Quinn Anderson: we’ve all heard her name, likely in the context of ‘Woah that sophomore Quinn Anderson on the volleyball team is crazy good’. Anderson is, in fact, a fantastic volleyball player, but her talent extends beyond the 60 by 29-foot court to the other aspects of her life. 

Anderson grew up around volleyball as her dad, Roger Anderson, has been coaching volleyball at WHS since 1999. Aside from watching the sport, attending camps, and even joining a Saturday practice or two, Anderson began playing volleyball on her first team, the Youth 12s team at Cmass Volleyball Club at just nine years old. 

Since then, Anderson has earned the following accolades during her career as a volleyball player: MAVCA All-State Player (9, 10), Worcester Telegram and Gazette All-Star (9, 10), Metrowest Daily News Superteam (9, 10), Midwachusett League MVP (10). Most memorably, Anderson was on the AVCA Phenom Watch List, inviting her to play in front of numerous college coaches during the NCAA Division I Semifinals and Finals. In addition to these accolades, Anderson finished her season with 301 kills, .274 hitting percentage, 239 digs, 56 aces, and 32 blocks all in just 66 sets played. 

So what drives her passion for the game? Well, Anderson says she loves three main characteristics of the game which volleyball has — complexity, infinite growth, and culture. 

“Anyone who says volleyball is easy is lying”, Anderson said as she explained how she loves the difficulty of the game. 

Tieing into that, she loves how there are an endless number of goals to strive for in volleyball; “if you hit the ball really hard one time, you can try to hit it even harder the next time”. The culture is also a strong draw for Anderson. “It’s like a family, we all strive and grow together”, she explains. Volleyball isn’t a game that one can play by themselves as you have 5 other teammates on the court and can’t touch the ball twice in a row. Anderson loves how one person can’t be the star and everyone is crucial to the team. With these factors motivating her, Anderson aspires to play Division I volleyball at a very competitive level.

Collegiate volleyball teams and players constantly motivate and inspire Anderson to work to be her best. A few players that Anderson admires are Cece McGraw, Stephanie Samedy, Dana Rettke, Lauren Stivrins, and Madi Kubik. Anderson also enjoys watching Texas, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Louisville, and Pittsburgh play their matches.

Throughout her extensive volleyball career thus far, Anderson has accumulated a great deal of memories. Both of her favorites were from this past season, fall 2021. The first, in Anderson’s opinion, was the Barnstable game. In previous seasons, Barnstable has always been a team that challenged Ranger Volleyball. The match is always greatly anticipated and competitive on both sides. Anderson fondly remembers the match as “hype” and even more so after the match, with the Rangers sweeping Barnstable 3-0. For the first time in Ranger Volleyball history, the Rangers defeated Barnstable–and in a clean sweep. Anderson recalls how ecstatic she and her teammates were ending the match with a ‘W’. 

The second moment Anderson shared was one that every Ranger volleyball player gets butterflies thinking about: State Semi-Finals match, third set, Rangers down 20-24. If the Rangers lost just one point before they reached 24, they would have to battle for a fourth set. “That game was crazy!” Anderson exclaimed, reliving a bit of the joy and adrenaline. “I just knew that Melissa and I wouldn’t let a single ball hit the floor so [Shannon] could go set it and Makenna or Christine or Grace or Julia could go kill it…I don’t think any of us ever had a doubt that we would win,”. 

This win meant that a dream of so many Ranger volleyball players would come true: playing for a State Championship. I think almost everyone remembers the shattered dreams and heartbreak following the match. As someone who actively engages with the connection between mind and body, Anderson is diligent about keeping her emotions in check pertaining to volleyball. The State Championship, though, changed things. 

“I remember the moment we lost, it was kind of like heartbreak”, Anderson said, “I didn’t think it was possible for us to lose,”. 

Anderson said she was in a state of disbelief for the afternoon but viewed the loss as an opportunity to grow by that night — an incredible response time considering this was a lifelong aspiration of Andersons. About 16 hours after the match, Anderson had to attend tryouts for her new club team, having to leave everything that just happened at the door. Upon returning home, the devastation hit. “I should have done this and this” Anderson kept commenting in her mind. She had to go through a grieving process before being able to turn her emotions into motivation. 

Anderson contemplated how the match affected her, but decided on “I don’t think I’m ever going to swing afraid again”. Walking away from the match with a loss, Anderson finds herself more confident and more willing to take risks. With that mindset, everyone better watch out for next season.

Outside of the volleyball court, Anderson identifies as a stellar student. She enjoys school because “I love working my brain and trying to solve problems”. That being said, her favorite class is 3D Art Foundations as it is both relaxing yet productive.

Anderson is very mature despite being young for her grade. She recognizes that she needs to work on prioritizing her time between what she needs to do and taking care of herself. This includes putting her phone down more often. Anderson wants to take her passion for health, sports, and psychology to become a physical therapist or a sports psychologist. But don’t mistake her — Anderson can be quite quirky as relayed by her one superstition: positioning during volleyball matches. 

If her team is stringing points together, Anderson says, “I am not moving. And if someone else moves, I will move them back”.

For fun, Anderson likes to color, organize, watch TV (New Girl, college volleyball, and anime), or be involved with anything volleyball-related. She also enjoys spending time with her friends and family, including her dad, mom, brothers Cole, and Bryce, or cats Piper and Zeke.

Anderson described herself as funny, intelligent, and extremely competitive. Speaking as her friend, I would also attest that she is also loyal, hardworking, and really enjoys life. She wakes up every day with a positive lens on the world. Anderson always replies with “good” when asked how her day was.

“There is good in every day,” Anderson explains, “and if there isn’t, then I will make the bad good.” 

Anderson requested that I conclude this article with this:

“Love you Rangers Volleyball” -Quinny