best volleyball as a senior. Her determination, discipline, and love for the game. Jump off the page in this conversation. You'll hear it in her voice. She's grateful, grounded, and fully aware of what it takes to get here. Sophie also speaks with deep respect and appreciation for her parents, her coaches, and every person who's helped her along the way. That humility, that perspective is exactly what separates good athletes from great ones. And before we dive in, just a quick shout out to Coach Sue Weber, a former guest and friend of the show for introducing me to Sophie. Sue, you were W right? She's the real deal. If you're a parent, a coach, or a young athlete dreaming of playing at the next level, this conversation is a must. Listen, and while you're at coach matt rogers.com, check out my book Significant Recruiting and the Brand New Volleyball Recruits Journal. A complete roadmap for prospective volleyball players to organize their recruiting journey, set goals, prepare for conversations with college coaches, and take control of their future in the game they love. Now, let's get into it. Here's my conversation with Sophie Scott. Sophie Scott, so great to see you. Thanks for being on the show. Thank you for having me. I'm very excited to talk today. We have a mutual friend, Sue Weber, and Sue said I needed to talk to you because you've had such a an eclectic experience, but a great experience at Cal, right? Yes. It's been amazing so far. Yeah. I have a teenage daughter and she's not playing volleyball anymore, but she played seven years of club and it just burned her out and she realized she wanted to put her energy towards other things. But this question I'm gonna start with, it really comes from that'cause I work with so many teenage girls. When did you know this was important to you to be a college athlete? I think it started, so I started playing volleyball in the fourth grade. I played basketball most of my life. And then from there I kinda did both for a little while and then I realized that I was much better at volleyball than I was at basketball, although I do love the sport. And then once I got into club, it was around age 12 I was playing up on higher teams than my actual age group. And then. Once I realized I was getting pretty good, I switched clubs to a more competitive club, and then after that, I think it was like my 14th year. My coach on my club team went up to my parents and was like, just so you know, there's college coaches on our court today watching Sophie. And I was like 14 years old. I had no idea what I was doing, and my parents told me and I was like, oh, maybe I'm pretty good at this and I should start taking it really seriously. And so from that point on, I did. And I'm always a very competitive person, so I just wanted to get better every day and push myself. And I realized I could do that and I realized I got pretty good. From there, it just took off. It motivated you? Yeah. Inspired you. Absolutely. Do you think if you wouldn't have heard that, that the coaches were there watching, do you think your path would've been any different? Honestly, no, I think I always knew that I really took sports very seriously no matter what I was doing. And I think whether or not there was a coach on my court at that time, I think I would've still wanted to pursue things'cause my whole club team like got recruited. So I think just being surrounded by a bunch of really, like other really good volleyball players just motivated me even more to, keep going with my career. What did being a D one athlete mean to you at 14, 15 years old? Do you remember that? Do you remember thinking about that and what that really, what was that idea like for you? Yeah it's so funny you asked that.'cause shortly after that whole short little story I just told before the rules had changed for recruiting we were allowed to talk to coaches on the phone. So in eighth grade, at age 14, I did hop on a call and I had no idea what I wanted. I was like, I am just a little eighth grader. I have no idea what I want in school or where I'm gonna go. But from there I just. Realized that it was gonna be really fun, and then they changed the rules. So I had to stop talking to coaches. But we went from there and I did all my own work on that end of it. And I started making videos and film and sending emails and stuff like that. So it just took off. Did you see D one as attainable in high school? Did you think that you were good enough? Did you understand? What the reality was when you got there. I think at first I did consider, like I talked to my parents and Sue obviously was a big help with this, but just being realistic and where my skill level was at and I didn't really know at first when I first started my process. So I reached out to as many schools as possible and I talked to as many schools as possible. I didn't really write anyone off, but then. When I started seeing bigger names and being excited about those things, I was like, oh wow. Like I could go to the top level with this. And from that point I narrowed things down even more. But I did see it as very attainable.'cause I was confident in my skill and I was surrounded by a really gr group of team teammates and coaches and everything. And people were realistic with me and honest with me about where I was at. And I was like, okay, here we go. I think this is where I'm at. Good. When you got there, when you got to Cal, it's it's, this is no walk in the park, in the classroom, is it? I can't, no, it's not, it's a very difficult school. It's very challenging. Obviously it's one of the, it's the number one public school. So it is, it's very hard and you're surrounded by. A million smart people. So it's super difficult, but it is really it's really rewarding at the same time. And I think being an athlete at this level, but also being a student at this level is just like such a unique experience. And I'm very grateful to be in this opportunity. But it is hard to balance sometimes, but I've been doing a pretty good job. All right. I want you to, I want you to think back those first five or six weeks at Cal because. You weren't, when you're a volleyball player, you're not a traditional student because you're typically there two, three weeks before all the other freshmen get there, so you don't get that prototype freshman orientation and that can be good and bad because you're really going into a sisterhood right away and you've got all these people that you get close to really quickly. But are there, was there one or two things that you were like either on the court, off the court, in the classroom. They were like, wow I don't know if I was ready for that. Was there a couple of those things? Yeah. Honestly I think going from club training to college training is very different.'cause with club volleyball. You practice three times a week. You do your own weightlifting and everything like that. Your nutrition, you don't, I don't even know if I thought about it too much in high school other than just let me eat a good meal before a game. And then I think coming to college and practicing every day and then going into two a days and lifting every day and having all these people and resources. My athletic trainer who can help me with treatment and my rehab and like all the resources that were like at my fingertips was definitely something that was like, whoa, that's really different and crazy. And I didn't know I had access to all of this. So that was definitely something that was pretty shocking when I first got there. And I was obviously it's good and I also had to adjust to it and everything like that. But then I think the other thing that. Was a bit of an adjustment and it was very different and it was good and bad. In my little freshman brain when I first got here, it was only having one class a day and then just doing volleyball or doing and then I was like, whoa, what else do I do with my time? And like trying to just navigate the college aspect. But then I have six readings I have to do for the next four hours. So it's it's very different than high school. And what you experienced before that,'cause you have, a full day of classes and then you do volleyball and you have maybe two hours of homework. So it's very different and you have to learn how to adjust your learning for that. I thought. So that was definitely something that was interesting for me. Yeah, that's cool. That's probably the hardest thing for any. Teenager to accept is the fact that, all right, no one's really paying attention to me anymore in terms of my routine and my schedule. I have to create that. If you could give some advice to yourself at 16, are there things you wish you would've started that you're doing now that you wish you would've said, gosh, that would've been easy for me to do that, and I would've been better prepared for college? I think honestly finding productive ways to do things with my free time is something that I could have prepared a little bit better because when you're in college, you have. You have free time. But like when you're an athlete, especially in season, you don't get that much free time and then you just wanna lay down, but then you, like you have stuff to do still. So I think learning how to be like, all right, I gotta get this, and this. Done super early on, like when I was 16 years old. I think that would've been a good skill to have. I obviously have learned that now, and I'm very happy with how I handle things, but I think having that, set routine, even when you do have your free time, of course you have time to relax and, do things for yourself, but making sure you get all your things done before you can just, let everything go, I think is a good thing to help you balance with everything going on in your life. And you probably. Would've told me something different two years ago, I would imagine, or probably would. Yeah. As a senior, and somebody's been through this and been through the gauntlet of what you go through, you've probably learned this is silly to keep making these same mistakes or not being more prepared for this and giving myself the free time that I actually want. Exactly. When you and I don't want to keep going backwards, but when you look back at yourself as a freshman versus now, what do you think has changed the most? That is a really good question. I feel like so much of my life and volleyball and school has changed. I feel like I've just had a lot of character development. Obviously I've gotten a lot better with my time management and, my communication skills. But I think the biggest thing that I would say would be like. My relationships with people and how I navigate those. And I've learned a lot of things throughout my time, not only just off the court, but on the court and with coaches and everything like that. Obviously over time I've grown to be more confident and be able to use my voice a lot more, and I'm very proud of that. Whether that's, navigating the tough conversation with one of my friends or having a tough convo with a coach or something like that, or even a professor. I think advocating for myself is something that has really grown for me and I'm very proud of myself for that.'cause obviously when you come in as a freshman, you're, a little small voice and you don't really know if you're too sure of yourself. And I think having that character development for myself is something I'm very happy about. I'm very proud of you too for that because it's probably the thing I regret the most about college. And trust me, I have plenty of regrets from college, but not building enough relationships and not nurturing those relationships. With professors and coaches and administrators, and because I had so many people that wanted to help me, and like you said, when you walk into college, it's amazing how many people you have around you that wanna help you succeed. And it's so important that you learn how to take advantage of them. I wanna dive more you, you said. About relationships, how you've grown in those relationships. Gimme an example of how you feel like you've grown and matured and how you create relationships and nurture those relationships. Yeah, I think I've had to have a lot of really hard conversations, not only in volleyball, but just in my life, and I think not shying away from those is really important. I know when I was, maybe a freshman or younger. I would try to avoid those conversations whether I was like upset with something with my coaches or my friends did something, or somebody in my life did something or I got a bad grade, but I thought I should get a different grade. I wouldn't necessarily be quick to advocate for myself with that, and I think. Being confident enough and sure enough of myself and the people that I'm talking to, to have a tough conversation and want to get the best out of it for both of us is something that I'm really proud of. And I've had a lot of those conversations in my lifetime whether that was with Playtime or even just my friends and I had a little disagreement, but whatever it was I've gotten really good at, knowing that those tough conversations can make the relationship with the people that you're having them with better. And I think being sure of that and. Always wanting the best for both people involved is how I go into it, even if it's a hard conversation. So yeah, I would think about that. Speaks volumes about your character and how you were raised, Sophie.'cause you've said twice now, thinking about both sides of the story. Thinking about how this other person is feeling, how they're going about it.'cause you and I both know,'cause I coached women for a long time at that, at your level. And I've got a daughter and I've got a wife. It's, boys have these problems too, but there's always that thing on girls teams where there's conflict that comes up and the more you don't address it, the bigger the problem gets. Absolutely. Talk to me about coaching. Yeah, because that plays a such a huge role in your development through college, because college is your opportunity to figure things out and fail a little bit before you get out in the real world, which you're getting closer and closer to every day, tell me about the coaching that you've gotten. Off the court from your volleyball coaches in terms of helping you become the person you wanna be and giving you the power and empowering you to be the person you wanna be. Yeah, I think. I've had an interesting experience throughout college. I've had several different full coaching staffs and that's been very interesting'cause I've taken a few different things from each one. My current coaching staff I'm definitely very close with. They've been amazing so far and I've really enjoyed my time with them. They've been here for two years now. And so they've been really great. But I think with that I do spend a lot of time with them off the court. I'm pretty close with all of them, especially my assistants and I think. They have just told me and my head coach is a female, and I think seeing, and then I have an assistant that's a female, and then I have two male assistants as well. But I think seeing. My female coaches, and this is nothing on my male coaches. I love them too. But seeing my female coaches in such a high place of power and have so much confidence and so much knowledge that I can learn from and life skills has been super awesome to watch. And I've had several really amazing female coaches in my lifetime. And. Seeing those women, these strong women that have so much to give to their players, but also just in their lives has been something that I've really tried to embody. And I really feel like I've picked up a little bit of everything from each coach I've had. And I think having those skills is really amazing. And, I just love, creating relationships with my coaches and I've had really good coaches from age 14 to 21. Just trying to take everything from a little bit a little bit of everything from each person has been really awesome. And yeah, I just, I think what I've learned the most is my confidence and just like I said, being sure of myself in all aspects of my life, not just on the court. Awesome. I'm so happy to hear that, that you've, and I played with for multiple coaches in college too. And that transition is so hard.'cause you made a commitment to one person and now they're gone. Yes, exactly. And now you gotta decide, do I stay here and try and build a relationship with a new coaching staff or do I go somewhere? And the fact that you stayed and you've built these relationships and you're in such a good place with your new coaching staff is really cool. Let's talk about freshmen. Let's talk about the newcomers. Okay. What role do you feel like you have on this team when new players come into the program? I think I try to be a big sister. I grew up with two older brothers and I had no sisters. But I think with being on a team full of girls, especially being the oldest on the team full of girls, I really do try to play a big sister. They know. And if you were to talk to my freshman, they would tell you this too. They know I always have their back whatev, whatever that is. I'll always have their back. They know that I'll take care of them. They know I'm a call away. I've picked up calls at any hour to come and help my freshman or pick'em up. Or you wanna go to the grocery store? You can go to the grocery store. I think I do that. But then on the court, I think I really push'em to be better.'cause I know that they can be. And I think just having them adjust to some. Obviously like the things that we talked about when you first come in and trying to give them as many. Tips and tricks and resources that they can just from me.'cause I've been through it and I know it and it's a little bit different than when you have an advisor or other people just like talking in your ear, oh, this is what you should do in college. I think having the person that's had that shared experience is really important and easy to talk to. So I definitely try to be that person that they can lean on in all aspects. And like I said on the court, i'll give them advice so that I can if they're playing and they're not doing a specific thing, I'll be like, oh, you gotta do this, and this. You got it. I'm with you here. I trust you. And that's one thing I always try to say to them when I'm on the court with them, is whether I give them feedback or not, it's just knowing that I'm there with them and I'm gonna do my job and they're gonna do their job for me and then we work together. And I think that's the biggest thing is just building trust with each other on the court. And then having those relationships off the court is also just as important. It's such a cool thing to be able to share the things you've learned and the things you know you struggled with when you start being a college athlete, and how much of what you're doing now as a role model and a leader is proactive compared to reactive when you were younger. Has that changed? Are you letting these freshmen know, Hey, practice today, I want you thinking about this or be prepared for this, or, this is gonna happen in this game and this is how we handle it. Yeah. Do you, are you feel like you're doing a lot more of that? I do think that is a common theme in my life. And also my coaches always use the, let's be proactive, not reactive. So I'm very familiar with that, but I do try to, help'em out as much as I can before we do something. But also I do think it's important to like, have them have those experience even if they do fail. And I can't save'em from everything, I can't always be there. So they'll have those moments where they'll have something challenging come up, but. Trying to prepare them as much as I can is what I like to do, but then if there does is something that comes up. I do try to. Help them with what we can do to solve that problem or what we can do to fix it. And I think just being on both ends of that is really important. Just in case I can't be there to prevent everything. You can't, and you know that's one thing you've learned as you've gotten, as you've gone through this. You can't fix everything, but if you can make their life a little easier and maybe save your guys from losing a set or a game that you didn't need to because you were proactive and that's how coaches think. That's how leaders think. So that's awesome. Talk about the Cal culture. I'm really intrigued by this.'cause people don't understand if they're not in the locker room'cause they see you on tv. And they see the stands are full and they're like, wow, this is on ESPN or this is on the a c network or whatever that may be. But they don't see when you walk off the floor and it's just you 15, 16 girls and your coaches in the locker room. And it's private and it's personal and it's loving and it's hard. What is the culture like at Cal? Yeah, I spoke about this a little bit, but me and my teammates are extremely close. I think of every single one of those as my family, and I wouldn't change that for the world. I know that's not very common on a lot of college sports teams, and I'm very grateful for that. There's not a single person on my team that I wouldn't be able to, spend a whole day with and have a great time. So I'm very grateful for that. And I think that goes back to the relationship building. As far as the coaches, like they have created a culture where it's all about hard work, but it's also about having our relationships off the court.'Cause it's not just a transactional thing, as much as it is a business and there's a lot of things that go into it that is business like so much of. College sports, you spend so much time with these people and you wanna have these great relationships. My, my coaches do nurture that as well. And so I think I'm in a very unique position because. They also value our school, which is super awesome. And that's a big aspect.'cause I mean we are at Cal, like it's Berkeley, it's a super intelligent school and that kind of goes into all the athletes at Berkeley as well. I've had conversations with other athletes where, as much as it is your sport, it's also a lot of school. I think just the culture overall for me and my team is we are so close and we go through everything together. If one person feels something, so does everyone else, and I think that's incredibly special. And it can be hard sometimes, but it can also be really rewarding. And I think sometimes what our coaches want from us is, we are super close off the court. And that does translate onto the court. But sometimes we do need to have those tough conversations that I've talked about and we don't wanna hurt feelings. But I think because we learn how to have those conversations, our team has become so much closer because we do know how to navigate these hard things. Or if something happens in a game or in practice and it's a little, snippy or whatever it is or there's a disagreement, we can have that tough conversation off the court. And I think that does, that's. That does contribute to why we are so close as a team. So I'm really grateful for every single person on my team and my coaches as well. You guys have had a hard season, you just had a, you had a big win last week at versus Duke, which is huge. Whenever you can beat another, another a CC school, and especially at a school with that reputation, what are some of the things that Coach Malcolm's doing for you guys to. Make sure you don't forget about who you are and you don't forget what that culture means. Are you guys having those conversations? Yeah. So we have three big values on our team that we emphasize every single day. And it's grit, discipline, and respect. And every single day in practice or in a game, we do the same thing where we yell out, we say three things that we did well. The process of those things. We are very process based.'cause like you said, we have had a hard season and at this point we kind of wanna focus on what's gonna get us there versus the result. And I think that is something that's been very valuable and that's been a shift in our mindset for our team halfway through the season. So we'll always say three things that are really, that we did really well, that are process-based. So you can't just be like, oh, we killed a bunch of balls. Okay, cool. What's the process of that? We have to go back to that just so we can remind ourselves what we're doing in practice every day to get the results that we want. Love that. And then we'll say two things that, yeah, I love that too. I think that's been a very valuable thing that we. Added to our whole mindset and everything like that. After that we'll do two things that we need to improve, also process based, and then we'll do three shout outs, but they have to be within our values, so respect, grit, and discipline. And that's those, doing those things afterwards I think has been really helpful for our team. And I know sometimes the result isn't always where we want it to be, but there's a lot of good things happening on our team and I do. I know I'm a senior and I'll be leaving after this season. But I do wanna leave my team with having that mentality and being focused on what we are doing to get the results that we want, even if they don't turn out to be exactly what we want. What are we doing for the process? And I think having that, especially during this hard season where we have had a lot of tough games and we have a lot of tough competition coming up for the rest of the season, I think it's very valuable to keep that mindset and keep pushing every single day in practice and in games. I love it.'cause it is hard. I've had those years, I've had years where I took a team to the national tournament and then the next year we lost our best player. And you can relate to this, where there was an injury and we went from, one of the top teams in the country to a team that was just trying to win a game. And it's, and it doesn't mean anything about the people that are there, it's just how life goes. Especially in college sports when you get to college. You can probably define grit. You can probably give it a definition. You can probably say this is what discipline means and this is what respect means to me. At what point did grit, discipline and respect start being more than words to you? Yeah, I think it really did come after my second injury. I think. Obviously I tore my ICL in high school and I was very young and I didn't really know how to navigate that. And that was a process in its own because it was so separate and I didn't have as many resources as I do now. But I think when I had to get a second surgery, I really had to make that decision in that moment if I wanted to keep going. And that goes into the grit. More than anything, I think. And I ended up having two more surgeries after that in my college career, I definitely know what grit is at this point. I think I've just, I've had to live it a lot and Yeah. It's not easy to come back from things like that. So It's easy to quit, isn't it? It is. It is. The easy way out would be to give up and I. I never made it easy on myself because I, that's just not who I am. And I do think all of these things, grit, discipline, and respect, all have to do with each other. And so like when I had that grit to keep going, I also had to be really disciplined in my rehab and in what I was doing. And my mental especially, I had to be really disciplined in that because if I let that falter, it's. It's not gonna be good for anyone and it's not gonna get me to where I want to go. That's right. And the respect part, like I had to respect myself enough to keep going and I had to respect the game.'cause obviously I don't think I would keep going if I didn't respect the game of volleyball at this point. So I think just keeping my head up and embodying those as much as it's oh, these are my team values. But I do see a lot of those in my life and I've had to. Embody that exactly. Within the experiences that I've had. So that's awesome because it's what you're going through day in and day out is hard if you were a division three athlete. But now you throw the Cal education and what you're doing in the classroom every day you throw the incredibly crazy travel schedule that you have. Oh yeah. Mean it's insane. No one in the history of sports has had to do what the a CC is doing right now in terms of going coast to play a conference game. And then you throw your injuries on that and it says so much about your character, Sophie, and your heart, and your grit, and who you are, that you're still doing this. Thank you. I appreciate that. It's true and it's obvious. Let's talk about love of the game. I'm writing about it this week because I've been thinking about it a lot. Has your love of the game changed in the last four or five years? Have you learned more about what it means to love the game? Yeah, I have. I think I have gained such a love and respect and. Appreciation for volleyball itself because of what I've gone through. And I think obviously, yes, I loved it while I was playing and it's been awesome. And then when it was taken away from me four times, it's, it gets you in a completely different mental space with the sport than it does if you just are playing it. And I think as much as the things that I went through were really difficult and really hard and w. Really took me for a spin, but they. It, it created such a unique experience and I am almost grateful for the experiences that I've had because I do see the good in the things that I went through because I am so grateful for every single day that I get to step out there and be healthy and touch a ball. That's something that I've always talked about going through the things that I went through, is I try to give that appreciation and perspective to the people that are around me.'cause obviously some days you wake up, oh, I don't wanna practice today. Oh, I'm tired. Oh, I'm sore. And I'm like, you get to practice today. You get to touch a ball, you're physically able to run, jump, cut, do whatever you can. And that is such a unique opportunity that so many people. Might wish that they could be in. I spent so much time sitting on the sideline just because I was forced to due to my injuries and just watching the sport and being like, oh, I wish I could be out there like itching to be out there all the time, I think has just made me. Love the sport so much, and I truly don't know what I would do without it. I don't know what I would've done if I ever gave up. I think I would never forgive myself. So I'm really proud of myself that I kept pushing, even though it's been several big injuries. But, I just I love volleyball more than anything. And I know I'm not just a volleyball player. I know there's more things to me, and I see that perspective as well.'cause sometimes people are like, Sophie there's more to life. And I'm like, no, I know. But I do love volleyball. It's just so much and it's something that'll always be such a huge part of my life and I'm really grateful that I have had the opportunity to play it well. This is coming from somebody who's in their fifties. It's still one of my great regrets'cause I got hurt after my sophomore year. Yeah. And it was pretty bad injury. My shoulders were a mess, my back was a mess, got in a car accident and I was in so much pain that it was taking away. My, my mind process about why I love the game. I attach too much of my identity to being a basketball player and I felt like that was being taken away, so I was losing my identity and I just couldn't deal with it emotionally. So I want you to know when you're my age, you're gonna be so darn proud of yourself and you're gonna be so thankful'cause. Now I'm every day. There's probably not a week that goes by that I don't go. I wish I would've just stuck it out. I wish I wouldn't have worried about being the starter, being the major stat producer, being the person on the floor all the time. I wish I would've just remembered how much I enjoyed being with that team and being a part of the game. So it is such a huge compliment to you. That you've continued to do this and you're thinking about doing it some more next year, right? Yes, I am. So we're gonna dive into that in the next episode. We're in part two, but I wanna talk a little bit about where you're at emotionally with that. How much of playing next year is I've got a year. I'm like you said, I love it. I'm gonna keep playing, and how much of it is I'm finally getting over this injury. I'm finally starting to be myself again. And I wanna see what love I can get to. I wanna see what my potential is. Where are you at with your mindset with that? Yeah. Of course like you said, it is my love for the game. I wanna keep going. I get an extra year. Yes, it was due to injury, but why not take it and why not keep playing the sport that I love as long as I possibly can. So that's obviously part of it. That's a big part of it. But I agree with you. It is, I just got back. I feel the best I felt in years, and I'm fast, I'm explosive, I'm strong. I wanna see where I can get, because, when you go through the injuries, there's always the moments of oh, I could have been so good if I never got hurt. I've gone through four now. Might as well keep going and might as well see how good I can be. I that's always, it's a little bit, like I said, I'm a competitive person. I wanna push myself and see how good I can really get. So I just wanna keep going. That's so awesome and I'm so glad you have the opportunity. It's, and I'm gonna be following you wherever you go after this year and I know you're gonna do great things. You've got such a big heart. Let's talk a lit. Let's finish this segment up. Talking a little bit about Sophie, the coach. Do you feel like you've become a coach on the floor? I think there's aspects that I do think can be coach-like, but I try not to. I try to be a teammate first, and I think that's always where I'm at. Yes, I am older and I have more experience on the team and I do give things to my teammates as much as I can, but I do think that it's important to not cross a line when you're a teammate because there is things that like. You just don't know as well as your coaches might. And I think it can get complicated, especially in sports. People can get rubbed the wrong way if you coach'em too much. But I do think, like with my younger girls and the girls in my position or especially my freshmen, I do try to like give them feedback on what I see and they are very receptive to it because they know that I have that experience. And I do think that is a good relationship to have. And I do think you know it. Like I said, if I do give feedback. Hey, you need to press on the block. Dive back into me. I'll make sure to close your seam. I got you here. It's a two-way street, I think is how I try to do it if I am coaching or having that like coach-like aspect. So I think it's more so not so much coaching, but making sure that we're both doing our job and we have that trust. I love that. Is it different that you're a middle compared to a setter or a Liv? Yeah, I do think it is different. Middles play a unique role on the team, obviously. What I've been told before my coaches actually made a little booklet of what each position kind of entails. And the middles are called the workhorse is what they called it. Which is very true. We do a lot of jumping, we do a lot of cutting and running, and we're up on every place. Yeah, you're everywhere. We are everywhere. And so I do agree that we are the workhorse, but I do think middles play an important role because you are not expected, but they want you to touch as many balls if the other team is hitting as much as possible. And that's really important'cause then the people behind you can get a better pass or a better dig and or we get a block. And it just helps the offense a lot more. So I think being a middle. Especially a senior middle. It does play a big role on the team because, they expect me to get a touch. They expect me to kill ball, and that, that's, I like that pressure. I don't shy away from it, but I do wanna perform as well as I can for my team. I do think it plays a unique role and I do think people do listen, especially at the front with my pin blockers next to me. If you watch a game, you'll see me, I talk, I turn around and I talk to them the whole time right before the play starts. Yeah. So I think there's a lot of trust in a lot of respect built into those relationships. When I'm up there with my pins and then my back row, you'll see me talk to my lib and I'll be like, oh. This and this. I'm gonna do this. And she'll be like, great, I'm gonna do this behind you. I got you. So I do think having that strong voice and like talking to the people around you on the court is really important as a middle. And I think that's been something that I try to embody whenever I'm out there. Love that. What do you wanna do after you're done with school and after Done with father? I would love to go into sports marketing. I'm from Portland, Oregon, so I would love to work at Nike. That's been my dream. Wake. Alright. Nike execs. Let's start paying attention here. Exactly. We got a superstar. Hi Sophie. No, I would love to work there. I, I. I got Jordan on my wall here. I got a whole shoe rack over here of a million shoes. I would love to, be at that. I wouldn't be opposed to working for a sports team either. I just know I wanna stay in the sports world just because I've grown up around it. I've played it and I want to just stay in it. Seeing where that takes me after college. I think that would be really interesting. And I'm hoping that there's really good opportunities coming my way, so I'm gonna keep working on it. You're built smart you'll do great in that world. I wanna do a little rapid fire with you. Just some quick questions so the audience and all your teammates can giggle a little bit and let people get to know you a little bit. What's your go-to pre-game meal? Normally pasta. Any pasta of any sort.'cause I like to carb load, but then a little bit of protein too. But definitely pasta is coach. Is coach detailed like I was that we eat four hours before the game and things like that. Yeah. If we have a seven o'clock game, we'll eat at three. Yeah. Yeah. Love that. Song that gets you locked in before a match. Ooh. I'd say Hustle and Motivate by Nipsey Hussle. All right. It's a really good song. Love that song to check that one out. All right. Favorite way Jim to play in and why? Ooh, it's so interesting you ask that.'cause I've played in Pac 12 and now I've played in a CC I, I really do like Oregon Shim. I think it's awesome. I grew up watching the games there, so that's really awesome. Love that arena and then. USC is also really fun to play in. I would say USC is a really cool arena. Is it? Yeah. That's cool. It looks cool on tv. Yeah. Yeah. I just, I love the energy of all their, all those schools are so cool. Yeah. Yeah. Aren't they so cool? The fan? It's a different vibe. Yeah. The lights and the arena and the spirit. It's so cool. Yeah. Yeah. Toughest hitter blocker you've had to go up against. That's a good question. I would say, okay. Washington State, a few years back, my freshman year, Magda was the, I think she still holds the record for the amount of blocks in, in all of the ncaa, so she's just a phenomenal blocker. She was at Washington State and tough to get a ball pass. She was really good at her job, so found out her, she was amazing. Do you find yourself watching, when you know you're going up a player like that, do you find yourself watching a little extra film trying to find the weakness or a flaw? Yes. I try to see where could I, where's that hole that I can hit you, right? Yes. Where's the open court that I can find? Yeah, no, definitely. I try to do that a lot. What's a classic Cal that has surprised you in a good way? I would say I'm in a television studies class right now and I really enjoy that because. This sounds dumb because you're like, you go to Berkeley, you do all these hard things. We watch TV for our homework. So I've actually really enjoyed, obviously we write essays and do all these other things about them, but like my homework is literally come home and watch the show. Like one of the other week my homework was. To binge watch an entire season. Like I like, I dunno, it's so funny. So that was surprising. You just did an infomercial for kids and why they need to go to college exactly. There's so many fun things like, yes, it's hard, but there's so many fun things you can do. So it's awesome. What have you learned in this class that's got, that's kinda surprised you? Honestly just like the, like intentionality behind what these shows are doing. And it's like you watch these kind of passively sometimes or like you're like, you'll get involved in a show, but they're very intentional. Like the companies and the networks are very intentional with when they air them, how they air them, what their content is, how long the episodes are. So it's just been interesting to learn about that and how it's like really, actually very intentional. Sounds perfect for your sports marketing future that It is. It's great. Yeah. Love. It's been great so far. That's great. Favorite spot on campus to study and chill. I really like Mezo. So there's this restaurant called Mezo. It's got sandwiches in salads and soups, but they're like this big, but they're delicious. Every single one. But they have all these tables inside, but then they have a back patio that's really cute. And so sometimes me and my teammates will go grab a sandwich and then go sit in the back patio and study and do things like that. And so that's been really cute. Love that spot. Awesome. Yeah. Awesome. The teammate, most likely to become a coach someday. That's. Oh, I would say my freshman, Annmarie O'Gara, she, her parents, I, her mom is like a fitness instructor and she just has that she has that little vibe. So I think it'd be her. She's bossy. Let's say it. Yeah. She's a little, she has a little attitude, but it's okay. You gotta have an attitude if you're gonna come. You gotta, you have to. It's so funny. So I love Annmarie. She's like my little sister. I we joke around a lot. It's awesome. That's awesome. Best piece of advice a teammate has given you. That's a tough one. Or a coach doesn't have to be a teammate, I think. Just keep going. And I've heard that from teammates and coaches and everything, and I think that's something that I think about a lot just because, like I said, what I've been through has been hard, but in all aspects of your life, you can always keep going and there's ceilings to break every time you keep. Doing different things, and I think just reminding yourself that there's good things coming, whether you're in the thick of it or you're in a great spot, there's always gonna be more things coming good and bad. So you just gotta keep going. It's, the great thing about being on a team is there's always somebody reminding you that you have value. And you're important. And you're necessary, right? Absolutely. Yeah. We all need so much more of that, so I love that too. Is there anything you miss about high school and club volleyball? I do think the club tournaments were really fun just because like you play like you can play anywhere from four to six games in a day and that's like crazy to think about now because like I feel like I'm old and like I'm like, oh, I gotta do an hour warmup before I sit on the court. But it's just so funny how I used to be like, oh, let me just do a quick little stretch and now I'll play like six games in a row. Like it's just so funny. So I do miss that aspect. And those were just like. So fun with my little club team, and obviously it was like two outta three sets, not three outta five. So it's a little bit shorter games, but those tournaments were so fun. I've been to a lot of those. I'm glad you, I'm sure you have. I know you, you and I were commiserating about your Michael Jordan poster that we share on your wall. If you were playing volleyball, what sport would you be playing? Basketball. Basketball probably. I love the sport so much. My dad played in college. I. I go to all the games here. I watch a lot of NBA games. Yeah, I was at I was literally at the women's basketball game last night. My roommate's a women's basketball player. Like awesome. And I do love the sport a lot. So definitely that. Where did dad go to school? He went to UDub Washington for the first year. He played there and then he transferred to a smaller school, Willamette University. And he played there Willamette? Yeah. I almost took the coaching job at Willamette. Many. Really? It was beautiful there. Yeah that's a great, that's awesome. That's a great environment. That's so cool. That's so funny. What has your mom and dad been like for you through this experience with all your injuries and everything you've gone through? How important is that relationship to you? My parents are my rock. Like I, I would not be where I am without them. My mom is a tough cookie. She is the strongest woman I know and she, she is an Italian woman from New York, so you can imagine she, she keeps me in check. She doesn't let my head hang ever no matter what I'm doing. And, she gets, that's where I get a lot of my confidence as well and my personality. And people like to say my attitude too. So I get that from my mom and I'm so grateful for her for that. And my dad is like my best friend. He is just the sweetest person I've ever met in my life. And he is the biggest heart. And I, they're such a good balance of each other and they mean the world to me. And I, like I said, I wouldn't be where I am and I. I take little aspects of both of my parents and I try to embody that as much as I can. Yeah, and it's so cute how much they've invested in my volleyball and invested in just me as an athlete. Like whatever it was always, my parents are gonna be there no matter what. Like my dad took, I remember when I first started playing volleyball, he was watching YouTube videos about. The different rotations and positions and everything like that. And it was just so cute.'cause obviously when I played basketball he knew everything like he was my coach. So it's different. My mom still doesn't know everything about volleyball, but she will cheer her heart out, so that's great. Absolutely. My mom's been like team mom for 20 years.'cause I had my older brother's played sports too, so she's been. Did all the meals and did all the extra things. They've been so involved and I'm obviously very fortunate to have that experience with my parents and I'll forever be grateful for them and everything that they've taught me. And I can't ask for a better support system than those two. Fantastic. And you can tell dad, I can commiserate with him about watching the YouTube videos to figure out rotations. I was one. Perfect. I was one of those volleyball dads too. There we go. Now he'll be like, oh, you're in row one now. And I'm like, yeah exactly. How many rotation, how many substitutions do I have? Yes. Literally. He's so funny. So impressed with you, Sophie. I'm, we're gonna come back, we're gonna do another segment. We're gonna share your recruiting history and what's cool is we get to talk about your recruiting history and then we get to talk about your recruiting experience that you're going through now.'cause it's completely different. So come back for segment two. But so glad we got to talk and I'm I'm so happy for you that you get to keep doing this thing you love. Thank you so much. This was awesome. I really appreciate it. What an awesome conversation with Sophie Scott. You could hear it in her voice. The maturity, the gratitude, the love for her teammates, her coaches, and the game itself. It's easy to talk about wins and stats, but what stood out most to me was her resilience. Her ability to fight through adversity and still find joy in the process. That's what college athletics is really about, learning who you are, who you can become, and who's been in your corner along the way. Sophie's story is a great reminder that behind every great athlete are great people, parents, coaches, teammates, and for her athletic trainers and doctors and physical therapists who choose to believe even when things get tough. If you're a parent or a young athlete listening today and you want to take ownership of your journey, head over to coach matt rogers.com. You'll find my book Significant Recruiting and the new Volleyball Recruits Journal, a powerful guide designed to help volleyball players. Build confidence, stay organized, and navigate the recruiting process with clarity and purpose. And of course, a big thank you again to Coach Sue Weber for introducing me to Sophie. Make sure you come back on Monday to hear part two of my conversation with Sophie, where we'll dive into Sophie's recruitment journey outta high school and her present recruitment journey into the portal to finish her fifth year at a new program. Until next time, stay focused on what you can control. Stay humble and keep chasing. Significance.