Coming from a different country to California was a big change, but freshman outside hitter Nickeisha Williams found a new home on the volleyball court.

The 18-year-old was born in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, where she grew up with her grandmother and older sister.

Williams and her sister didn’t grow up with her mother because she lived on a different island where education and opportunities were not available.

“When she was younger it was harder for her to be someone,” Williams said. “So, she wanted us to have a better life and not go through the same thing she went through.”

When Williams was in the fifth grade, her mother and sister moved to the California where Williams found her passion during her physical education class when she was in middle school.

“I saw this girl with a volleyball and I asked her ‘can I use your volleyball?’ and she’s like ‘yeah sure,’” Williams said. “I asked her why she had the volleyball and she told me there was tryouts, she was going to the Narbonne tryouts.”

Williams invited a friend to go to the Narbonne High School volleyball tryouts with her just for fun, little did she know that she would make the junior varsity team her freshman year.

“I was more into track and basketball because that’s what I’ve been playing my whole life,” Williams said. “I didn’t know I was going to make the team.”

Williams played one year of basketball at Narbonne and chose to stick with volleyball for the rest of her high school career.

She was named Most Valuable Player and Best Blocker at Narbonne, but that wasn’t enough for her transition from high school volleyball to college volleyball.

“It’s hard and so much work. The workouts, the conditioning, the running, the practice, it’s a lot and the intensity is way more,” Williams said. “I know my team expects a lot from me and it’s hard for me to not be down and have energy all the time.”

Teammate sophomore outside hitter Darlene Lee thinks Williams brings a lot on the court for the team.

“She’s one of our strongest hitters and she can play in any position in the front row,” Lee said. “Being only a freshman, she’s improved a lot since she stepped foot into the gym the first day.”

As if it wasn’t tough enough just transitioning from high school to college volleyball, Williams gets down on herself at practices and games no matter the outcome.

“I do mess up and I get really mad when I mess up,” Williams said. “It’s hard for me not to be mad at myself because I feel like I’m letting my team down and I hate that feeling.”

Another teammate, outside hitter Kimberly Haney, thinks Williams will lead the team next season.

“Nickeisha is a great friend of mine with a great sense of humor,” Haney said. “She is getting stronger every day and will continue to be a major player next season for the Warriors.”