FCHS student Christina Walker did what most freshmen are too scared to try: try out for varsity. Earlier this year, Walker tried out for Lady Flucos’ varsity volleyball team, and to her joy, she made it. At just 14, she has accomplished many things since she started playing three years ago.

Walker was inspired by her older sister, Kayla Walker, who was on the Fluvanna volleyball team before she graduated. Christina saw her sister play and immediately fell in love with the idea of the sport. Now, she is determined to exceed the expectation her sister had set.

“It wasn’t bad trying out because I knew most of the girls before I tried out but I did have to gain self-confidence, but I have learned a lot from the older girls,” Christina Walker said. She was thrilled when she found out that she had made the team. During this season, she has enjoyed playing with older girls because it has given her time to experience what it like to compete at a higher level. She made many friends on the varsity team and also on the JV team too. “[She’s] very hardworking, very competitive, and you can tell that she loves volleyball,” noted Abby Sherman, Walker’s fellow teammate and friend.

“Volleyball has been my passion for so long because it’s my escape. I’ve learned how to let things go and just focus on what’s ahead,” said Walker. Ever since she was 11 she has lived for volleyball, but not just as entertainment or for a hobby; it is her escape too. Whenever she is feeling down, frustrated, or mad, she picks up a volleyball and starts playing. In fact, Walker would rather go to practice instead of going to school. “Christina is really passionate about volleyball. It’s the one sport she chose and stuck with it,” said her friend, Olivia Strickland. “She’s been playing since I can remember. She’s really good at volleyball too and she’s always teaching me how to serve or pass. When I watch her play she’s not really focused on anything else, just the game. She’s like, ‘in the zone’.”

Walker’s favorite quote is this: “There’s no failure in making mistakes, but you aren’t improving if you don’t make them.” She knows that mistakes are what make you better. When she messes up she might get frustrated, but she knows that she will improve as a player. She eagerly takes corrections and immediately starts to work on what she was told. She wants to perfect that and then get to the next problem and fix it also.

This season, Walker played the positions of outside and right hitter (the hitter is the person who is supposed to have the final hit and send it over the net to the other side). “Hitting takes work just like any other position,” said Walker. “It is fast paced, so before you hit the ball, you already have to know where and how to put the ball down.”

Walker plans on playing for the Fluvanna varsity volleyball team the rest of her high school career. When she graduates, she hopes to play for Liberty University. After that, she is thinking about playing professionally. For this young rising star, the sky’s the limit.