GET TO KNOW YOUR SAINTS!

In this edition of “Getting to know your Saints!” we had the privilege to meet a few of the Mt. Hood volleyball players.

This week, Grace Buchanan, Lea’a Puleiala and Jaida Spendelow gave us a little bit of their time to talk with us about volleyball and other fun things.

Meet Lea’a Puleiala, a first-year student coming from Haleiwa, Hawaii. She heard of Mt. Hood through a friend who had previously played for the Saints. MHCC wasn’t her first choice; she had planned to go to the military after completing high school, the U.S. Coast Guard, to be specific. But she went ahead and sent Saints head coach Kristina Crivello an email with a season highlight video of her senior year.

One thing led to another, and Puleiala ended up coming for a summer visit and ended up falling in love with the campus. She had the chance to play with the team during some summer practices and knew at that point that she wanted to sign with the Saints.

“I liked that I was coming to a school which didn’t have a huge campus… a place where most people know each other,” Puleiala said. She has been enjoying college life so far but admits it’s hard to be away from home. “It’s tough… it’s rough to be away from family but it’s a first step to life, to get away from family and learn things on your own and be an independent person.”

Puleiala, an outside hitter, is often the only freshman in the starting lineup for the Saints this season. While currently out with an injury, her season goal is to be nominated to an NWAC Athlete of the Week award.

Jaida Spendelow is a sophomore transfer for the Saints this year. She is a Milwaukie town girl who attended Gladstone High School and after her senior year received an offer to play at a school in Wyoming. She took it, but after one year, wanted to be closer to home. She sent out some emails, including to rival Clackamas Community College, but quickly heard back from Mt. Hood. After meeting with Crivello, she fell in love with the coaching staff and decided to play for the Saints.

Spendelow was named in the all-tournament team for the Mt. Hood Crossover Tournament, held last month. It was a great achievement to consolidate her spot on the team as the designated defensive specialist.

“I was happy when I heard I was nominated,” she said. “It was like an achievement for those who didn’t believe in me. Like an ‘I told you so’ feeling, you know?”

Grace Buchanan, also listed as an outside hitter, is a returning sophomore who played volleyball and threw the javelin for the track and field team at Mt. Hood last year, earning All-American honors for the latter.

Asked if she preferred one sport over the other, she said, “I like them equally, I guess.” She paused for a second then said, laughing, “I enjoy more the one I’m currently not doing.”

Buchanan has grown to be a volleyball team leader this season, mostly over the last few games as the team is suffering with a couple of key injuries.