There’s nothing that Brittany Bolusan, a sophomore at Allan Hancock College, loves more than shutting an opponent down on the volleyball court with a good block.
“I love the feeling when the other team is trying to hit and you block them straight down,” she said. “I can’t tell if blocking is better or getting the kill is better. You’re just like boom, nope, no dice. It’s just like, denied.”
Bolusan, a Lompoc native, came to volleyball by way of gymnastics. After a decade on the mat, she said, she felt disconnected from her peers. “I wanted to feel more like a part of the school,” she said. “So I tried out and went from there.”
She started as an outside hitter on the volleyball team and started doing long and triple jump with the track team. By her senior year, she was part of Lompoc’s championship 4-by-100 relay squad, locking up the county and the Los Padres League before going on to the Arcadia Invitational.
She dropped gymnastics from her schedule. When she got to Hancock, she dropped track too. It’s volleyball that grabbed Bolusan. “I wanted to keep going with it and see where it would take me,” she said. “I love the sport. And I want to keep playing as long as my body will let me.”
She plays middle blocker. “I’m in the front row, and I’m trying to block everybody on their side,” she explained. It’s a changeup from outside hitter, which she played in high school.
“I transitioned last year because we were so short on people,” she said. “Everyone had to move around to different positions.”
So far, the move hasn’t messed with her too much. The Bulldogs are still undefeated at home, with games scheduled against Cal Lutheran and Moorpark at press time. Bolusan is confident that her team can pull through.
“We have a lot of talent, and we have a lot of experience and knowledge,” she said. “And we have a lot of talented freshman coming in, which is exciting.” She gives props to her coaches, too. “They’re awesome,” she said. “We couldn’t do anything without them.”
Eventually, she hopes for a BS in Kinesiology. “I want to become a physical therapist,” she said. She’s getting her feet wet at Carnahan Therapy, where she started working this summer.
In addition to volleyball she’s a country music fan. “I don’t even look like I would listen to country music, honestly,” she confessed. Does she drive a truck, the Sun asked? “Nope. I drive a Dodge Dart.”
This article appears in Oct 8-15, 2015.
