As fans, we sit in the bleachers and cheer on our team. But at increasing levels of competition, we grow farther apart from the players on the court and know less and less about them other than what we see when they compete. I wanted to bring a little bit of that personal experience to the Case Western Reserve University volleyball team, so I asked each player a few questions. Here are their responses. Answers have been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.

First-Year Players

Name: Marlee Dingle

Hometown: McFarland, Wisconsin

Major: Biomedical engineering

Position: Middle hitter

Strengths: Cheering team on while recovering from injury, positive, pro water bottle filler

Weaknesses: Still healing ACL, not being able to jump well because of [said] ACL, being short, bad depth perception

Favorite Place to Eat Near Campus: Local Taco Shop in Tomlinson Marketplace

Fun Fact: “I miss Culver’s.”

Name: Jana Giaquinto

Hometown: Knoxville, Tennessee

Major: Biomedical engineering

Position: Outside hitter, defensive specialist

Strengths: Positivity, communication, card tricks

Weaknesses: Sweating too much (gets in eyes), bad hearing

Favorite Place to Eat Near Campus: Naan

Fun Fact: “I love the mountains.”

Name: Bailey Hagedorn

Hometown: University Heights, Ohio

Major: Chemical engineering

Position: Outside and right side hitter

Strengths: Smart attacks, court awareness, unwavering team spirit

Weaknesses: Defense, serve-receive passing, controlling nerves during big matches

Favorite Place to Eat Near Campus: Luna Bakery & Cafe, Mama Santa’s

Fun Fact: “I’m a native Clevelander.”

Name: Anna Jaskoviak

Hometown: Aurora, Illinois

Major: Biomedical engineering (“at the moment”)

Position: Outside hitter

Strengths: Communication, consistency

Weaknesses: Timing, making fast adjustments, not getting a lot of sleep

Favorite Place to Eat Near Campus: Kenko

Fun Fact: “I miss my dog (Peanut) and my family.”

Name: Katie Kaminski

Hometown: Centerville, Ohio

Major: Psychology

Position: Middle blocker

Strengths: Loyalty, calm in stressful situations

Weaknesses: Procrastination, adjusting to change

Favorite Place to Eat Near Campus: Simply Greek

Fun Fact: “I miss my dog (Scout)… and Bill’s Donut [Shop].”

Name: Jiayi “JJ” Shen

Hometown: San Jose, California

Position: Setter

Strengths: Good listener, motivated

Weaknesses: Hard of hearing sometimes, very blind without contacts

Favorite Place to Eat Near Campus: Melt Bar & Grilled

Fun Fact: “I’ve never seen snow in a normal setting.”

Name: Alara Sutcu

Hometown: St. Louis, Missouri

Major: Biomedical engineering

Position: Defensive specialist

Strengths: Memory, nice

Weaknesses: “I can’t remember.”

Favorite Place to Eat Near Campus: Mitchell’s Ice Cream

Fun Fact: “I’m good at puzzles.”

Name: Fabiola Torres

Hometown: Gurabo, Puerto Rico

Major: Biomedical engineering

Position: Right side hitter

Favorite Place to Eat Near Campus: Mitchell’s Ice Cream

Fun Fact: “My family [in Puerto Rico] is good, and I miss Puerto Rican food.”

Second-Year Players

Name: Karley King

Hometown: Clarence, New York

Major: Biomedical engineering

Position: Outside hitter

Strengths: Intelligence and competitive spirit

Weaknesses: Tracking the ball, predicting where hitters and servers place the ball

Favorite Place to Eat Near Campus: Costco Wholesale

Name: Samantha Rodriguez

Hometown: Indianapolis

Major: Biology and medical anthropology

Position: Middle and right side hitter

Strengths: Supportive teammate, pushes others hard in practice

Weaknesses: Back row defense

Favorite Place to Eat Near Campus: Euro Wafel Bar

Fun Fact: “I’m a sister of [Sigma Sigma] Sigma.”

Name: Haley Sims

Hometown: Moon Township, Pennsylvania

Major: Biomedical engineering

Position: Middle hitter

Strengths: Watch opposing teams and learn to hit the ball where there are openings, respect what teammates say

Weaknesses: Defensive play, need more agility

Favorite Place to Eat Near Campus: Barrio

Fun Fact: “I lived in Shanghai, China for three years.”

Name: Christine Tamura

Hometown: Honolulu, Hawaii

Major: Structural engineering

Position: Defensive specialist

Strengths: Sleeping and eating

Weaknesses: Public speaking and circuits

Fun Fact: “I am obsessed with my little [dog] Chloe, and I FaceTime her at least [two times] a week.”

Third-Year Players

Name: Karina Bondelid

Hometown: Oxnard, California

Major: Biochemistry

Position: Defensive specialist (“I get hit in the face as my job.”)

Strengths: Digging myself out of mental holes, great sarcasm, 4.0 GPA student

Weaknesses: [I] internalize and bring myself down, don’t get sleep, can’t communicate very well (“So Noel speaks for me.”)

Favorite Place to Eat Near Campus:The Inn on Coventry (“only with Noel.”)

Fun Fact: “I live on the beach in California, and I’m a math supplemental instructor.”

Name: Noel Jeansonne

Hometown: Kingsport, Tennessee

Major: Biomedical engineering

Position: Defensive specialist and libero

Strengths: Really driven, talk a lot

Weaknesses: Overthink a lot, consistency

Favorite Place to Eat Near Campus: The Inn on Coventry

Fun Fact: “My family has 60 birds, and I tried out for the U.S. Olympic Skeleton and Bobsled team.”

Name: Emily Wolfenbarger

Hometown: White Lake, Michigan

Major: Finance

Position: Defensive specialist

Favorite Place to Eat Near Campus: Pacific East Japanese Restaurant

Fun Fact: “I have a leash to take my cat outside, I miss my dogs, and my dad’s a professional motocross racer.”

Fourth-Year Player

Name: Emma Briggs

Hometown: Columbia, Missouri

Major: Biomedical engineering, pre medicine

Position: Middle hitter

Strengths: Resilient, always ready to work and train

Weaknesses: Overthinking, overly dependent on coffee

Favorite Place to Eat Near Campus: Aladdin’s Eatery

First-year setter Krystal Wang, second-year setter Faith Ellis, second-year outside hitter Brianna Lemon and second-year defensive specialist Jen Manning did not respond to requests for comment.