Jacy Diaz, ’26, was recently awarded Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) Defensive Player of the Week for the fourth time since she started playing for the women’s volleyball team. She received the honor after the Gators’ recent four-win sweep at the Great Lakes Crossover on Aug. 31.
Diaz has been playing volleyball for 13 years and has been with the Gators since her freshman year. She has received a number of honors for her performance, the most memorable for her being the Academic All-American honors. She was the first volleyball player to receive the honor at Allegheny in over two decades. Just last year, she was named PAC’s Defensive Player of the Year, and she was the first Gator in 23 years to do so.
“All the work I’m putting in, it’s worth it,” Diaz said. “I open my Instagram and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, that’s me!’”
She said her family is her biggest motivation; when she wants to stop, she remembers how much her family pushed her to get here. She loves her parents, and besides her dreams of being a pharmacist, her hope for the future is that they are proud of her. She wants the work her family put in to be paid off, and her success is proof of that to her.
Although she’s a recognized volleyball player, she puts an emphasis on her schoolwork.
“One thing I’ll say is going to office hours and doing my homework early is really helpful,” Diaz said. “When school starts, I can’t think about volleyball.”
Separation is really important; to Diaz, her title is not student-athlete, but rather student and then athlete. She has been just as recognized for her academics as she has for volleyball. She was included on the PAC 2022 Academic High Honor Roll, and she was a Distinguished Alden Scholar in 2023.
Diaz is currently captain of her team, a role she has held since last season. Since her freshman year, she really believes she has grown as a person and as a player. She cherishes being a leader on her team and said that being in that role has really changed how she reacts to situations. She says a lot of her confidence comes from that.
“I’m not just a good player,” Diaz said. “I’m a good person.”
While thinking about her success as a player, she said that she did not think she would make it this far. She is afraid of seeming self-centered when, in reality, she said she does not set high expectations for herself in the first place. She loves volleyball, and she knows she’s good at it, but she plays it to have fun.
“I’m proud of myself,” Diaz said. “But I didn’t know where I was going to end up. I just wanted to do good. I don’t set high expectations, and I think that’s one thing I’m good at. I don’t want to be sad, I’d rather be surprised.”
Before her volleyball career, Diaz played softball. When she went to middle school, she decided volleyball was more fun, and she is really shocked at how far she has gotten with it.
If she could explain her sport to someone who’s never even heard of it before, she thinks it compares a lot to the feeling of dopamine. She describes it as a really happy feeling, like when she would get a “kill,” but then immediately she needs to be focused on the next play. She relates it to real life; people can have emotions, but it is important to focus on what comes next.
In a lighter and funnier description, she thinks it is a lot like the game “hot potato.”
“Just don’t let the ball hit the floor!” Diaz laughed. “I just came up with that.”
As a captain, she has a lot of advice for incoming and new students.
“Just be a better human,” Diaz said.
She relays her strategy of not setting super high expectations because every moment is a learning experience. She wants new students to know that they are still discovering themselves and that that is exactly what they are here to do.
Diaz intends to go to medical school after graduation next year. Her dream is to become a pharmacist, but she doesn’t want to stop playing volleyball. If she could be doing both, she thinks she would be living her dream. “Volleyball is my passion,” Diaz said. “I don’t want this to be an end. I want to reach my goal of playing professionally. When it comes to the ‘future future’ I want to be adventurous.”