Sept. 8, 2015
Every Tuesday, the Nevada athletic communications department will post a feature story as part of its Wolf Pack Weekly series. These stories will provide fans with an inside look at the Wolf Pack, and will focus on athletes on the field, in the classroom or in the community.
By Peter Long
Graduate Assistant, Athletic Communications
RENO, Nev. - Student-athletes or fans of the Wolf Pack cannot literally bleed silver and blue, but looking at the background of Nevada volleyball's Lyndsey Anderson, you'd be surprised that she doesn't. The junior setter and Sparks native is set to not only lead the team this season but to also add to an impressive family legacy surrounding Wolf Pack athletics.
"Growing up, the university was a big part of my life," said Anderson, who ranks second on the team with nearly seven assists per set early into Nevada's season. "When it came time to pick a school, I knew that this was place where I wanted to be. I knew the campus like the back of my hand."
Anderson has been attending Wolf Pack athletic events as early as she could remember. Her father Scott was a three-year letter winner for the baseball team from 1986-88 while her mother Lisa, a former employee in the athletic department, earned two letters in volleyball in 1987 and 1988. The Andersons are longtime donors to Nevada athletics and are also men's basketball season ticketholders.
Today, Anderson is in the early stages of her junior season. She has seen steady playing time since joining the squad as a true freshman and has since amassed 1,238 career assists. Reaching the top-10 in program history in that category by the end of her career is certainly attainable and in 2014, she led the squad and ranked ninth in the Mountain West in assists.
"Lyndsey is a very important part of the personality of this team and sets the tone every day with her work ethic and competitive spirit," said first-year head volleyball coach Lee Nelson. "She is always eager to improve, a great teammate, and represents the program in the best possible manner."
She performed well enough last season to receive an invite to play with the Mountain West Volleyball All-Stars in Europe this past summer. Anderson was one of 12 players representing the conference as the All-Stars played against junior national teams from Europe and the United States.
"It was one of the best experiences I've ever had," said Anderson, a two-time Academic All-MW honoree as an environmental science major. "To be exposed to that kind of competition, all of the travel and getting to play with other girls in the conference was awesome."
Despite all of her accomplishments on the volleyball court, Anderson's first love was basketball. Anderson and her parents sat behind the bench for men's basketball games at Lawlor Events Center and witnessed an era of great success for the program. But around the time she entered middle school, Anderson was hooked on volleyball.
"I always thought I would play basketball up until middle school when I joined my first volleyball team and I really liked it," Anderson remembers. "My mom would teach me how to play in the backyard so once I started to have an interest it became a bonding experience for us as she taught me the technicalities of the game."
Anderson played both sports throughout her career at Spanish Springs HS and she became one of the most decorated athletes in the class of 2013. Once volleyball started getting more serious, she wanted to stay home and committed to Nevada early in junior year.
"At first I told myself that I'm never going to Nevada and I want to move away," said Anderson. "But then I realized that I wanted to stay close to my family and I knew that this was the place I wanted to be. Looks like it's worked out so far."
Nevada is 2-4 through the first two weeks of the season and they return home from Sept.11-12 for the Wolf Pack Classic. Anderson has been looked upon as a team leader entering 2015 under with Nelson at the helm.
A head coaching change is not always the smoothest process for a student-athlete, but Anderson and the Pack have taken to Nelson's philosophy.
"It's been so awesome, just really positive and a completely different vibe," said Anderson. "He's been really focused on the process and telling us to not be afraid to fail. None of us has ever had that kind of mentality before so it's been a complete change of culture."
Wolf Pack Weekly Archives
Aug. 25 - The Wolf of Wall Street
Sept. 1 - Germany's Wuensche welcomes new adventure in Silver State
