Photo by Emei Thompson
This week, I sat down with my close friend, junior Olivia Hoesley of the women’s basketball team. Olivia has been a key offensive threat for the Vikings since she arrived freshman year. As the conference season comes to a close, Olivia reflects on her successful junior season, and looks forward to her final season as a Viking.
Arianna Cohen: Throughout your career, you have been one of the more pivotal players behind the three-point arc. What kinds of training do you do to increase your three-point percentage?
Olivia Hoesley: I try to get into the gym whenever I have extra time to get some shots up, and try to make the shooting drills we do in practice as game like as possible.
AC: You have been managing a calf injury for almost two years, how do you believe this has or has not affected your game?
OH: It affected my game a lot my sophomore year, because I physically couldn’t keep up for long and was always needing to get a break. Along with the physical aspect, it also affected my mental game a lot too, because I tried pretty much everything possible, and nothing seemed to be helping, which was very frustrating. But I’ve been fortunate this year though, and haven’t had as many problems with them as I have in the past and they feel pretty great most of the time.
AC: What steps do you take to mentally prepare yourself before a game?
OH: Before a game I usually look over the scouting report and the key players on the other team. Then I’ll listen to It’s Tricky by Run-DMC (shout out to Natalie Kramer) to get me hyped up and ready to go.
AC: What has been your favorite part of this season?
OH: My favorite part of the season has definitely been the positive attitude that surrounds our team. It’s great having teammates and coaches who never give up, who are always there for you and have your back. It’s nice knowing that whatever I have going on, I can always count on my teammates to pick me up.
AC: As the conference season comes to a close, what are your goals for your final games?
OH: Our goals for our final games are just to go out and compete, do the little things right, improve, and give it our all.