Jessica Silver shines both on and off the court

This archived article was written by: Jennifer Jarrett

Jessica Silver has been playing volleyball ever since she can remember. Being the youngest of five children her family would always play on the court in their backyard. “As I watched my older sisters play, being younger I always looked up to them in what they did. When I saw them play, it made me want to play. When I would play with them I would play extra hard so that I could beat them,” Silver said.
Silver’s older sister came to CEU and played volleyball for Coach Brent Martindale. “Jessica’s sister Char played for me and I knew she had a younger sister so when Jessica contacted me I watched her play, looked at her to play defensive specialist, talked to her coach and decided to try and bring her to CEU.”
“Jessica is a solid all-around worker. She did really well on her high school team and her coach told me that at times she would carry the team, and they had some Division-1 players on that team so that’s a big thing. When the big players wouldn’t get it done, her coach told the setter, ‘Get it to Jess.’ She can do anything and has been a big help in several areas of the game,” Martindale said.
Ever since she was young Silver wanted to major in cosmetology so when she got the chance to play volleyball and take cosmetology classes she jumped at the opportunity. She came to CEU by herself but was willing to give it a try. “My sister really liked it, she always told me how much fun she was having so I decided to give it a try. Everything really fell into place, that’s all I can say is that everything just worked out,” doing two of the things she really wanted to do, Silver considers herself lucky that everything worked out so well for her. “Everyone I have met down here are such great friends, I love them all. There is always someone to talk to and someone to make you laugh.”
Silver’s day includes cosmetology classes from 8:30 to 11 a.m. Then without a break she heads to volleyball practice from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and then goes back to cosmetology from 2 until 6 p.m. The rough part about doing cosmetology and volleyball is not the days, but the weekends. Whenever the volleyball team takes a road trip and has to miss school days, Silver doesn’t just miss a class, she misses hours that she will have to make up most likely over the summer. A cosmetology student needs 2,000 hours to graduate the program and so each days really counts and adds up in the end. “I am still undecided to living here in the summer, but if I do, that’s when I will have to make up the hours,” she said.
With all the hustle and bustle in Silver’s day she still pushes herself and tried her hardest. “She’s one of our hardest workers,” Coach Martindale said. “She doesn’t get much playing time but doesn’t play any less in practice. She pushes herself hard and contributed in the games where she has seen playing time. She never, never has a bad attitude and whether she is on the floor or on the bench, she is a great spark plug for the group. A lot of players only get recognition in the game but she is the perfect example on-and-off court, you don’t feel any less of her influence wherever she is at.”
Silver is really looking foreword to the next time their team gets to play Snow. “We can beat them, I know it. We have been beat in preseason and in our first games against them, but should have won and I am certain that we can take them.”
After graduating CEU Silver would like to finish school at SLCC. She doesn’t think that she will continue volleyball, “I would love to but think that you can only play two years of a sport at a two-year college and most cosmetology programs are at two-year colleges.”
Martindale added, “I am proud of Jess and appreciate her attitude. She is valuable to me and should see significant playing time next year if she keeps working the same.”