Los Altos High School senior Aviya Russo is ready to live out her volleyball dreams.
After a high school career of leading the team, battling injuries and topping the league in hitting percentage, Russo will join Texas Tech University’s NCAA Division I team next fall.
“I’m really looking forward to playing that super high level, training at a super high level and just taking that jump into college volleyball,” Russo said.
But the varsity captain and club nationals qualifier’s road to DI wasn’t short or easy. Russo started playing volleyball in just fifth grade, following in her sister’s footsteps. She quickly joined her first competitive team at Academy Volleyball Club, where she began dedicating her life to the game.
“Around 12 years old, I stopped doing everything else to just focus on volleyball,” Russo said. “We were traveling to different states and doing really well at tournaments. It was a lot of volleyball, but it was super fun with all my friends.”
It only got more serious as she entered high school. At LAHS, Russo made the varsity team as a freshman and immediately started as one of its top players. The outside hitter led the league-winning girls in serving aces, kills per set and hitting percentage – and that was just year one.
“My first impression of her was that she’s a talented player and she played very well freshman year,” LAHS varsity head coach Peter Kim said.
Sophomore year, Russo opted to stay out of the school season due to a shoulder injury. Returning as a junior, she continued holding the team leaderboard.
“She’s our strongest outside and she can really put the ball down,” LAHS teammate Ella McFarlane said. “Her defense is also great – when she goes back row, it really does make a difference.”
This fall season, Russo not only remained a leader on the court, but also co-captained the team to a SCVAL De Anza Division title and a Central Coast Section Open Division berth, losing to St. Francis in the quarterfinals. The season ended with a first round exit in the CIF Division I NorCal playoffs against Clovis.
“It’s been really cool motivating everyone and saying, ‘We know we can win league,’” Russo said. “It’s been a full circle moment, being a captain and helping the freshmen, like the captains did when I was a freshman on varsity.”
Kim said Russo’s technical skills and clutch factor are her strongest skills.
“When we needed a big point – a big play – she came through,” Kim said. “The girls on the team really look at that and say, ‘We can do this, and we just need to stay focused and calm.’”On the club side, Russo has played on top teams in the Bay Area – at Academy and now at Vision Volleyball Club – qualifying for club nationals for the last six years. Russo said playing at nationals every summer has been one of the highlights of her volleyball career.
“It’s just super cool to build up your whole season and play against girls that you’re going to face in college and some of the best recruits, at nationals,” Russo said.
Speaking of recruitment, Russo’s immediate impact on the LAHS varsity team as a freshman led her to first consider playing in college. Russo said she started sending out game film and emails to college coaches every few months until the end of her sophomore year. On June 15 of that year, college coaches were officially allowed to reach out and recruit her.
For Russo, that day was filled with phone calls, texts and emails all about her next step after high school.
“I got a bunch of interests, which was very overwhelming, but it’s what you’ve been building up to,” Russo said.
That August, she started going on official visits, including to Texas Tech in the Big 12 conference. And shortly after, in September, Russo committed to the school as a junior.
“I really liked the school, the coaches and the girls,” Russo said. “I was looking for a good coaching staff – seeing my sister falling out of love with the sport because of bad coaches, that was super important to me. And I really wanted to play at a high level, at a Power Four school.”
With the school season now wrapping up and her last club season just ahead, Russo is ready to make her last year the best.
“For club, I want to just have fun with my friends and medal as much as we can,” Russo said. “It’s just super exciting, this being my last year of club.”
