Q & A With Simone Asque

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Senior outside hitter Simone Asque (Chicago, Ill.) and the Virginia volleyball team open the 2011 season this weekend with the Marriott Cavalier Classic. For Asque, she will face her younger sister Gillian when the ‘Hoos take on Western Michigan in on Friday at 7 p.m. at Memorial Gymnasium.

Question: Are you excited to play against your younger sister this weekend? Can you talk about your competitive relationship?
Asque: It’s always been that friendly competition. She’s a sophomore and I’m a senior, so we’re very close in age. If we’re even walking somewhere, we want to see who can get there first. Anything we’re doing, we each want to be better. We’ve been chatting it up about this game, but it’s all in good fun.

Question: Did you know this would be on the schedule this year?
Asque: We actually kind of arranged it. Everyone would always ask us if we were ever going to play each other in college, so she talked to her coaches and I talked to my coaches and it ended up working out.

Question: Will your family be in town for the match? Who will they root for?
Asque: Yes my parents and my older sister, who just earned her master’s from Iowa State in genetics. She also played volleyball in high school.

Question: What is your first volleyball memory?
Asque: I have a very good one. I remember in fourth grade the first time I ever played on the court, in the very first play of the very first game – the ball was served right to me and I caught it.

Question: Preseason is over and you finally get to face competition. How are you feeling?
Asque: We had a lot of big goals, and for me this preseason has been the most productive since I’ve been here. I’m optimistic that we have gotten a lot of good quality practices in. There is a lot of potential and we were picked to finish ninth in the ACC, so now we are the underdogs. I don’t mind that being our team image, we need to claw our way to the top.

Question: How would you say the four freshmen are meshing with the program?
Asque: They’re doing very well. I’ve been here four years, so everyone on the team kind of already knows what to expect. They were very quick to pick up the culture though.

Question: What went into your decision-making process to attend UVa?
Asque: Early in the recruiting process I wanted a beautiful campus with a solid academic and volleyball program. I also wanted a college town – I’m from a big city, Chicago, so I wanted something smaller. Virginia had everything on my checklist so it was my perfect match.

Question: What is something people would be surprised to know about you?
Asque: I write music. I play piano, violin, guitar, a little bit of clarinet.

Question: Was there a time when you had to choose between athletics and music?
Asque: Yeah, I was about 16, I remember I made a decision to sacrifice music and basketball for volleyball. But prior to that I would compete in music competitions, but I came to a point that I had so many demands on practicing in both that I had to make a choice. Volleyball won, but I’m glad – it’s worked out well for me so far.