Andrea Fuentes never envisioned leaving the University of Missouri, but after playing three seasons and achieving her Bachelor’s degree, she began looking at options.
Wake Forest became the most attractive option, and it just wasn’t because of the familiar color scheme. It was the unmatched academics coupled with a chance to make an impact on a rising volleyball program under head coach Randi Smart.
“I figured I would finish my career there (at Missouri), and I still have a soft spot for them,” Fuentes noted. “However, when the opportunity presented itself for me to pursue a Master’s program, I was looking for somewhere that held an impressive reputation, academically. That was important to me. I paid particular attention to good academic schools.
“Then, I also asked myself, ‘where is someplace I could make an impact?’ When I spoke with Coach Smart and Coach (Becky) Hong, they posed it as a challenge. This is going to be hard and it is going to be a grind, but we’re trying to make something here. They suggested I could be the ignition for something bigger. I loved the challenge and was up for it.”
Fuentes is second on the team in total assists, and led the Deacs last season with 1,045 in that same stat category.
“She is the most competitive player in the program, hands down,” Smart said. “She is caring and empathetic. She’s fiery. You can’t teach what she brings. I knew that in the recruiting process, just from talking to her on the phone, with her goals and what she wanted in a program. It has been a snowball effect.
“Because of Andrea, we’re doing some things we didn’t think we could do. Because of her, the standard in the gym is that we compete and play to win. She also knows how to be the quarterback of the team. She touches base and reaches out. The things she does to show her teammates she cares — she cares as hard as she competes. You can’t teach that. She means a lot.”
The Demon Deacons earned a pair of Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Big Four wins in front of a packed house at Reynolds Gymnasium in early October of North Carolina and NC State.
“Just the atmosphere in our gym during those matches was electrifying,” Fuentes said. “That’s something that’s very dear to our hearts. In terms of the wins, it shows how much we’ve grown from last year. The fact that we were able to bounce back and beat both of those teams this year just…
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