First-year athletes playing for the Riverhawks this fall said they look forward to the quick pace of college games compared with high school.
AACC has 46 new athletes playing fall sports this semester. Men’s soccer has 22 new players, women’s soccer has 14 and volleyball has 10.
“Just playing quicker all around, thinking quick, thinking before you get the ball,” said Jose Luis Rodriguez, who is a midfielder on the men’s soccer team. “You got to know where you want to go with the ball before it even comes to you.”
Men’s soccer head coach Nick Cosentino said the physicality of the game changes at this level.
“You have 17-year-old, 18-year-old kids playing against 22-year-olds,” Cosentino added. “It’s a pretty big difference.”
Emily Rodriguez, who plays libero on the volleyball team, said the competition changes in college.
“I feel like in high school [it’s] just for fun,” Rodriguez, a first-year nursing student, said. “You compete against good teams and you just want to get better for yourself.”
Volleyball head coach Tanecha Rice said the faster games and the more intense practices make a big difference for the athletes.
“I think the intensity of practices may be a little more than what they had in high school,” Rice added.