January 23, 2024

We’re proud to be a part of an ongoing partnership with Dick’s Sporting Goods, which is sponsoring our Player of the Week award. We’ll be releasing a featured vballrecruiter.com Player of the Week, sponsored by Dick’s Sporting Goods, on Tuesdays. Below is this week’s Player of the Week: Rayna Christianson. *** Even as Rayna Christianson was playing AAU basketball, she seemed destined for volleyball. After all, she comes from a family with deep ties to the sport. “I have a huge volleyball family,” she said. “My mom played in high school. My aunt played at the University of Minnesota and my cousin went to the Naval Academy and played there. It’s pretty much how I got into volleyball.” As Christianson headed to Northern Lights to play club volleyball for her 12s season, she began to take the sport more seriously and began to find her passion. She was playing basketball as well but found it difficult to balance the two sports so she decided to focus on volleyball only. “It was easy to pick the sport,” she said. “It’s just that I had so many relationships in basketball so it was hard telling everyone I wasn’t going to play anymore, but it was easy to pick between them.” Christianson, a 5-star recruit from the Class of 2026, has had a somewhat different journey to this point. While she’s been a setter/right side in club for Northern Lights, she’s played multiple positions during her high school career at Lakeville North. She made the junior varsity team as a seventh-grader and spent that fall as a setter/right side. She’s been on varsity the past three seasons, including spending her eighth and ninth-grade campaigns playing out of the middle before setting this year as a sophomore. “I really liked it,” Christianson said of playing in the middle. “We had a talented setter both years and that was very helpful too. There wasn’t many middles in our program so I just said put me where you need me. It was an opportunity to be on varsity.” It’s been a busy month or so for Christianson. Before the Christmas break she traveled to participate in The Red Hat Games in Dallas. “I thought it was really fun,” she said. “It was good competition. I loved the whole thing. It was super fun. It was well organized and I liked how there was a lot of playing and getting to meet new people. That was cool. I really liked it.” Shortly after, her Northern Lights 16s team – along with the 2s group – left on Christmas day and headed to Europe, where they spent 13 days before returning on Jan. 6. Since then, Christianson and company have been gearing up for the club season. “I’m super excited for this year,” Christianson said. “I love my team. We are all so supportive and all have good relationships. We’re all talented and are excited to see where this year takes us.” As our featured Player of the Week sponsored by Dick’s Sporting Goods, we recently spoke with Christianson about volleyball and more. Who is a role model or someone you look up to? Christianson: I’d say my cousin, Macy. She’s the one who got me into volleyball, along with my mom and my aunt. She’s one of the most determined people I know. She went to the Naval Academy and played there collegiately. Her going there was such an amazing experience. She’s going to be serving in Japan for three years now. If you could choose to do anything for a day, what would you do and why? Christianson: I think I would want to hang out with my friends and go shopping or go to the movies just to get quality time with them. Other than volleyball, what skill would you most like to learn and why? Christianson: I would say being well-rounded in every school subject, like English and math. I think it would be being super smart. Do you have any volleyball superstitions or rituals and if so what? Christianson: For high school season I wore braids in my hair on top of my head and in a pony tail for every high school game. There’s not really a reason other than I thought I played better with them and it felt better. Aside from basic necessities, what is one thing you could not go a day without? Christianson: I eat cereal every morning. It’s the same cereal – Chocolate Chex. I eat it before school and before volleyball. What is one thing that instantly makes your day better or makes you smile? Christianson: It’s probably my dog because she is never a sad dog. She’s always excited so it’s never hard to be around her. Her name is Harley. She’s a Cavalier King Charles and Poodle mix. She’s a Cavapoo. What’s one of your favorite ways to have fun? Christianson: I’d say volleyball is the way I like to have fun the most because it’s being with my teammates and I love the game so much. I love spending the time with other people like my coaches and teammates. It’s my favorite. Outside of volleyball what are you most passionate about and why? Christianson: I just like to pride myself on being a kind person to my friends and family and people in general. I like to keep a positive attitude because it lightens everyone’s mood. What is one thing that may surprise people about you? Christianson: I’m a super competitive player when it comes to volleyball or really anything. I can get very serious when it comes to competing toward anything. If you could live anywhere you wanted, where would it be and why? Christianson: I would probably say a beach place like the Bahamas because I like the warm weather and I like the ocean. It would probably be the Bahamas because we went there a couple years ago for spring break. What’s your favorite food or foods? Christianson: I