Melting pot at the Siegel Center

Let me paint the picture: you’re watching a volleyball squad warm up before a match. The player on the far side with a tongue-twister name swoops in to pass. The setter calls for the ball – “I got it, I got it!” Her accent sounds like it came from the 1972 West German film, “Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes” (Aguierre, Wrath of God). The ball is smashed down on the other side of the net.

As the team huddles, you realize you can not pronounce the names on half the jerseys. An intriguing thought.

You could be watching an international volleyball competition in Bern or Munich. You’re actually watching VCU battle Hofstra from within the caverns of the Stuart C. Siegel Center.

Six of the Rams’ 11 players hail from such places as Brazil or Germany.

The team’s makeup reflects a trend among other sports at VCU. Every player on the tennis teams – both men’s and women’s – is an international students Nearly half of the golf team and men’s soccer team are from abroad.

Truth be told, 25 percent of the athletes at VCU are not from the U.S.

Ana Luiza De Borja, a sophomore from Florianopolis, Brazil, was recruited by head coach James Finley while he was coaching at Arizona Western Junior College. In 2005, de Borja followed Finley to VCU.

“Coach Finley heard about me from another coach who coached in the same conference as Arizona Western,” de Borja said. “She told him to take a look at me, and I guess he liked the way I played because he asked me if I wanted to go to VCU instead.”

De Borja is glad she did. She said it was a good move for her volleyball career and her education.

“VCU is harder than my school in Brazil,” de Borja said. “It was extremely difficult for me when I first came here because I barely spoke English at all. Everyone was really nice to me, and they helped me as much as they could. VCU is also better because it has more advanced technology than my old school in Brazil.”

German-born Elisa Kuehnel, a sophomore, was discovered while playing in her home country. Finley even traveled to Germany to scout the 6-foot-4 volleyball standout.

“I couldn’t believe that coach Finley came all the way from America just to see me play,” Kuehnel said. “I thought it was so nice that he traveled that far. His trip helped make my decision to play at VCU a whole lot easier.”

Kuehnel said the transition to the U.S. was not as difficult as she expected, although she did have trouble with the initial language barrier.

“The only thing that was difficult for me was learning in English,” Kuehnel said. “It was hard for me to stop thinking in German and to start thinking in English. Now I am getting better, and school has become a lot easier for me.”

The team is 12-11 overall and 6-7 in the Colonial Athletic Association.

Friday, the team lost to CAA-leading Hofstra, 3-1. In that defeat, VCU senior Ludmila Francescatto of Fraiburga, Brazil, had 23 kills, four blocks and a match-high 26.5 points.

You can see the team in action when they play their next home game against James Madison University Friday at 7 p.m. in the Siegel Center.