Athlete of the Month: Losino bumps the ball into new beach volleyball season

Every month, we recognize two student athletes, one from a boys team and another from a girls team, for their performance on the field. This month we recognize junior Cheyanne Losino. 

Losino, a first-time beach volleyball player, has been enjoying her first season in beach volleyball. Her journey has been a fun and educational experience, as she learns the ins and outs of the game. She has been playing regular volleyball for about five years until she began beach volleyball for the first time this semester. 

Question: What is beach volleyball?

 Answer: It’s a team sport, and you’re out on the beach. It’s two players per team. So the Birmingham team is like six people, but it’s broken up into individual groups of two that compete and you basically play volleyball in the sand. The rules are a little bit different, but it’s basically just volleyball in the sand.

Q: Have you played beach volleyball before? 

A: No. I’ve played recreationally, like for fun just on the beach with friends but I haven’t actually competed and played it before. 

Q: What is the biggest difference between beach and regular volleyball? 

A: The number of people probably. On a regular volleyball team, there’s six people on the court, whereas on the beach there’s two and then obviously, the court is hardwood normally but you’re playing on sand. The rules are a little different. So, you can’t do certain plays, otherwise, they’re legal. 

Q: What has been the biggest challenge this season?

A: I feel like consistency. It was a little hard because obviously the weather was really bad for the past couple of months. It’s really hard to play an outdoor sport when it’s pouring rain and really windy. That kind of made our team a little less consistent. We didn’t have as much practice as when we started. That’s probably a challenge. 

Q: Would you consider playing beach volleyball outside of school? 

A: Yeah It’s really fun, and I enjoy playing it. It’s really hard though so I guess with friends and stuff, I would play it but competitively no. 

Q: What has been your favorite thing about this season?

A: I liked trying something new. It’s interesting. It’s like a learning experience. My team is all figuring it out because this is the first year we’ve ever done it. So I think it’s just fun to try something new. 

Q: What is the best advice you’ve ever been given about playing volleyball?

A: I feel like attitude is everything. My coach is always like attitude is 90%, because the second you lose emotional stability and (lose) wanting to play and push yourself, your team starts to fail. It’s kind of like trying to remain positive even when you’re not doing as good as you want to do. That’s probably like the best lesson and I think it’s helped my team a lot to understand that your emotional standing and attitude does affect everyone around you. So try and keep it positive even when you don’t feel it. Just pretend. It really helps.