Sydney Donahue's volleyball career at ASU almost ended before it began.
Prior to her freshman season, Donahue had a difficult time adjusting to her new surroundings and was close to quitting the team.
"I was very homesick," the Manhattan Beach, Calif., native said. "I was going to sign the paperwork saying I was leaving ASU when (assistant coach) Jami (Coughlin) said, 'You know, you'll probably never play volleyball again,' and then it clicked that I just couldn't let this go.
"I couldn't be happier that I stayed and worked through it."
Now a sophomore, Donahue is one of the best defensive players in the nation and isn't taking the game for granted.
"In a lot of ways, Sydney is the heartbeat of this team," ASU coach Brad Saindon said. "She is clearly one of the best liberos in the country, and I think she has the chance to be the best."
Volleyball is in Donahue's blood. Donahue's two older sisters both played at Division I schools, and her aunt, Denise Corlett, is the associate head coach at Stanford.
Donahue said her volleyball background helped speed up the learning curve.
"I pretty much lived in a gym my whole life," Donahue said. "I grew up on a volleyball court."
Saindon was a friend of Corlett and remembers watching Donahue play at an early age.
"The first time I saw Sydney she was probably about 4 years old and was out there playing with older girls," he said. "She was an awesome volleyball player even back then.
"When we had a chance to get her, we really wanted her to be a Sun Devil."
Donahue was heavily recruited coming out of high school. She said coming to ASU was not a difficult decision.
"It was most like home with the palm trees and the scenery," Donahue said. "I really wanted to play in the Pac-10, and I knew I would get a chance to play here."
In high school, Donahue's primary position was outside hitter, but at only 5 feet 7 inches tall, she decided to make the switch to libero.
"She was a great outside hitter," Saindon said. "But you could tell even then that she could pass and defend and had that libero sense about her."
Donahue earned all Pac-10 freshman honors last year and already leads all Pac-10 players in digs this season, averaging 6.52 per game. Her 43 digs against Notre Dame on Sept. 4 shattered ASU's single-match rally-scoring record and was one short of the school's all-time record.
"I couldn't have gotten those digs without the blockers and all my teammates," Donahue said. "It was nice to have 43 digs. I've never had that many before.
"But I think of it as just playing volleyball and doing something I love."
Reach the reporter at derrik.miller@asu.edu.
