The Geneseo Knights volleyball team is off to a hot start thanks in large part to the play of junior Paige Pendleton. The 6-foot-1 middle from Oneida, New York is putting up career bests in kills per set at 1.86 and a hitting percentage of .297—impressive numbers for a team that has launched out to a 13-2 start, its best in recent years. But it is Pendleton’s off the court achievements that she says have contributed to the play this season. Pendleton participated in the Fellowship of Christian Athletes Volleyball program this summer as an intern. The FCA is an organization aimed to connect the youth with their faith. For 10 weeks this summer in California, the 18 interns would connect through their two passions: faith and volleyball.
“The main goal of FCA was being able to show kids that you can incorporate faith into sports, whether it be volleyball or any other sport,” Pendleton said. The FCA internship program consisted of college volleyball players from Division 1 through Division III. The first month consisted of sand volleyball workouts and the second month was for indoor court work.
“There were different responsibilities within each intern group,” she said. “Connecting with professional athletes who are strong in Christian faith and also working to show kids the positives of practicing your Christian faith [were some].”
Pendleton and the other interns spent about five weeks running four camps in California, which concluded with a large camp on the east coast with about 350 high school girls in South Carolina.
“I look to be a positive leader on the team, but at the same time we are all increasing our roles and all becoming leaders,” Pendleton said. “Everyone on this team has shown leadership ability, and we seem to be flowing and coming together.”
Pendleton and the Knights start SUNYAC play this weekend with a tournament at SUNY Oswego.