Senior outside hitter Alysia Fingall spoke with The Brown and White about her journey to Division I volleyball, achieving 500 career kills and the culture fueling the volleyball team this season. Her season goal: win the Patriot League Championship.
Can you walk through your background with volleyball and how your relationship with the sport began?
I’m from an athletic family, and my siblings played sports. So my younger sister played basketball and my older sister played volleyball, but I didn’t start playing until I was in eighth grade.
I was used to being on the sidelines when my siblings were playing, so I just picked up a ball, and that’s what I chose.
How did you end up at Lehigh? What’s the difference between growing up in Virginia and living in Pennsylvania for college?
At the time, I lived in Florida and I got recruited at a tournament. It was my junior year when schools started reaching out and I took a visit in April. I just really loved it.
It was really fast; I got a call and I came up in about a week. I loved the campus, loved the people, loved the community and I just felt really at home. The difference between Virginia and Pennsylvania, I’d say, is that it’s a lot smaller here. I’m from northern Virginia, which is bustling with cars, highways, everything.
How do you balance being a Division I athlete and your academics as a biology major?
I’d say time management. I definitely struggled my freshman year because in high school, it was easier. But coming into college, you have to learn about yourself — the ways that you study and everything.
Most of my time is planned for me. I know I have practice at 4:30 p.m. with lift after and I’ll be done at 6:30 p.m. So, that makes it easier for me to allot time to study or take care of myself.
How did it feel to reach the 500-kills milestone in the season opener, along with earning a spot on the Preseason All-Patriot League Team?
I actually didn’t know I was even close to 500-kills. I was at dinner and I got a notification that I was tagged in a post, so I was like ‘Wow OK.’ It was obviously really exciting. I feel like the big one is always 1,000-kills, so I was like ‘Dang, 500 my senior year.’ But, then I put into perspective that some people don’t even reach that milestone, so I’m grateful.
The Preseason All-Patriot League Team was very exciting, too. I’ve never been named to a team before, which has been a goal of mine for all four years here.
What are you personal goals and team goals for the season?
Personal goals would be to make First Team All-Patriot League and, of course, a championship. I feel like that’s the main goal. The team has a goal sheet with three spots and it’s just: PLC, PLC, PLC (Patriot League Championship).
Can you share a favorite memory or moment with your teammates that really captures the culture of this team?
I’d say our win against Army last year. Any time people come and watch us, they’re always like ‘Oh, you guys look like you’re having so much fun!’ I do believe we have fun every day, but sometimes we can miss the closing aspect.
But I felt like in that game, we not only had fun, but we were mentally checked-in to finish the game.
Outside of volleyball, what do you enjoy doing? How do you spend your free time?
I’ve been taking up sourdough. I got into it over the summer and since being here I’ve only made a couple, but I love to spend my time doing that.
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