Indiana University Athletics
Catching Up With Erica Short
5/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
May 14, 2009
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Former IU Volleyball player and 2008 All-America honorable mention Erica Short returned to the States this week after playing her first season of professional volleyball down in Puerto Rico for the Gigantes de Carolina.
Short and the Gigantes finished the regular season in fourth place of the 10-team league with a record of 12-10. Once in the postseason, Short led her team into the semifinals before falling to the top-seeded team in five games of the best-of-seven series.
IUHoosiers.com recently gave her a call to catch up and see how things went in Puerto Rico...
What are your plans now that the season is over?
"In a week I am heading to Minnesota to play on an adult national team. Coach Schunzel asked me if I wanted to play and I said yes. There are girls from all around the world playing and actually two girls I played against down in Puerto Rico are going to be on my team. So I know them and are close to them, it's going to be really, really fun."
"I am then coming back to school for the second summer session and will finish up in the fall (Short intends to graduate with a degree in Therapeutic Recreation)."
What are some things that you learned while playing for Coach Dunbar at IU that helped you 1)get to the pro level and 2)play well once you've got there?
"Coach Dunbar taught me to always give it 100-percent and to never let up. She also taught me the importance of setting goals so that you always have something to shoot for, something to work for.
Playing again professionally next year or planning to pursue something else?
"Yeah, I want to play again. The current owner wants me back next year but he is planning to sell the team. He said he will refer me to the next owner though since I can play multiple positions, so hopefully I'll be back in Puerto Rico."
What do you miss most about Bloomington and IU?
"I miss my friends. It will be huge to come back and be able to see them every day again. I'm very excited for that."
We see you wore No. 15 for the Gigantes, the same number you wore at IU ... any significance to why you wear 15?
"I've had that number ever since I was in junior high, so it just stuck with me."
How was the adjustment of moving to Puerto Rico?
"It was actually really easy. It was really humid so when I got there I was really hot. I had jeans on, a long-sleeve sweatshirt, but it was really easy to adjust besides the language. Food wise, we had everything down there that we have in the States. If I didn't feel like eating Puerto Rican food, then I didn't have to. So that was nice."
Who were some of your friends on the team and what did you guys do for fun off the court?
"Rachel Hartman, who played for Minnesota and was my roommate. Also Kylie Atherstone from Cal-Poly and Diane Copenhagen who came and played with us for about a week, she was from USC."
"On our days off we would go to the beach and just hang out or go out to eat, go sight-seeing. One day, our owner got us a resort and we enjoyed ourselves that day, just being away from the house and getting away for the day."
