When Ally Wada put her name into the transfer portal, she knew she was giving up control.
She was at a Division I school. She was playing volleyball on the West Coast. She was even a starter, averaging more than nine assists a set for the University of San Francisco as a sophomore in 2019.
When the coronavirus pandemic wiped out her fall season as a junior in 2020, Wada suddenly had options academically.
The 2018 Hawaii Baptist alumna was on track to graduate early and could get all of her prerequisite work done to get into physical therapy school — her ultimate goal.
She also had eligibility remaining and could play volleyball while finishing that academic work, but that was only if someone wanted her.
“I was initially hesitant to go into the portal because I didn’t want to go somewhere super far away to play,” Wada said. “I was OK playing Division II (or) NAIA, but of course I would prefer to play Division I because I came from USF.
“I guess it was a risk, but I wasn’t sure.”
After working through the decision with her parents while home in Hawaii, Wada decided in December to give it a shot. Within days of entering the portal, she got an email from Portland State University, up the coast from USF.
The Vikings needed a setter, and the location and opportunity was what Wada was looking for. Everything seemed to be working out exactly as she hoped, until she realized when she was needed.
“I didn’t read the email heading and it had said (Portland State) needed a spring 2021 setter. I just assumed it was for the fall,” Wada said. “I emailed them back and (an assistant coach) asked if I could give them a call. I thought, ‘This seems odd.’ It’s been two days and it seemed kind of urgent.”
It turned out the Portland State volleyball team was reporting to school the very next day for an abbreviated spring season and they would need Wada to get on campus the following week.
“At first I was like there’s no way,” Wada said. “I’d have to leave now (from Hawaii) and all of my stuff was still in San Francisco.”
After a hectic 48 hours, Wada made it happen, and was there on time shagging balls, because she wasn’t cleared medically to practice. She was on the Portland State campus and she hadn’t even been accepted academically into the school.
She got it all taken care of, and by the time the season began in late January, Wada had practiced for only a week before suiting up for the Vikings’ opening matches against Idaho.
“Initially, I was just happy to be on the court competing again because we had waited so long,” Wada said. “We had to quarantine four times and everything was really week by week. You had to take every day like there might not be tomorrow, because if one person tests positive you are shut down for 14 days. We couldn’t seem to get into rhythm.”
Wada appeared in the second match against Idaho and a had a team-high 26 assists as the Vikings split their opening two matches.
They finished 5-11 in the Big Sky Conference but won five of their last six to finish the season on a high note.
Wada led the team with 11 double-doubles and was fifth in the conference, averaging 8.31 assists per set. The only match she missed was the opener against the Vandals.
Instead of the normal late-fall finish to a volleyball season, the abbreviated “2020” season ended in March of this year.
Five months later, Wada is again at the controls of the Vikings offense, starting all 15 matches for PSU, which is 9-6 overall.
The Vikings are off to a 3-1 start in conference, playing all four matches on the road. Wada had 19 assists in a sweep of Idaho on Thursday and a match-high 18 in a sweep of Eastern Washington on Friday.
“I think this is really our first chance as a team to come together. We’ve had a pretty normal preseason and we’ve had a lot of practices compared to our spring season, where I feel like we were thrown into it,” Wada said. “I think what’s making things easier also is we’re a lot older. Most of the team are upperclassmen, and I think that experience helps. Now we’re kind of finding our rhythm.”
Wada has reached the halfway point of her second season with Portland State when 10 months ago she had never stepped foot on campus.
The coronavirus pandemic has had a lasting effect on everyone, but for Wada, like many other athletes, the time away has brought a newfound love for the game that has been close to her heart.
“You kind of had to start from the beginning again, and this is why I love volleyball,” Wada said. “You get to practice every day and you take that practice and give it your all because tomorrow you could be in quarantine again. Just having that mindset instead of thinking, ‘Ugh, I have to go to practice today’ was a good refresh for me.
“Not all kids get to have this great opportunity to compete at such a high level, and so me and a lot of my teammates I think are just grateful to have a season and compete.”
ALLY WADA
>> School: Portland State
>> Class: Senior
>> Height: 5 feet 8
>> Position: Setter
>> High school: Hawaii Baptist (2018)
