More times than not, it is the veterans of a sports team that serve as the leaders, the playmakers and the stars of the squad.
However, inside the Keaney Gymnasium for the University of Rhode Island volleyball team, that’s not quite the case. There is a Ram leading the team in kills with 128, kills per set with 2.25 and second in blocks with 53. This player is not a fourth-year, a third-year or even a second-year, it’s first-year Havyn Rolle.
“From day one, we talk[ed] about how nobody is a freshman anymore,” Rhode Island head coach Ryan Sullivan said. “It’s a clean slate from last year…I told our three freshmen from day one, ‘you’re just as equal as anybody else on this team. If you prove yourself to be one of the best players, you’re going to get some playing time.’”
They say there are two ways to get into a pool, the steps in the shallow end, or jumping into the deep end. For Rolle, she utilized the diving board, playing all five sets in her first collegiate match against Quinnipiac University on Aug. 30.
In the match, Rolle compiled eight kills, behind just second-year Madi Disu, who was named to the 2023 Atlantic 10 All-Rookie team. Her splash in competitive play has not slowed down, which was no surprise for Sullivan, who made an adjustment to Rolle’s game in preseason.
“Before the season started, we didn’t have any true middle[blockers] on the roster, she came in as an outside, just like a utility player,” Sullivan said. “I asked her a long time ago if she’s okay with playing middle and she said, ’yeah.’ We just kind of took off from there. Her versatility, we can put her outside in games, we can put her on the right side, so she’s just proven that she can be an asset to our offense and defense.”
For Rolle, the adjustments she has had to make in the last few months do not stop at the competition on the court. The Middle Blocker from Northridge, California, a suburb of Los Angeles, now resides 2,955 miles away in Kingston, Rhode Island.
“Honestly [the adjustment] has been very easy, really smooth,” Rolle said. “The girls made it really comfortable [and] so have the coaches. Enough though [the culture] is different, the vibes are different, I think it was a really easy transition.”
The changes did not stop there for Rolle, as the university announced in May that she would be walking into a different situation than she originally thought. URI’s athletics department put out a news release on May 23, that former head coach Angel Agu was resigning from the position.
“[Agu leaving] was definitely a shock I would say,” Rolle said. “A little nerve-racking at first but once we jumped on that Zoom, I was like okay [Sullivan] seems legit, he seems really cool. Once we got in the gym I was like, ‘Yes! this is the one, these are the coaches.’ I feel like I really have a strong bond with them.”
The strong bond is certainly reciprocated, with Sullivan calling on Rolle to help him out with some of the more contemporary aspects of life.
“She’s amazing, she’s bubbly for sure,” Sullivan said. “She’s teaching me how to take pictures on my camera for selfies and other people.”
Sullivan also commended Rolle for her maturity throughout preseason and the adjustment period in general.
“On a real note, she shows up ready to play,” Sullivan said. “The cool part about her, earlier in preseason our team didn’t know how good she was and she didn’t really say ‘boo,’ she didn’t really complain. There were days where she got four sets in a practice and she just showed up ready to work and ask questions [like], ‘Coach, what can I do?’ Once we found out that she was one of our best players we started focusing our practices around her.”
As for how Rolle put herself in the position to make an impact this early in her collegiate career, she attributes it solely to hard work.
“[I] just keep pushing myself,” Rolle said. “I look up to the older girls, especially when we’re in the gym. I work my butt off for them, [and] I work my butt off for myself.”
Rolle and the rest of the Rams return to A-10 play this coming weekend when they host Loyola University Chicago in a two-match series starting on Friday at 6 p.m. The matches can be streamed on ESPN+.