Avital Jaloba

Volleyball Shawn Moran

From Israeli Army to Sun Devil Volleyball

By Shawn Moran, Sun Devil Athletics Feature Writer
TEMPE, Ariz. -- After graduating high school, Avital Jaloba was responsible for defending more than the net on a court.

She was one of many responsible for defending a nation.

Jaloba, a freshman on the 13-5 Arizona State volleyball team, grew up in Israel where each female citizen is required to serve two years in the Israel Defense Forces. In the United States, most recent high school graduates are heading off to college or looking for a full-time job. Jaloba's unique journey had her serving in the Army while also competing on the Israel senior national team with women twice her age as a teenager.

"When I was on the senior national team, there was girls that were like 30, or even 40," Jaloba said. "They were all 30-something and I was 16 or 17."

Jaloba had been preparing for her spot on the national team through an intense practice schedule while she was attending a boarding school for athletes.

"We were waking up, we'd practice from six until eight and then we went to school," Jaloba said. "Then we came back and we had practice from three until six."

After earning a spot on the senior national team, Jaloba stopped attending school and filled her curriculum with morning practices that spanned four hours. Even after joining the Army, Jaloba was still required to practice for three hours a day with her club.

With the military requirement, Jaloba always knew she would have to serve her country after high school graduation. She has also known for a long time that she would be coming to play college volleyball in the United States.

"I think in eighth grade I just knew that I would come to America to play in college," Jaloba said.

In order for her to do that, she would need to pass some standardized testing and also gain interest from universities around the United States. By the time she was in her second year serving in the Army, she had received her SAT score and was sending out a highlight video to Division I volleyball coaches. Jaloba's video, and personality, caught the eye of a foreign-born coach who had just taken over the head coaching job at Arizona State.

"A lot of people were watching the video that she sent us and talking to her and we had really good conversations," said Sanja Tomasevic, a native of Serbia. "She was very mature in our conversations. She knew what she wanted. I don't think it was hard recruiting her, it was fun recruiting her."

Jaloba added, "We sent out (the highlight tape) to a lot of colleges and I got a lot of people that wanted me. I talked to a lot of them and I don't know why, but my first call was with Sanja. She just gave me a feeling that this is the place that I belong and this is home."

After less than a month of consideration, Jaloba decided that ASU was the best fit for her in the next part of her journey. In addition to Tomasevic, the other foreign players on the roster played a significant role in luring Jaloba to Tempe. In fact, Jaloba did not see herself committing anywhere that did not have another foreign player because she likes to have people around who understand her and can relate to being so far from home.

"I would never go to a team that would be just Americans," Jaloba said. "And the fact that we have two foreign coaches also helped."

One of her best friends on the team, sophomore Carmen Unzue, is from Spain. She can relate to the experiences that Jaloba is enduring in her first season on the court, as well as life outside of volleyball.

"I could tell some differences and I was having a hard time to make myself understand other people," Unzue said. "Now that I'm used to it, I can help these new foreigners to make their lives easier. I actually see Avital as myself when I was a freshman, so I can help her a lot because I went through the same thing."

To go along with Unzue, Jaloba also has three other foreign-born ASU teammates to lean on in Danica Krstonosic (Serbia), Ivana Jeremic (Serbia) and Megan Beedie (Canada).

Tomasevic says that the infusion of young foreign talent on the roster was not planned.

"We always want to bring the best players we can bring at that point here. If that's an American, that's an American. If it's a Canadian, it's a Canadian. And if it's a Bosnian, it's a Bosnian. Whatever it is, we will make sure we have the best players we can put our hands on to get them here."

Although Jaloba has not seen much regular action yet, whether she is on the court or on the bench the freshman is vibrant and uses her humor to ease the tension when things are tough.

"She is just a hilarious human being," Tomasevic said. "Her energy is something that is always ... great to have on the court and around us. She gets people going and she can identify when a player is having a bad day and she will cheer them up real fast."

After past seasons, it was obvious that ASU volleyball would benefit from an infusion of toughness and vitality to be competitive in the very deep Pac-12 conference.

Unzue believes Jaloba can bring just that to the program.

"She has a ton of energy and she brings a lot of communication and attitude. I think it's good for the team because we used to have a really timid team and looking to our past season, we need people with more hunger and more energy, and I think Avi is perfect for that."

Jaloba is still easing into her surroundings and is enjoying getting to know her new teammates and university. After serving in the Israel Defense Forces and competing with the senior national team, there should not be a task too big to handle for Jaloba.

"If she could withstand that, she can withstand being a student-athlete," Tomasevic said.

Now that she is back to only defending the net on the court, Jaloba is excited for what her future as a Sun Devil holds.

"I'm just happy to be here and be a part of this."
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Players Mentioned

Megan Beedie

#17 Megan Beedie

MB
6' 1"
Sophomore
Ivana Jeremic

#21 Ivana Jeremic

OH
6' 1"
Junior
Carmen Unzue

#5 Carmen Unzue

MB
6' 2"
Senior
Avital Jaloba

#4 Avital Jaloba

MB
6' 1"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Megan Beedie

#17 Megan Beedie

6' 1"
Sophomore
MB
Ivana Jeremic

#21 Ivana Jeremic

6' 1"
Junior
OH
Carmen Unzue

#5 Carmen Unzue

6' 2"
Senior
MB
Avital Jaloba

#4 Avital Jaloba

6' 1"
Freshman
MB