In only four months in the United States, LSU freshman volleyball standout Marina Skender has made a smooth transition into life as a student-athlete, excelling both on the court and in the classroom.
Skender joined the Tiger athletics family from Zagreb, Croatia, a week into the 2005 fall semester. Prior to her move to America, she was a member of some of Europe’s finest volleyball teams.
Some of her pre-LSU accolades include leading the Croatian Youth National Team to the 2003 European Youth Championship, losing only one game in the tournament. That team went on to place fifth at the World Youth Championships in Poland. In 2004, she helped lead the Croatian Junior National Team to a fourth place finish at the European Junior Championships in the Netherlands. In 2005, Skender qualified for the World Junior Championships in Turkey.
In only her first season with the Tigers, the right side hitter is continuing her championship tradition, leading LSU to its first Southeastern Conference Western Division title in school history and first NCAA Tournament berth in 13 years, while adding quite a few individual accolades to her collection.
She was named the SEC Freshman of the Week a league-best four times and the SEC Player of the Week once, the only freshman to earn the league’s top weekly honor. To top that off, Skender was recently named the SEC Freshman of the Year and a second-team All-SEC selection, the first LSU player to earn the Freshman of the Year honor since 1990.
After seeing limited success in the first few matches of the season, Skender has been overwhelmed by her huge first season success.
“I didn’t have a very good start when I first came, so really I didn’t even expect to play,” said Skender. “I was really surprised because I especially didn’t expect to get the SEC Freshmen of the Year, I really didn’t, but it’s an honor.”
Obviously, Skender made some quick adjustments to ultimately change the outcome of her freshman season. Even though the volleyball accomplishments are nice to have, Skender said there are several other great personal aspects to choosing an American school and particularly in selecting LSU.
“I saw this as an opportunity to get an education because colleges here are great,” said Skender, “but you can also play for a good volleyball team. I think my favorite thing about being here is that I can study and play volleyball. Back home you have to choose, either you are going to play professional volleyball or you go to college. You do not have the opportunity to do both.”
Recruited by former assistant coach Danijela Tomic, who is now the head coach at Florida International, Skender said that she made the correct decision in choosing to move 5,500 miles to attend LSU.
“I was recruited to come to LSU so that’s why I’m here,” Skender said. “I like the living facilities and the athletic facilities. They take good care of the athletes here and if you’re a good student then you really have an opportunity for success.”
Skender says she especially enjoys the coaching staff and the relationships she has made with her teammates.
“Everyone has been great and we are really close as a team,” Skender said. “I like being a part of that. Back home, the teams I played on were not nearly as close. Everyone played for themselves. This is total teamwork.”
Only being in the United States for four months, Skender said she hasn’t yet had a real opportunity to get a taste of the culture, but hopes to expand her knowledge next semester and truly experience LSU and Louisiana.
“Right now, during the season, I don’t have much time for anything else accept studying and volleyball. What I have noticed is that you guys have so many holidays,” laughed Skender. “Maybe I’ll find out more about LSU life next semester when I’m not as busy with both school and playing games every week.”