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: Kendall Omoruyi.
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At 8, Kendall Omoruyi was a practice player on a 13s team. It’s a time she remembers vividly, helping shape her mindset and molding her into the player she currently is. Of course, at 6-4, she’s no longer the same height she was five years ago. With it, she’s getting slightly more attention than she did back then cheering on her older teammates from the sidelines.
“I was putting everything into volleyball that’s why I’m so passionate about it today,” she said. “I still have the same aspirations to be the best. I was young playing up on 13s when I was 8. I was a practice player. I was high-level for the age I was at. It was a really good experience. If I wasn’t a practice player like I was I wouldn’t be as passionate as I am today about the sport.”
Omoruyi started playing volleyball early at 5, inspired by watching her older cousin. Her sisters also played. It only motivated Omoruyi to be better than them. Growing up in a sports family, she’s competitive by nature. Omoruyi tried both softball and basketball at different times, but neither ever came close to matching the connection, love and passion coursing through her veins like with volleyball.
“I played softball a little bit for my school team,” she said. “It made think about the dynamic with volleyball. With volleyball, I like the dynamic of how connected we are as a team. It wasn’t that same type of connection.”
Omoruyi is currently a 5-star recruit starring for Arizona Storm 14 Thunder, which is set to compete this week in 14 Open at the USAV Girls Junior National Championships in Chicago. Arizona Storm enters the four-day tournament ranked No. 2 in the nation in vballrecruiter.com’s Top 50 National Rankings. Though the recruiting process has changed in recent years, there’s no doubt all the top college coaches in the country have been aware of Omoruyi for a long time. She’s an athletic sensation who moves extremely well for being 6-4.
There’s plenty of attention that comes with but in some ways Omoruyi can be considered a veteran compared to others her age having already been playing for eight years. It’s helped her develop her attitude and approach to all the attention that comes her way.
“I really try to focus on me and my team and playing to the best of my ability,” she said. “Some girls get in their head, but I like to zone out the attention and stuff and just play my game. I try not really getting too far ahead of myself. I focus on being present in the moment and not being worried about who is watching. I want to win the game for my team and show how hard I’ve been working on my skills to use.”
Though Omoruyi hasn’t even attended her first day of high school, when it comes to volleyball goals and dreams she’s thinking more than just the next four years. She’s thinking beyond college as well.
“After college, I’m thinking of wanting to go pro and hopefully go to the Olympics,” she said. “I really want to be the first in my family to be an Olympian. I really want to go far in volleyball. I want to be playing volleyball up until I can’t anymore.”
Omoruyi also has an intense passion for fashion, thinking big picture when it comes to it as well. It’s a challenge finding clothes she likes that fit her frame properly. If she has her way, she’s going to be a game-changer in that industry too.
As our featured Player of the Week sponsored by Dick’s Sporting Goods, we recently spoke with Omoruyi about volleyball and more.
Who is your role model or icon you look up to?
Omoruyi: My role model is T (Teraya) Sigler (who recently committed to Nebraska). She plays for 16 Thunder. I look up to her work ethic and her drive. The way her passion for the sport shows in her eyes every time she touches a ball at practice or at a tournament. She’s very passionate about the sport and that’s eye-catching to me. She’s an amazing role model. Another is my mother. She works very hard every day to provide for our family. Outside volleyball she is my role model. She’s a hard-working woman who really cares for her family. I aspire to be like that one day.
What is your favorite food(s)?
Omoruyi: My favorite food is an African dish called panned yams with a soup. It’s really good. I really enjoy it. It has a lot of veggies like okra and spice and meat. It’s a family dish from my dad’s side. He’s Nigerian.
What is your favorite tournament of the season?
Omoruyi: My favorite tournament of the season is nationals because it shows how hard you worked all season. I love how everyone is playing their hardest because it’s the last tournament of the season.
What is your favorite team bonding event?
Omoruyi: My favorite is definitely our last practice gift exchange. It’s a very emotional time. We share all of our memories we made from all of our tournaments and time together this season.
What is your favorite quote?
Omoruyi: My favorite quote is “Know your worth even when no one sees it.” In sports and in life, I have learned you have to be your own No. 1 fan before anyone else because if you don’t believe in yourself how can anyone else believe in you?
What is your go to song to warm up to?
Omoruyi: I like to switch it up a lot. I’m back to Carrie Underwood’s Take the Wheel. I don’t have a specific warm up song because my taste in music is very diverse.
What do you like to do outside of volleyball?
Omoruyi: I’m really interested in culinary and fashion. I like learning about new recipes and food and experimenting with all different things. I really love fashion. I’m interested in all the different ways to express yourself. I’m working on creating a business in the future around fashion. Cooking is more of a hobby. Fashion is something I see myself doing. I’m inspired by fashion mostly surrounding athletes and being tall. There are not clothes tailored for us. When I got into fashion and started looking into clothes, I look how long my arms are and there’s not a lot for tall women. There are stores tailored for tall and big men, so I want to tailor a store toward tall women.
What is one thing that may surprise people about you?
Omoruyi: I think most people are surprised to see how passionate I am about fashion. I don’t get into talking about it unless people are genuinely interested in talking about it with me.
If you could have dinner with anyone past or present, who would it be and why?
Omoruyi: I would want to have dinner with the Nike rep or the head of Nike. Just because I wear so much Nike and our club is sponsored by Nike. I wear Nike gear every practice and every tournament. It would be nice to have a connection with the people I’m representing.
If you could have any super power what would it be and why?
Omoruyi: If I could have a super power it would be time traveling. I feel like there are a lot of things you could change in the past and I would be curious about if my dreams work out in the future and who I’ll become because I know I want to be someone everybody remembers.
What’s your favorite number and why?
Omoruyi: My favorite number is 8, which is also my jersey number. Hopefully, it’s my number for the rest of my career. It’s my favorite number because it represents the infinity symbol. I always inspire to be the infinity of my team and want to be someone my team can rely at set 3 or even at 0-0. That number also stuck with me because I was born on the 8th.
