:10 Seconds with Brenna Peruch

What made you decide to come to Plymouth?

People always ask me this question when they hear that I’m from Arizona. It is really by chance that I even found out about Plymouth. Early in the recruiting process, I had a huge packet of D3 schools. I went through and highlighted ones that were in states that I was interested in living in, and then emailed over 200 of those coaches. After time, I narrowed itdownto8,andmyDadandItook a week to visit schools ranging from Iowa to D.C. I absolutely loved PSU and the team during my visit and I always wanted to go to college in New England, so I decided to make the leap and move across the country.

When did you start playing volleyball?

I started playing volleyball when I was 11 for my 5th grade school team, and I started playing club volleyball when I was 12.

How tough was the transition from high school/club volleyball to college volleyball?

I knew high school and club volleyball would be different than college volleyball, but the differences were not necessarily what I thought they would be. The most obvious difference to me is the amount of commitment that is involved in college sports. High school volleyball took up 10-12 hours per week, where as I now dedicate anywhere from about 20-30 hours per week to volleyball. This may include getting to practice early for treatment, actual practice itself, mental practice, weight room, individual meetings, tournaments, etc. However, the team made the transition easy, and for me it is definitely worth it.

Do you find it difficult to maintain good grades while playing a varsity sport?

Playing a sport can definitely make maintaining good grades a challenge. However if you manage your time wisely, it isn’t too difficult. The most difficult part is that I often have to miss class in order to go to away games. It’s important to communicate with your professors and discuss how to make up for any missed classwork.

What was your 'welcome to volleyball' moment?

My ‘welcome to volleyball’ moment was when I was in middle school. Like many other kids in middle school, I played a little bit of everything, including volleyball, soccer, softball, and basketball. Let’s just say if you saw me attempt to play basketball, you probably would never want to again. So as you can assume, volleyball was always my favorite and was the sport I was the most naturally talented in. From there I took that and ran with it.

What has volleyball taught you that nothing else could?

Volleyball has taught me that with dedication and the right mindset, you can make anything happen. When I was a freshman in high school, my coach talked to me about the possibility of moving me up to varsity. In my head I was thinking, “Wow, this is great, I am definitely going to spend the next three years on varsity.” Being on varsity in my high school meant you were going to really improve—my high school team has sent many girls to play D1 volleyball at pac-12 schools, and the coach at the time is now an assistant for Arizona State University. Unfortunately for me, he decided instead to move their outside hitter to libero, my position. That player is now the libero at ASU, if that shows how good she is. A team really only needs one libero and they already had a lot of returning defensive specialists. Because of this, I had to play JV through my junior year. This was extremely discouraging at the time, and I didn’t think I was going to be able to play college volleyball when coaches discovered this. However, I stuck with it and continued to play club and varsity the following year. This allowed me to have opportunities to play in college, which has always been my dream since I was 11.

What's on your pre-game playlist?

My pre-game ritual actually does not involve music because I don’t like to get too over-hyped for a game. However, my team gets really hyped when Turbulance comes on during our warm-up.

What do you think is your greatest volleyball accomplishment?

My greatest volleyball accomplishment is winning regionals in division 1 when I was 18. This was my last tournament of club, and it was amazing to end on such a high note especially right before coming to Plymouth to play.

How are you and the rest of your teammates preparing for the remainder of the season?

The team and I are preparing for the rest of the season by really focusing on our goals. We want to win LEC’s and go to NCAA’s. To do this, we are going to have to work extremely hard for the rest of the season. We have five in-season games left, three of which are conference matches, so we are going to have to especially work for those in order to have good placement going into post-season.

What's your favorite part about PSU?

My favorite parts about Plymouth are the people I have met here and the area. Coming from Phoenix, it is very interesting to live in a small town, and especially one in New England. It’s interesting to see the differences living on the other side of the country makes. There are so many differences here in New Hampshire, whether it be how houses look here, the fact that everyone is obsessed with the term “wicked,” the fact that people feel safe leaving their wallets and phones on the dining hall tables, or experiencing snow for the first time.