Nevada setter Sonnie Sei will start this year after waiting two seasons
Nevada volleyball player Sonnie Sei lays on the hardwood at the Virginia Street Gym. Sei is Nevada's 2008 leader rom the setter position. This is her first year as Nevada's starting setter.
One, two, three…39, 40, 41. Almost there.
Nevada volleyball player Sonnie Sei would shoot free throws her senior year of high school outside her house in Loyalton, Calif. until she made 50 in a row.
…47, 48, 49, miss. Start over again.
It didn’t matter if it was dark outside. She had a spotlight in the backyard.
For Sei, calendars were separated less by months and more by basketball, volleyball and softball season.
Sei’s father remembered one particular transition between one season and the next.
After one of her junior varsity basketball seasons, Sei was upset so she asked her dad to get his mitt and play catch with her.
“We played until it was too dark to throw anymore,” her father Corey Sei said.
The transition lasted about as long as it took Corey Sei to open his car door and walk to the baseball diamond where they played catch.
Sonnie Sei’s passion for sports and competitiveness was less nature and more nurture. Nevada’s leader this season at the setter position didn’t always have an undying competitive streak. That was instilled by her parents.
Her parents were always there to fill in if Sei needed guidance.
One of those moments was in seventh grade when Sei confused her mother after she struggled through the first four events of a decathlon.
“I asked her, ‘What’s wrong?’” Sei’s mother Laraine said. “She looked at me and said ‘I don’t have to win. I don’t always have to be the star.’ I told her, ‘You have to be in it to do your best because it’s not a win for (the other girl) if you don’t do your best.’”
Sei won the remaining events and the decathlon.
“Of course we wanted her to win,” Laraine Sei said. “We’re proud parents.”
Laraine Sei has many reasons to be proud of her daughter. Sonnie Sei was a varsity letter winner in volleyball, basketball and softball in high school. She received a full-ride scholarship to play volleyball at Nevada. She is set to graduate with a degree in health ecology in 2010 and is the starting setter this season for the Wolf Pack.
“She is our quarterback,” Nevada coach Devin Scruggs said.
But it took two years before Sei could fill the role as the Nevada volleyball team’s starting setter.
When the slim, 5-foot-10 all-around athlete came to Nevada in 2006, she was forced to play back up to one of the greatest setters in Wolf Pack history.
Ashley Miller finished her career last season sixth on Nevada’s all-time assist list with 1,845. She only played two years for Nevada after transferring from Golden West College in Hunting Beach, Calif.
“No one can replace her,” Sei said.
But Sei has done exactly that in her first year as a starter at Nevada.
She has already recorded 464 assists in 14 matches this season.
“(Sei) is a lot different than me on the court,” Miller said. “She has a definite calming effect on the court in tough situations. I would get in someone’s face and was very energetic. She is mellower, which is good for pressure situations.”
It wasn’t hard for Sei to move into Nevada’s volleyball system — she has been in it for eight years.
Sei played volleyball for the Sierra Nevada Volleyball club, which was coached by Ray Batalon. Batalon became an assistant coach for Nevada in 2002, but coached Sei for more than six years.
“We have a very close relationship because of all the time we have spent together,” said Batalon, who calls Sei “T-Rex” because of her small hands and feet.
Batalon noticed the small hands and feet when Sei was a freshman in high school.
“We thought they would grow, but they still haven’t,” he said. “It actually should hinder her ability as a setter, but she does fine.”
Sei traveled with Batalon around the country when they were on the Sierra Nevada Volleyball Club, and Sei’s mother often came with.
Laraine also makes the 45-mile drive from Loyalton to watch every Nevada home game.
“I’m her biggest fan,” Laraine said.
Laraine Sei was more than a fan for her daughter — she was also a coach.
Sonnie Sei’s high school volleyball coach quit her junior year. The team was going to get cancelled if it couldn’t fill the empty coaching role, so Laraine filled that role.
She worked as the athletic director at the local middle school, but didn’t mind few more responsibilities to give her daughter a chance to keep playing high school volleyball.
“Sometimes I would argue with her just because it was my mom,” Sei said. “I felt comfortable bringing stuff up because it was my mom.”
Laraine said her daughter was easy to coach.
“She never gave me a hard time,” she said. “She never mouthed off. If she said she mouthed off she is only saying that to make herself look cool.”
Sei’s excellent passing skills gives the Nevada a vital asset.
This season, Sei is no longer counting free throws in her backyard. She is now counting career assists at the Virginia Street Gym, which stands at 765.
“She has paid her dues and now it is her turn to shine for this team,” Laraine Sei said.
Emerson Marcus can be reached at emarcus@nevadasagebrush.
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