It’s nearly 4 p.m. on a Thursday afternoon at the Life Fitness center and most of the women’s volleyball team is casually stretching out before a workout, but one key player is missing.
Suddenly, when 6-foot middle-hitter Bianca Castro, 19, arrives running minutes late from class. Nothing needs to be said and the energy in the room instantly shifts from casual and indifferent to one of positivity and focus.
“She’s a local girl and we have trouble with her getting here on time, but once she’s here she’s all volleyball and she doesn’t bring any baggage with her,” assistant coach Armen Zakarian said. “She comes to work, brings her lunch pail and gets it done.”
Castro, a sophomore international business major, is a force to be reckoned with around the volleyball net but has the maturity to understand her athleticism has a shelf life.
“Volleyball will be there for a while. I wont always be in peak physical condition like I am right now,” Castro said. “I came to the realization that I wont be able to go to a good college and I wont be able to just rely on my volleyball skills so I need to work on my studies more because that’s the thing that is going to get me somewhere in life.”
She started playing volleyball as a freshman at Dos Pueblos high school after most;y playing soccer for the previous 6 years.
“I had never played volleyball before, I had no experience, but I was really tall for my age,” Castro said. “One coach really took me under her wing, her name was Tina Brown. She was rooting for me the whole time and really got me into volleyball.”
Although highly motivated in the classroom at City College, her priorities were flipped during her tenure at Dos Pueblos. Her parents reminded her, academics above volleyball, but like any rebellious teenager she was driven to focus on the game.
“My parents really wanted me to put volleyball second and do more school work and study harder and maybe even quit volleyball,” Castro said. “So naturally it made me want to play volleyball even more.”
Bianca is the fourth of Javier and Nancy Castro’s five children. She has two older brothers, a younger sister and a 23-year-old mentally disabled sister Raquel that attended City College and frequently watches Bianca play volleyball.”
“She is my biggest inspiration and my hero in life. Throughout this whole hardship that has been brought on her, she still has such a good outlook on life,” Castro said. “Her ability to take something that is hard and turn it positive is just amazing.”
That positivity rubs off on Castro who, in turn, contagiously gives it to her teammates and coaches.
“She just seems to have a confidence level,” sophomore libero (defensive specialist) Mackenzie Mexico said. “She basically is always smiling. You never see a frown on her face and she knows when to laugh it off or be serious.”
City College volleyball head coach Ed Gover has known Castro since she was a sophomore at Dos Pueblos when she played for the Santa Barbara club travel team.
“She plays with a joy and a happiness that is easy to see and easy to transfer to other players,” he said. “In her position, I’d say she is one of the top 3 middles I’ve coached in 20 years.”
Castro’s skill and intensity in volleyball combined with her dedication in the classroom, could find her playing at the Division I level soon. Castro was an all Western State Conference selection for last years season and was named the conference player of the week for her 11-block game in an upset of No. 15 Citrus College on Oct. 10.
Mexico is just glad to be on Castro’s side of the net.
“We played against each other in high school,” Santa Ynez alum and current teammate Mexico said. “Being on the other side of the net from Bianca was kind of scary so I feel fortunate to be on the same team now.”
Castro is definitely all business whether in the classroom or on the court leading her team to its 10th consecutive win against rival Ventura College Wednesday night at the Sports Pavilion.
The team looks to keep the streak going when it hosts Questa College at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 26 in the Sports Pavilion.
Castro in the Sports Pavilion.
