Athlete of the Week: Sequoia's Leanne Robinson

While Robinson was a viable six-rotation player for most of the 2013 season, she’s really come into her own this season. In a pair of four-set wins last week, she tabbed 15 kills and 32 digs last Tuesday against Woodside. Then Thursday, she totaled 11 kills and 20 digs against Hillsdale.

Because of her defensive prowess, with 52 total digs over two matches, Robinson has been named the San Mateo Daily Journal Athlete of the Week.

“She’s improved tremendously and the best part is she’s only a sophomore,” Sequoia head coach Dustyn Woropay said. “In two years … I’m hoping for league titles and MVP awards. She’s that kid who can go as far as she wants with volleyball.”

How far Robinson goes with volleyball could get overshadowed by academia. That is what happened to her older sister Joy — a senior on last season’s Sequoia squad — who bypassed an offer to play for the Division-III program at Brandeis University to attend Stanford; she is the third generation of her family to do so.

Whether or not Leanne Robinson follows in her sister’s footsteps — along with the footsteps of her grandparents Eileen and Gerald Lehmer, and her parents Gary and Brenda — is a decision a long way off for the 5-9 sophomore, unlike her Sequoia teammate Angela Hudelson, who announced Monday she has verbally committed to play Division-I volleyball at New York’s St. Francis College.

As for Robinson, she is currently focused on developing her wealth of volleyball talent.

“I’m not sure if I want to play in college at all,” Robinson said. “We’ll see. I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. Right now, I’m just trying to enjoy playing in high school.”

Robinson has really refined her chops in recent years, playing the past three seasons on the club volleyball circuit. Prior to playing for Encore this season, she played two years with Vision, including the 2012-13 season with the Vision Gold 14-and-under squad. Robinson’s setter for that team was current Menlo-Atherton sophomore Kirby Knapp. And the two will square off as opponents for the first time ever when Sequoia hosts first-place M-A Thursday.

“That will be interesting,” Robinson said. “I’ve never played against her. That will be a nerve-racking game. It’s always tough to play against people you’ve played with in club.”

To hear Robinson talk about volleyball, she continually reiterates two words: “crafty” and “confidence.”

Being crafty is something she learned from playing with her sister. According to Robinson, the two would often be paired against one another in practice. Robinson quickly learned from Joy the importance of strong court vision as an attacker.

“The best lesson I learned from my sister is how crafty she is when she’s hitting,” Robinson said. “She sees the block really well. … Playing against her really helped me become a crafty player in the front row, so I’m really glad I got to play with her.”

Success in the back row, however, is all about confidence, according to Robinson.

“Defensively, it’s all about confidence,” Robinson said. “If somebody hits a bullet at you, if you’re not confident in your technique, it will ricochet off you. But if you think you can get there and get the ball up, the technique will follow.”

The staple of Robinson’s proficiency on the court has always been her expertise from the service line. Since she began playing seriously at the age of 10, she was able to exact a hard, low-trajectory serve to keep opposing defenders off balance. She and junior Rachel Fink have been running neck-and-neck in the Cherokees’ aces category. Fink currently has 34 on the year while Robinson has 32.

But her defense is what has caused her to take her game to the next level, according to Woropay.

“It’s a testament to her,” Woropay said. “Playing defense is all about will and how much you want it … she’s still got a little ways to go. But by the time she’s a senior, I can see her being one of the best players in the league.”