Know the Newcomers: Lydia Grote

Lydia Grote is a transfer from the University of California, where she played her first three years of collegiate volleyball in the Pac-12. She competedcal in 65 matches (226 sets) from spring 2021 through 2022 and averaged 3.22 kills, 1.11 digs, 0.6 blocks and 0.19 service aces per set across those three years. Her best season came as a junior in the fall of 2022, where she averaged career-bests in almost every statistical category, including kills (3.70), digs (1.49), blocks (0.62) and service aces (0.23) per set. She will have two years of eligibility at Minnesota.

GS: Your bio says you're from Burbank, California - is that where you spent most of your life?
LG: I was born in Virginia but moved to California when I was pretty young. I've lived there ever since.

GS: When did you first get into volleyball and start playing?
LG: When we moved to Burbank my mom started a volleyball team. It was a bunch of families near us with kids around the same age. She rented videos from the public library to help teach us volleyball and get us into it, she really didn't know the game. She wanted to keep my sister and I active and volleyball was the perfect way. I wasn't that into sports as a kid though to be honest. It started out as a social activity where I could be around my friends, but once I started playing club I really fell in love with the game.

GS: Do you remember when you started to get recruited to play volleyball in college?
LG: When I started playing on a '1's' team when I was 16, it was like everyone around me was getting recruited to play volleyball in college. It then started to become my plan to go play in college as I developed and got better. My sister Marin got recruited to Washington and she's two years older than me, so that helped pave a path for me to realize that it was possible.

Grote, Lydia — Lydia with her mother, Laurie, and sister, Marin.

GS: What was your college recruitment like? Was Cal always a top choice of yours?
LG: There were a few other schools I was talking to, but once Cal started showing interest, I knew that's where I wanted to go. I went on a tour there and knew that's what I wanted to do. A friend of mine when I was young always said we'd go to Berkeley together - she's a flute player, not volleyball. But I remember calling her when I committed and it was kind of funny because she was going there too. It was like our childhood plan worked out.

GS: What were your overall takeaways from your first three seasons of college volleyball?
LG: We were just a really young team. There were six freshmen in my recruiting class, and of that group, five of us played right away. So it was hard when you're fresh out of club volleyball and have to compete with the top teams in the Pac-12 who were more experienced. So we struggled at times, but I learned so many life lessons and how to persevere through adversity. We never gave up and I'm proud of that. I really feel like I learned so much at Cal.

GS: What went through your process when deciding to enter the transfer portal?
LG: It was definitely hard and I was going back and forth and felt it might be time for a change. I wanted to keep playing high-level volleyball and I really care about my academics. That was hard because I chose to leave one of the greatest academic universities in the country. It took a long time for me to decide to enter, I debated all the way until the day before it closed, and I entered my name in then.

GS: Once you did enter, how did the transfer recruitment process go for you?
LG: I didn't really know where I stood and if I would get a lot of calls heading in. But it turned out that once I was entered in officially, it felt like nonstop calls and emails from teams that wanted me to connect with their staff. It was definitely overwhelming at times and my mom said she didn't know how I was sleeping at night.

GS: What was your recruitment to Minnesota like?
LG: [head coach] Keegan [Cook] actually texted me and wanted to jump on a phone call. I was familiar with him because my sister played for him at Washington. All the coaches were super supportive and wanted to get to know me as a person, what I wanted to study and what my goals were. It was fun to talk to them and feel out what it would be like to be a Gopher. My sister was definitely excited for me and was trying to tell me I had to go play for Keegan and his staff.

GS: How did your official visits go?
LG: I took all of my visits and really took my time in making sure the choice I made was the right one. I wanted to make sure I would be happy with the choice I made. Heading into the Minnesota visit, I just felt pretty comfortable coming in. I came here and saw Dinkytown, and I liked that it was a cool little college town in a big city. The coaches all met me at my hotel when I came in and they took me on a tour and to dinner that night. It honestly felt like I was already part of the team when I was here.

GS: For someone that hasn't seen you play before, what can they expect from you as a player?
LG: I'm someone that likes to go for it. I'm not afraid to take big swings on the attack. I'm a pretty fast player and like to hit quick sets. I'm also always trying to be strategic and find holes in the block. I would also say I'm very high-spirited and bring a lot of positive energy.

GS: The schedule came out last week, are there any games in particular you have marked on your calendar?
LG: Overall for conference I'm just excited to play in the Big Ten. I've never played a Big Ten before so jumping into the best volleyball conference is going to be fun. For preseason, I'm excited to play at Stanford as they're a great team and they are really respectful, both the players and coaches. I don't like to think too much about the name of the team because at the end of the day, they have six players on the court and so do we, so we have to just play our game. I'm just excited to compete hard every game.

GS: In terms of goals for the team, what do you want to accomplish?
LG: I want to win a Big Ten title and a national championship. I've never played in an NCAA Tournament before, so that's something I really am looking forward to. I want to make a deep tournament run and truly enjoy every game that comes with that.

GS: How about individually?
LG: Of course I would like to win an All-American honor, but I know those are team awards more than anything. No one can accomplish anything great in this game without their teammates.

GS: I know you've only been here two weeks, but how has it been building relationships with the team?
LG: It's gone really well. The first night I got here everyone invited me to dinner and we just hung out. Everyone is fun to be around and very outgoing. Everyone is always doing something – we've gone to a baseball game and to Sydney's [Schnichels] family's house. It's been a good start to my time here.

GS: What do you like to do when you're not playing volleyball?
LG: Music is definitely a big one. Whether it's researching music, music history or theory, or playing music. I love playing beach volleyball and just being outside in general. I'm a big explorer and love the outdoors.

Favorite Food: Steak
Fun Fact: I've played outside, right-side and middle all in the same game.
Sport to Watch: Ice Skating and Gymnastics
Pro Sports Team: San Francisco 49ers
Vacation Spot: Virginia Beach, Va.
TV Shows: The Good Place
Inspiration: My sister

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Know the Newcomers: Lydia Grote

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