Middle blocker Daisy Crenshaw has helped the Cal State Los Angeles Golden Eagles women’s volleyball team to a 15-12 overall record and a 10-7 record in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA).
The redshirt freshmen has intentions of declaring for the Criminal Justice major this spring.
“I redshirted just to gain more experience and work harder on books more than volleyball, just to get the feel of it and it helped a lot,” Crenshaw said.
Crenshaw, a South-Central Los Angeles native, wants to use her studies to help others. She aspires to be a crime investigator.
“The community I grew up in, it’s so much violence. I see so much crime every day,” she said. “Just seeing that made me want to do more.”
Keeping up with school work is a challenge that Crenshaw has been overcoming this season, she mentioned how the resources at Cal State L.A. have been helpful on her academic journey.
“With the tutors available on campus, the administration, they’re really helpful,” she said.
Crenshaw’s favorite class has been her communications course. She is required to say speeches in front of the class, which helps Crenshaw become more comfortable with the way she talks. The class is also helping her conquer her fear of public speaking.
“My professor, I love him, he’s so helpful,” she said. “He really understands what we’re going through as student athletes and he works with us on that.”
Juggling academic obligations with her efforts to keep the volleyball team competitive has matured Crenshaw. She arrives at school early to finish homework. Crenshaw found her footing on-court and proved herself to be a strong contributor this season.
Crenshaw is second in the team in blocks with 63, making a season high of seven blocks during a home game against Cal Poly Pomona on October 6. The next day, the Golden Eagles played Cal State San Bernardino. In that contest, Crenshaw made a season high of 14 kills and 15 points.
“My team is very talented … we are very hardworking,” she said. “What hurts us the most is mentality. Our mental game, we get in our heads a lot. But once we fix that, we’re gonna be killing all the teams.”
Crenshaw’s advice to the youth is to work hard and not give up, the hard work put in will produce a great outcome.
“No matter where you come from, there’s always something that you can achieve,” she said. “You’ll know what you worked for and that work will feed into what you deserve.”
