Pavan Withstands Intense Pressure
As a former college journalist, I love to see today’s students take risks, hunt down facts and get the big interview. That’s what happened in Lincoln last February, as Katelyn Kerkhove published a piece on Sarah Pavan in Redwire, a publication of the College of Journalism & Mass Communication.
From the moment she arrived in Lincoln, Pavan has been fighting a losing battle in the dangerous war between perception and reality.
Teresa Prince photo, RedwireShe said she cannot remember a time when her teammates ever acknowledged an honor she had received in her storied career.
“Oh, I’ve never been congratulated for anything I’ve gotten,” she said. “I’ve actually had it said to me before, ‘Why do you have to get every award that there is? You like the attention, don’t you?’ It’s hard because I’m actually the complete opposite. I hate the attention. It’s just hard to see that the people you are around so often don’t even know you.”
After four years of constantly struggling to be one of the girls, to bond with her teammates, Pavan said she felt exhausted, worn down by the frustrations of being the best.
“I have felt a lot of resentment,” she said. “I don’t know what I can do about it, you know? I’m not going to change who I am to make other people happy. I’ve never once talked about any award I’ve gotten. It doesn’t define who I am.
According to Omaha World Herald, the article stirred up some dust in the volleyball offices. Two days after the Lincoln Journal Star reprinted the original Redwire story, expanding its exposure, the Daily Nebraskan ran a follow-up that stated that Cook had told Pavan she could no longer practice with the team. She could return, the article stated, if she apologized to teammates. She declined.
The four-time, first-team All-American who also managed to hold down a 4.0 in biochemistry, graduates this month and makes her way to Northern Italy, where she joins the professional team SpesVolley. She recently signed a three-year contact with the team.
