Meet The Freshmen: Sianna Houghton

Last weekend was quite a homecoming for Sianna Houghton. The freshman libero/defensive specialist calls Menlo Park home, growing up just minutes from the Stanford University campus. She fell in love with the sport watching the Cardinal and serving as a ball girl for their home matches. But last weekend she was back in the gym as an opponent for the first time, and cheering on the Huskies to their first win in Maples Pavilion since 2007. Houghton is one of three freshmen on the 2019 team and the only one thus far to step on the court, as she has played in seven sets. Houghton talked about her Stanford fandom, the transition to college and teaming up with her older sister who now plays for Cal.

GoHuskies: You just got back from the Stanford trip. Was that basically a homecoming for you?
Sianna Houghton: Yeah, so I originally grew up in Los Altos which is about 20 minutes away but then we moved to Menlo Park and my house was about five minutes away from Stanford. So my whole high school career I was that close to Stanford so I was always a huge fan, and my mom and my grandparents all went there so we always went to football games and volleyball games. I was actually a ball girl, so I can't even count how many matches I went to. It felt a lot different being on the other side of the net. It was fun for sure.

GH: Who all did you get to see at the match?
SH: My grandparents, my mom, my dad, all my siblings came, some of my parents' friends came and some of the girls from my high school came also with signs so it was really fun to see them. It was so exciting to get the win, we were really pumped on the bench, it was loud and exciting.

GH: How has the transition to college been for you thus far?
SH: To be honest I don't know what I was expecting coming in. I guess I was expecting a lot of time in the gym and traveling. I think it's been more traveling than I expected, just traveling every weekend. I had traveled for club but not this much. The first couple weeks were really overwhelming but now I think I'm starting to get into a groove just knowing the players and how to play with them and knowing our travel and practice schedules. So it's gotten easier the past couple weeks.

GH: Now you all just started classes recently and were on the road for the first day so was that a little strange and how are you adjusting back to school?
SH: It wasn't too bad. I like being in class because it's a nice switch-up after having volleyball double-days for a month and a half. I like a little variety so having class is nice and then coming to volleyball. I'm sure it will get more challenging the next couple of weeks. I'm in Art History, English 182, and then General Studies.

I'm thinking I'll go more of a design route. I was thinking Architecture originally but it's pretty hard with the volleyball schedule because they have long studio sessions, so I'm still figuring it out but something with design probably. My brother went to Cal Poly and studied design, I think it might have been Graphic Design. But he's the artsy one in the family and he does graphic design and interior and architecture right now in San Francisco.

GH: Did you play many other sports growing up or was it mainly volleyball?
SH: I played everything. I played really competitive soccer for a long time, softball, basketball, I did cheerleading and hip-hop.

GH: Is that where your love of handstands comes from?
SH: Yes! Yes, that is, actually. I just like practicing handstands for fun.

GH: When did volleyball become the main thing?
SH: I actually didn't like volleyball right away. When I played soccer I loved it but I got three concussions in soccer so I kind of had to transition. My sister played for a volleyball club and my mom forced me to try out, which I really didn't want to, but I tried out and made the team which I was surprised about. So then I was playing soccer and volleyball at the same time, so I would go to soccer practice and then volleyball right afterwards. At some point I decided to quit soccer because I was liking volleyball more and then it became my whole life. Watching Stanford I think is probably where I started to want to play at the collegiate level.

GH: When did Washington first start to enter the picture?
SH: I first talked with Keegan, because our club's recruiting coordinator was friends with him, so he helped me and got me in touch with Keegan, and then I think Keegan talked to a couple of my other coaches. I was originally thinking California schools before U-Dub came on my radar, and once I started looking at U-Dub it became my number one, and it was my number one for a long time until I got the offer, so I was really excited about that.

GH: So your sister plays at Cal, how much older than you is she?
SH: She's 18 months, so she's two grade levels above. We played on the same high school team for two years, which were the best two years. It was really fun, because we know each other really well and it just worked really well. That was the only time we played together but I wished we had been able to more.

GH: You're living now with the other two freshmen, Olivia and Sophie, so how has it been getting to know them?
SH: It's been really fun. When we stayed together in LEAP is when we got really close, we became friends really quick, and so coming back in the fall and living together has been great, we haven't had any problems. Where we live, Mercer, is really nice, so we're enjoying it a lot.

GH: Now you played a lot of outside hitter in high school and club, correct?
SH: I was a libero 12s through 15s or 16s, but then 17s year we had a shorter team, and so my coach put me in at outside and then I played outside for 17s, 18s, and my second 18s year. Then all of high school I played outside as well. But I had played libero in my career so I was used to it. I do miss hitting, but it helps just being able to focus on defense, with Keegan teaching me simple techniques. He reteaches us how to pass which is a long process and is still going on for me.

GH: What do you consider the strengths of your game?
SH: I'd say defense is probably my stronger suit because I like laying out for balls, running and diving, and being aggressive, and then serve-receive I'm still definitely improving. Defense I'm still improving obviously, because it's a lot harder than high school, but serve-receive I have a long way to go so I'm working on that a lot.

GH: You've been able to see some action this season, checking in during a couple matches so far. That first time you were called in at Hawaii, what was going through your head?
SH: The first time, I was always ready but I wasn't really expecting it I guess, so when he said my name I just like dropped everything and ran. I remember just really trying to zone in, but I was really nervous. I felt the ball and it felt so light and weird, it was a surreal experience because there were so many more people in the stands than I was used to. I had a lot of adrenaline.

GH: What do you like about this team now that you're getting to know them well?
SH: I think the best part about is everyone is really spirited. Everyone loves U-Dub so much. There's not one person I've met that's not happy with their decision to come here. Everyone has been really supportive, even the seniors, which I think can be hard because it's your last year and you want to focus on yourselves, but they've still been really good at helping us fit in and giving us instructions and helping us become part of the team. It's been really fun getting to know them because everyone's really connected and team-oriented.

GH: Looking back on your prep career, what were some of the toughest challenges you had to overcome to get to where you are now?
SH: I think the biggest challenge was always playing on teams where I was the youngest. I always played up, because I'm old for my grade, like I had to play 18s twice. The libero that was on my club, who I played with since 13s, was really good, and so it was her and I battling for the libero position. I was originally libero and then she beat me out for it so I was DS, and I think that actually helped me to really understand that every point I go in matters, because I would only go in for three rotations rather than six.

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