[00:00:00] WSN: Zach Knudsen is a senior volleyball captain and business major from Carlsbad, CA. As libero, he played every match last season and helped lead the team to its second United Volleyball Conference Win and first-ever NCAA Final Four appearance in program history. Last season, he was named Academic All-America, Second Team All-UVC and AVCA Honorable Mention All-American, and was named UVC Libero of the Year in both the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

[00:00:33] WSN: Knudsen spoke with WSN about his previous three years on the team, and his aspirations and optimism for this upcoming season. 

[00:00:40] WSN: Serving as captain for the second year in a row, was there anything that you took away from last season that you want to implement this year?

[00:00:46] Knudsen: Yes, first of all, great question because I have to think about this one for a sec. But I guess I just learned that there’s a really good balance of kind of like reigning it in with the team, but also kind of letting their personalities show. And so kind of letting, I think what differentiates us as a team is our individuality, but also having to come together in really important times and really big moments. And so I guess bringing that into this next year, I want to make sure that I have a really good balance of, you know, being serious but also letting personality show. 

[00:01:21] WSN: Do you think personalities of each player are a really important part of creating that team dynamic?

[00:01:27] Knudsen: For sure. Because just by the nature of volleyball, there are many, five different positions on the court at any given time. And so each position has, you know, their own strengths and weaknesses. And so you kind of have to let each of their positions do their own job, but then all come together. And so, it’s really, I, I love this sport because it, honestly, it teaches me about life. It’s all about working with people that have different strengths than you. And so, in that way, it’s just something that I’ve learned to really love. Just by embracing each other’s differences and letting that result in, hopefully, a win. 

[00:01:58] WSN: How has your preseason training been looking? You had a scrimmage recently and yeah, what’s the mood around that and this new team? 

[00:02:06] Knudsen: Yeah, no, we’re really excited because coming out of last year we made it really far. So we made it to the Final Four for the first time in school history and we actually didn’t graduate any starters. So we’re really hopeful and we have some good talent coming in as freshmen this year. And so we actually played in one tournament at Fairleigh Dickinson in early November, and we ended up winning out every single game. We beat two D-1s, so Sacred Heart University, as well as Fairleigh Dickinson. And so we know the potential that we have, and we just got to execute when the time’s right. 

[00:02:35] WSN: So in training and as captain, how do you help lead the younger athletes? Whether that’s helping them find their groove, instilling confidence, offering advice off the court — what’s your approach there? 

[00:02:45] Knudsen: For sure, um, I — especially with the first years — I try to be a role model in every sense of the word. And so, meaning on the court, I try to lead things, you know, have a democratic leadership style. Allowing everyone’s voice to be heard, no one, and instilling a sense of psychological safety within the team. Yeah, a big part of college is that even though a lot of recruits come from, you know, big-name programs or big-name club teams in high school, a big thing about the college game is that it’s just much more physical and so a lot of emphasis is being placed on the weight room and just doing, you know, physical activity outside of practice is a big thing, and so it’s definitely an adjustment that I had to make when I came here as a freshman, and so helping guide them through that, through just encouragement, but also kind of pushing them, you know, to push the boundaries and exceed their limits, is what really makes, that’s what makes a winning team a winning team. And so that’s what we’re trying to do this year. Especially knowing that we’ve seen our potential with last year without graduating anyone. And we only have things to add for this year, especially with this talented incoming class. 

[00:03:48] WSN: How often are you guys working on your training right now? And when does that kind of ramp up into the actual season?

[00:03:55] Knudsen: So right now we’re having weightlifting three times a week. So Monday, Wednesday, Friday. And then we have practice four days a week. So we have Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday. And so, obviously, because NYU is very academically oriented, if anyone has class, they have to miss, but, you know, we try to make it so that way, like, especially in the spring, so athletes get priority whenever they’re in season, and so we get to pick our class times that don’t conflict with practice. But, in terms of ramping up, we start officially Jan. 6, we have to come back a lot earlier than the rest of the students at NYU. Uh, but it’s honestly a really great experience because we start playing games, I believe, Jan. 10, so it’s very quick right off the bat. It’s a very quick adjustment period. But, you know, we’re here every single day. We don’t have class in the first bit. And so we’re just focusing on volleyball, getting stronger, bonding as a team and just, you know, setting us up for a successful future. 

[00:04:46] WSN: Do you have any personal goals for this season outside of the obvious — seeing good results? 

[00:04:53] Knudsen: Yes, I mean like a personal goal? Yeah, I believe I’m on track right now, If I continue kind of in my trajectory personally to break the all-time digs record for the program. And so that is something I’ve had my sights set on for a really long time, pretty much since I got here. I remember, in, I believe it was my sophomore year, we were reviewing film and my coach literally told the team that I should be the one to break the record. But it, you know, that requires a lot of things to kind of fall into place. It requires me to perform at the level I know I can. It requires the team to perform so that we get far enough, you know, within the season and make it into NCAAs. So I just have more of an opportunity, but that’s definitely on the back burner in my mind. Ultimately, what I’m focused on is the team’s well-being. And so, but I think it’s also important to have this goal because it helps me personally kind of envision that path forward. And then that’s the first step of actually achieving that path in terms of making it further through the season and achieving my personal as well as the team’s goals.

[00:05:55] WSN: That kind of leads into my next question. So as a libero, there’s a lot of pressure on you to have good reception, and continue the play, stuff like that. How do you cope with that intrinsic pressure that you’re putting on yourself, but also from the rest of the team? 

[00:06:09] Knudsen: It’s definitely, it’s something that is honestly a constant struggle. And it’s something that I’ve definitely honed a lot in the last few years, just by getting more experience. But I have a few routines that I do, so I try to meditate at least five to 10 minutes of mindfulness before each game, and I can do that on the bus or even just sitting there waiting to warm up, but just allowing myself to kind of find my free flow state of mind where I’m not too tense, because the more tense I am, the more I think about it and the more likely I am to make a mistake. And so I try to just let the reps, you know, show and the practice show rather than thinking about very specific things, because at that point, it’s more just, you know, letting the practice show rather than actually thinking about it. And so it’s definitely, I’d say my position specifically, being a libero, is extremely mental because, you know, in practice I can do everything right and then if I have a bad mental day or if I’m not exactly tuned in, it can show and all of a sudden my numbers and my passing is just atrocious. And so, it’s really, it’s really very much a mental game and that’s part of the reason again why I love the sport of volleyball because the mental side is just as important.

[00:07:23] WSN: Totally. How — in your offseason — do you kind of deal with that recovery? Athletes are always focusing on the physical recovery in the offseason, but how do you make sure that you’re staying mentally sane even? 

[00:07:37] Knudsen: I definitely, one of the things that I’ve kind of, done for myself in my past few years at NYU is take a really hard courseload in the fall, so taking a lot of credits. And so that way, in the fall, I can focus, you know, specifically on getting stronger, on maintaining muscle mass, but also, you know, getting the academic side complete. And so that way, it’s not that I’m, you know, taking a step back while I’m in season, but I’m able to take maybe less quantitative courses or courses that require less reading and less, you know, less intensive courses. And so, really just kind of setting myself up for success in the fall through my coursework as well as through my weight lift regimen. That is how I kind of stay sane, or not sane, but you know, stay prepared for what’s to come.  

[00:08:20] WSN: What would you say is a lesson that the team learned in your first NCAA tournament last year, and how are you guys implementing that this season?

[00:08:30] Knudsen: For sure. So, the biggest lesson that we learned is that at that point, it’s, so, men’s volleyball in the D-III bracket is only 16 teams, and so it’s much smaller than a lot of the bigger name sports, but the, the thing that we learned from that is, you, you, you know, you can be 20-8 like we were last year compared to every other team in the bracket that was maybe 27-1, or 24-3. At that point, you only need to win, let’s see, you win Sweet 16, quarters, you only win two games and you’re in the Final Four. So at that point it’s kind of just, if you make it, take advantage of it and don’t let the opportunity fly by you because you’ve done the work up to that point. You only need to show up for two games. And that’s kind of, it’s kind of ridiculous how quick that is. And it just shows how important the beginning first part of the season is. And so there’s a new, there’s actually a new ranking algorithm this year. It’s called RPI. And pretty much what that means is if you play against a team that you’re really supposed to beat and you lose to them, it hurts you a lot more than it should. And so last year that wasn’t in place and we had two really bad losses. And so, with those losses in place, if we lost to those specific teams this year, I don’t think we’re making it. Just because the RPI penalizes that loss way more so than it did last year. 

[00:09:45] WSN: Yeah so working on retaining your UVC title, is there anything tactically that you guys have been focusing on in the preseason?

[00:09:50] Knudsen: Yeah, so, definitely focusing on the big players in our conference. At least every single team has at least one player that is extremely singular by nature and can win a game essentially on his own. And so, focusing on, you know, having that in mind, who are the teams and the players that we’re going after. You know, not just kind of being complacent with it, but focusing specifically on those people that have destroyed us in the past. And another thing that’s important is there are a lot of fifth and sixth-years that we’re playing against. We have zero of those. And so, using our youth to our advantage if we can, because a lot of these guys have been here around a long time and so they have the experience, but, you know, youth versus experience, so.

[00:10:34] WSN: You’ve had head coach José Piña for your entire collegiate career. Could you speak a little on how he’s helped you develop, not just as a player, but also as a person and a student? 

[00:10:42] Knudsen: For sure. I think I’ve definitely taken some leadership. I’ve taken some leadership experiences in kind of the way I want to lead from him just because, especially at NYU, it’s very hard to lead a team when there’s so many distractions provided by the city, and I think he does a great job at letting us kind of find our own way, while also emphasizing the needs of the team at the end of the day. And so he understands specifically that there are a lot of other obligations specifically within school, professionally oriented and whatnot, and he’s able to accommodate those. And so there’s, like, a lot of guys that are in Tisch, for example, and they have to miss a lot of practice, but he’s okay with that because he understands that the deal here is that academics always come before school. but when we’re not in school, it’s expected that we’re there performing and there for the team. And so just his flexibility, his understanding are both things that, you know, I admire and it’s some of the, these are two things that I try to implement as well. 

[00:11:36] WSN: Okay, do you have any graduation plans yet or what you plan to do after? 

[00:11:41] Knudsen: Yeah, so I actually have an offer for employment that I can’t speak on specifically because I’m accepting — I haven’t accepted yet, but I’m going to accept it. So I’ll be working in the city but I’m currently interning right now. I’m gonna intern in the spring as well, but I will be working in the city full-time.

[00:12:01] WSN: Did you always want to continue playing volleyball after high school?

[00:12:05] Knudsen: Yeah, so this was a big goal of mine, especially when I was, in middle school I wanted — I knew I wanted to play soccer in, or I thought I wanted to play soccer. I, that was my goal at first to play soccer in college, but then that shifted as I got burned out with soccer. So, but playing in college has always been a goal of mine. And so I kind of set my sights on that, so that NYU was a great fit for me in terms of what I was looking for academically, as well as the team. And so it was kind of a no-brainer for me when the time came to make a decision. 

 [00:12:34] WSN: Do you plan to continue playing volleyball at all after this season? Or have volleyball in your life in any other way? 

[00:12:43] Knudsen: Yeah, so there are many recreational leagues around the city that I can join, uh, if I want to, but there’s also sort of a pro-league in the USA, but it’s not really a pro-league because you end up having to pay to play, but you play with very good players, and so it’s a very, it’s a very underdeveloped league, but it’s getting more attention, especially on the women’s side. It’s really exciting because all of a sudden there’s two pro-leagues that are growing in the U.S., and so hopefully that becomes a thing for the men’s side as well. But obviously, just because of the nature of the sport, women’s volleyball is just a little bit more progressed in that way than men’s volleyball.

[00:13:17] WSN: Obviously you still have another season ahead of you, but what do you think your biggest takeaway from your collegiate career is so far? 

 [00:13:25] Knudsen: My biggest takeaway is that when I set my mind to a goal, I’ve seen that I am willing and I’m capable of putting in the work to achieve it. And so I’ve had many goals that I’ve been, some of which I’ve been able to meet, some of which I have not, but it keeps me grounded, it keeps me humble and it keeps me hungry. And so having goals will be, you know, it’s integral for me to continue, whether I keep playing, you know, in a more professional level, like I kind of mentioned, in the U.S., even though it’s not fully a professional league, or, you know, even in work, relationships and whatnot, so having goals essentially is what drives my success.

[00:14:02] WSN: Yeah, totally. Thank you so much for joining us today again, Zach.