ASU volleyball has brought a melting pot of experience this season with six international players, the most in head coach Sanja Tomasevic's tenure.
The team's recruiting net reaches far and wide, from up north in Canada to overseas in Serbia and from Bosnia to Israel.
Juniors Megan Beedie and Andrea Mitrovic, a middle blocker and outside hitter, come from Ontario, Canada and played on their national teams this past summer.
Senior outside hitter Ivana Jeremic hails from Serbia, having played on the U17 and U19 national teams for the country. Freshman outside hitter Iman Isanovic comes from Bosnia, but played professionally in Slovenia. Isanovic also played on the Bosnian national team.
Both of the hitters's recruiting stories have one common thread: Tomasevic.
In Jeremic's case, she played against Tomasevic's younger sister, Marija, while she played club volleyball with Takovo Sveda Helios before coming to Arizona State. The exposure opened up the door for Sanja to recruit her.
"So, Sanja's sister knew about me and Sanja knew about me from eighth grade," Jeremic said. "She's (Sanja) like, 'Is this kid coming to America?' and her sister was like, 'Yeah, she's good. You should talk to her.'"
While participating with the Bosnian national team, Isanovic played against a player who was previously coached under Tomasevic. And just like Jeremic, the experience led to Isanovic being recruited to ASU.
"And we just talked about her experience here in America and she is playing professional now and I was a senior in high school at the time," Isanovic said. "And now I'm here."
Jeremic and Isanovic also hold another common point in why they chose to come to America: education.
Sports at the amateur level don't operate the same way in other countries as it does in the U.S. Sports don't usually coincide with a college education overseas. Players have to pick one or the other.
Both players said education is a high priority, and they knew they couldn't achieve their goal of playing volleyball while receiving a college degree without coming to America.
"I was like, 'Yeah, I might look into that option,' because for me, education, aside from volleyball, is a very big factor," Isanovic said.
This reality fueled Jeremic to come to America, leaving no doubt on the table.
"Just because I was pretty sure I wanted to graduate from college, and staying in Serbia would not allow me that because college and volleyball don't go the same way," Jeremic said. "So this was my only option."
Tomasevic said international players train much differently. Players practice anywhere from once or twice a day and play a match once a week.
"What makes them viable is not only that they are great players, but they also have been exposed to a lot more volleyball than American players have been," Tomasevic said. "I wouldn't say they are better, but they have more exposure."
At the end of the day, Tomasevic's goal of recruiting players overseas boils down to simply getting the best players possible.
"We always want to get the best players you can for your team," she said. "And if that's an international player at that time, then we go for an international player."
The team will continue to boast players from across the globe as Tomasevic continues to recruit for the Sun Devils.
The volleyball team plays their Pac-12 opener Thursday against UA.
Reach the reporter at jhorst2@asu.edu and follow @HorseySeven on Twitter.
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Jeffrey Horst is the digital editor-in-chief of The State Press. He previously served as the publication's sports editor and worked at Cronkite News and ArizonaSports.com.
