Former Lynn Volleball Player Continues Her Passion For The Sport While Staying Close To Home
By Ashlan Kelly
Staff Writer
After graduating with her bachelor’s degree in marketing, Cristina Llorens decided to return home to Spain in order to continue to play volleyball professionally.
Llorens is originally from Gijon, Spain, a beautiful city in the north. However, her journey in America began when she was 18 years old and it all began due to her love of volleyball.
Llorens accepted a volleyball scholarship at the College of Central Florida her freshman year, located in Ocala, Fla. Since then, she has been moving from place to place throughout the United States ever since.
After spending a year in Ocala, she decided to take another volleyball scholarship at North Central Texas College, in Gainesville, Texas. After her sophomore year of college came to a halt, Cristina made her move to Boca. She spent her junior and senior year of college attending Lynn on a volleyball scholarship and graduated in May of 2017.
“Once I graduated, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do next,” said Llorens. “I didn’t have any clue until I got a call from a professional volleyball team in Spain who offered to give me a full scholarship to get my master’s degree in marketing and communications if I decided to play for them. After hearing that, I didn’t have to think any further.”
Interestingly enough, there will be not one, but two fighting knights playing on this professional volleyball team. Claire Angelich, also a recent graduate and former member of the women’s volleyball team, will be joining Llorens on this adventure in Spain.
“I feel extremely lucky to be able to share this experience with Claire,” said Llorens. “She is not only a great volleyball player, but a great person to surround yourself with.”
Llorens’s day to day schedule is extremely busy, as she takes on four different part-time jobs while managing her time with volleyball practices, workouts and classes.
“It can be very stressful at times, but it is also very rewarding,” said Llorens.
“I continue to remind myself that everything that I am doing now is going to help to get me to where I want to be in the future.”
Looking back, Llorens would not change her journey of playing volleyball. Now, Llorens is looking to the future focusing on her career while playing the sport she loves.
“In the past couple of years one thing that I have learned is not to plan more than one year ahead,” said Llorens. “Right now I am working on my master’s degree and getting as much experience as I can. Who knows where I will be in five years. I would love to work in the sports industry, and my dream job is to become a TV reporter. There is so much stuff that I need to learn and experience in order to achieve my long-term goals in life.”
