It was a bit of culture shock for freshman Bianca Arellano to come to Knoxville, but she is adjusting well to the laid-back mentality of the southeast.
“It’s a lot more country, but that’s what I wanted,” said Arellano. “I wanted a different culture and get to experience it. But, it’s definitely different from Phoenix and the Southwest.”
Arellano is a highly-touted freshman for the defending SEC Champion Lady Vols volleyball team. The Phoenix native was the 2012 Arizona Gatorade Player of the Year and a 2011 second team AVCA Under Armour All-American.
Head coach Rob Patrick is excited about what Arellano can bring to the Lady Vols.
“She is a great athlete,” Patrick said. “She’s a real smart player and a great volleyball player. She is somebody that can really affect matches in a lot of ways.”
The Lady Vols are coming off a 2011 season where they went 28-4 with a 19-1 in the SEC. They made it to the second round of the NCAA tournament before being knocked out by Ohio State in five sets.
Patrick is optimistic about Arellano’s ability to have an immediate impact on the team this year as they try to repeat their success from last season.
“She does a lot of things that can help,” said Patrick. “She is working her way into what we need her to do in regards to the tempo of the offense. It’s like a quarterback in football; very few freshman quarterbacks come in and are great right away it takes a little while for them to get comfortable with their receivers. So she has to get comfortable with our hitters, the speed of the game. She is getting better and better every practice, so I am very excited about that.”
Arellano has already seen action in all 13 of the Lady Vols’ matches this season and had a breakthrough game against Cincinnati on Aug. 25 where she had 18 assist, 2 digs and a .500 hitting percentage. She followed it up the next week with seven digs against Wichita State on Sept. 2.
The freshman has an excellent mentor in sophomore Mary Pollimer, who shined as a freshman for the Lady Vols last season and was named the 2011 SEC Freshman of the Year.
“Being right behind Mary is good,” Arellano said. “She’s set a good example for me and to have her back me up helps. She was a freshman playing here last year, but yeah I want to be ready and come in an play so when I get my chance in the game I am ready for it.”
Being a part of the Tennessee tradition was important to Arellano, as well as getting the exposure the school gives her.
“I love the teammates,” she said. “The coaching staff has really been important and strong in the environment. You see how many fans we get, the feel for it, being a Lady Vol is what really drew me in.”
The Lady Vols will look to Arellano to help the team and bring another SEC Title to Knoxville.
“We just have to keep working with her to be more consistent,” Patrick said. “The biggest thing with freshman is their consistency, that’s what she is working on just like all of our freshman. Even Kelsey Robinson as a freshman had to work on her consistency. That is something that will come with more repetitions and play. But, I am very happy with where she’s at right now.”
