USC athletes are more than just champions on the field, court, diamond and pool, they're champions in the classroom as well. Throughout the year, we will get to know one of these scholarly Trojans a little better in our student-athlete spotlight.
Name: Hayley Crone
Year: Senior
Sport: Women's Volleyball
Major: Communications
Sarah Bergstrom (SB): What about USC made you want to come here? Was it the closeness to home or something else?
Hayley Crone (HC): I have a lot of family that went here. I'm holding the legacy within the family. It is close to home, just an hour and 45 minutes so it's close but there's distance at the same time. Being able to have my parents come to every game is nice. I love SC, it's the best place ever.
SB: Did any of the older girls on the team prepare you for what it would be like to balance playing collegiate volleyball and also having to take classes at USC?
HC: The seniors are really good about taking the freshmen in, that's something we focus on. It's so crazy to think I was a freshman three years ago, it goes by so fast. But the seniors were so helpful when I was a freshman, telling me what classes to take. We always do this activity were we show the girls where their classes are at the start of the semester. The seniors are really helpful. Mick [Haley] always wants us to act like this is one team, we aren't the seniors and the freshmen. We are one team and that mindset helps the freshmen a lot.
SB: What was the hardest thing to adjust to in coming to college?
HC: I remember my freshman year we went to Penn State the first week of school. I had no idea what was going on at school, I was so focused on volleyball and I missed class. I was really lost. Traveling your freshman year is really hard because you miss so much. Just learning how to balance class, travel and volleyball was really hard. My freshman year we also went to the Final Four. We went from Hawaii to Texas and all of that was during finals. I took all my first finals on the road and that was really hard. You just have to learn to adjust to that. You learn to communicate better with your professors and TAs and it gets better.
SB: Obviously she's one of your best friends, so this might be a funny question to think about, but what did you learn from Natalie Hagglund when she was here both as an athlete and a student?
HC: (laughs) That is a funny question since Nat is one of my best friends. But Nat is a girl who excels in every aspect of life. She is so competitive. Whether it's in the classroom, on the court, she just wants to do her best. Anything less than that she just won't accept. And I think I've really learned from that, to just play as hard as I can always. I remember when I was a freshman and sophomore I had the mentality where I told myself I just needed to get through. I didn't want to take a minor. But Natalie was always telling me to do it. She really challenged me to be the best Hayley that I can be.
SB: Switching gears a little bit, but you went to China two summers ago for the PAC-12 All-Stars trip. What was that experience like?
HC: It was a culture shock. I am so glad I was able to go. (laughs) It was really hard to adjust to the food. I'm so glad my mom packed snacks. The Chinese food is not like Panda Express. There's no such thing as orange chicken. But it was a great experience. I got to see things I would probably never be able to see otherwise. It was really awesome to meet all the other girls in the PAC-12. Playing against them my junior year was really special since we shared that experience. It makes the conference closer.
SB: Do you know what you want to do with your communications major? Or what you would like to do when you are done playing volleyball?
HC: That's the million dollar question, isn't it? I have no idea. I could go play professionally overseas but I don't know if that's really something I want to pursue. Otherwise, I'm not sure. I am definitely interested in sports. I am interested in event planning too. So maybe something in sports management which kind of incorporates both. Hopefully the Trojan Family and all the networking here will help me figure it out.
SB: I know you mentioned a lot of your family went to USC. What does it mean to you to have that heritage? What does it mean to you to be a Trojan?
HC: Being a Trojan is such an amazing thing to say, and an amazing thing to live as well. When I was in China we were at this silk market and I saw this guy with a USC shirt on. He sees me and says 'Fight On' and I just thought, 'Wow. That's powerful.' We are in China, no one else is speaking English and yet we're having a full conversation about USC. Being a Trojan is real and it's everywhere. That's so powerful within itself.
SB: So you have a full year left. Do you have an increased sense of purpose or a different mentality heading into your final year?
HC: It really puts things in perspective for me. One day practice won't be so great, but I just remind myself that I only have a certain amount of practices yet. So I just try to embrace it. Even traveling. Our team is really close, so I'm traveling with all of my friends. What other time am I going to be able to do that? I'm just trying to live day by day and really loving every second. I'm always on campus, I'm always seeing everyone. I know that I'm going to miss this so much so I'm trying to take everything in.
SB: What are your goals for yourself and your team this season?
HC: This year I really just want to lead this team. We have so much potential, we are really young and I think leadership is super important in that. Obviously our goal is to win the PAC-12 and go ahead and win the National Championship. I haven't been able to do that yet. I've been to the Final Four and been to the regional finals so I think it's time for us to win the National Championship. I think this team definitely has the potential to do so.
