What was the main reason that you decided to play at UTSA?

After my sophomore year in high school, I went to Serbia to play volleyball. So, I didn’t live with my parents. During my junior and senior year of high school, I lived with my sister. After high school there, you have to decide if you want to play pro or go to school. I mean it’s really hard to do both, and it would be really expensive.

I heard three girls went to school in America, and they told me about it. They said that volleyball is really good and the education is really awesome. So I decided my senior year of high school that I wanted to come here, and I literally did not talk to any other schools. But some lady that was my sister’s agent connected me with a coach here. She was an assistant coach in Serbia, and when she came home in January, I talked to her and gave her my CD. They decided that I’d be a good fit for UTSA’s program, and they offered me a four-year scholarship.

Why and when did you start playing volleyball?

I started playing volleyball when I was 12. I come from a really small town (Bileca, Bosnia), with a population of about 15,000 people, and, at that time, volleyball was really only a female sport. My dad played soccer, and so I was always really about sports and stuff. Volleyball being really the only home sport, I started playing volleyball.

What was it like growing up in Bileca?

It’s really different than here in America. We have a bunch of these coffee bars. There, after school, we can hang out with our friends. It’s not like here with Starbucks. You actually go to coffee bars and have conversation, or we would take bike rides down to the lake.”

What was the main reason that you decided to play at UTSA?

My family definitely. My friends and food. There’s nothing like specific about my hometown, I just miss it. But I think that coming here gave me a bunch of new opportunities that if I had stayed there, I wouldn’t have had the chance to experience, so I’m really glad I came here.

What was your favorite holiday to celebrate with your family?

Probably Christmas. A fun fact is that we celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7. It’s just like all the family gets together, and everyone goes to my grandparents’ house. For Christmas back home, we have a whole pig (cooked over a fire).

What do you want to do after you graduate?

I want to play professionally in Europe. I hope that I’m going to be healthy and stay in good shape, so I can play pro for a few years. I hope to play volleyball and possibly coach one day.”

If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

Right now? If I could go anywhere in the world right now I would go to Turkey because I want to visit my sister. She plays volleyball there. There’s a bunch of places I would like to go, but if I could pick one, I would go visit her.

If you could pick any movie scene to be in, what scene would you pick?

I don’t know. I watch a bunch of romantic movies, but my favorite movie is Lord of the Rings, all three parts. But I don’t know if I would pick a scene from there because I get scared really easily. I seriously have no idea. I don’t know, but it would for sure be something with Bradley Cooper because he’s really handsome and I love him.

How has your senior season differed from other seasons?

I think emotions are different because I am a senior, but expectations are always the same. I think I had the same expectations my freshman year that I have now, like winning, helping the team, giving my best and being the leader.

It’s just weird. Every year I would be like, ‘Oh, next year, I get to come back! I get to play again.’ But this year, it’s like, ‘two more months left, and that’s it.’ It’s an emotional season, I would say.