Spring Break
Breaking Out Of The Mold
Chambers Finds Comfort On Volleyball Court
Kevin Duffy
Issue date: 5/11/08 Section: Sports
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A four-year standout on the UConn volleyball team, Chambers stands a muscular 6-foot-3 and has the swagger to command attention in any room she steps in.
But that wasn't always the case.
Four years ago, Chambers was asked to introduce herself to the rest of her freshman calculus class. Chambers stood hunched over, decked out in her usual freshman year wardrobe - a plaid dress shirt, khaki pants, and "Shox" tennis shoes. She looked around the room, took a deep breath and slowly opened her mouth.
"Hi everyone," she nervously muttered. "I'm Sadé Chambers."
That was it. Chambers took her seat as soon as possible.
Even Julie Pickard, also a freshman on the volleyball team at the time, had trouble hearing Chambers despite sitting just one seat away from her. But that was the Sadé Chambers she knew.
Chambers came to UConn by way of Baldwinsville High School, a small, Catholic school in her hometown of Baldwinsville, N.Y. She always had volleyball, but when she arrived to campus, Chambers doubted her social abilities.
"When you are trying to figure out who you are, it's important to meet lots of different people, so I never had really figured out who I was in high school," Chambers said. "When I came to college, I didn't know how I wanted people to view me and a lot of things went through my head. I was very shy, very insecure."
Her quiet demeanor and everyday outfits of button-up blouses or out-of-style shirt-skirts became a source of amusement for her teammates. Pickard says that the team actually made fun of her early on in her career, and Chambers was aware of it.
Coming from a very conservative, catholic family, Chambers was taught to dress in that manner. She was taught to just do her work and keep quiet. She was quite unlike the rest of the team, and for that matter, most students at the university.
Caught up in the harsh adjustment to college life, Chambers admittedly wasn't the most confident player on the volleyball court during her freshman season, but she didn't need to be. Chambers made an instant impact on athleticism alone.
"I was just so much bigger and stronger than the other girls," she said.
Chambers stepped in and started every single match, terrorizing the Big East to the tune of 215 kills and 68 blocks. But Chambers didn't celebrate any of them. She wasn't raised to do that, and when she looks back on it, the no-nonsense work ethic her parents instilled in her helped a lot.
"I always put work before going out or anything like that, whether it was school or volleyball," Chambers said. "Especially freshman year, whenever anyone wanted me to go out, I always said, 'No, I have to stay in and study.'"
Chambers went on to duplicate her success as a sophomore, but points to an away match versus Notre Dame in her junior season as the turning point in her volleyball career. She was the tallest player out there. She was the strongest. She jumped the highest. But somehow, she mustered only two kills in 12 attempts and committed four costly errors. UConn head coach Holly Strauss pulled Chambers aside and yelled at her in front of the whole team.
"It was embarrassing," Chambers said. "But I needed that kick in the butt."
Chambers went off for 14 kills and six blocks two days later against DePaul and never looked back. She was named first team All-Big East her senior season and finished No. 8 on UConn's career kill list with 1,011. According to Strauss, Chambers will leave as "one of the best players the program has ever seen."
Maybe it was the success she had on the volleyball court. Maybe it was her scholastic achievements. But somewhere along the way, Chambers began to stand tall, walk with a certain air of charisma, and even wear jeans once in a while.
"She just came out of her shell a little," Pickard said. "She's not afraid to show people who she is, she lets her personality shine."
As Chambers described it, she found herself.
"UConn made me who I am today," she said.
And today, when Chambers proudly walks across the stage to receive her diploma, she will be closing the book on the four years that saw her grow from nervous freshman to confident young adult.
But at the same time, she'll be taking the next step in her life - as a sports psychologist. After previously planning to go into child psychology, Chambers had her eyes opened to the field when a sports psychologist worked with UConn volleyball last summer and helped change the culture and attitude of the entire team. In that instant, she was sold, according to Chambers. There was no way that Chambers could leave volleyball - or sports for that matter - behind her.
She will be applying for a graduate assistant position at UConn that will enable her to work with various teams on campus. After four to six more years of school, Chambers will be ready to help college athletes across the country overcome the same problems she dealt with throughout her career.
"I want to help athletes grow because I've grown so much at UConn," Chambers said. "I want to tell them how to grow, how to get stronger, how to get through all the adversity they'll face."
And they'll surely be listening.
Contact Kevin Duffy at Kevin.R.Duffy@UConn.edu.
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