Victoria Barrett gives Towson Volleyball a big spark amidst historic season
By: Esti Lichtenberg, Contributing writer
Victoria Barrett, a 5’9” transfer from New Mexico State University, has been a powerful addition to the Towson Volleyball team. She has helped the team’s historic run this season with the best start in program history, a 24-1 record.
So far this season, Barrett has recorded 252 kills, 184 digs and has 314.5 points with a .240 hit percentage across 25 games. Barrett’s 252 kills are the most on the team, she ranks first on the team in total points, and second in digs.
Barrett’s volleyball career began at age 10 in her hometown Stafford, Virginia, following in the footsteps of her older sister, who went on to play at Virginia Wesleyan University. At 14-years-old, she began to take volleyball more seriously once she realized it was her golden ticket to receiving a free education in college.
It was not until the support of her high school coaches that she realized she could excel in the sport.
“Once I started taking volleyball seriously, I realized that I did want to play in college,” Barrett said. “I just didn’t realize how much I would like it.”
Before her time at Towson began, Barrett played one season at New Mexico State where she was named Western Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year and helped the Aggies secure their second straight WAC Regular Season Title. She added 36 service aces on offense and registered 228 digs throughout the season for the defense.
Barrett said it was extremely reassuring to hear how much the coaching staff really believed in her abilities as a player.
“[Victoria] is an athletic player even though she may be perceived as undersized at times,” Meti said. “If you don’t see her live you don’t understand her athleticism, her jumping ability. She’s her hardest critic. When she’s on, she’s a hard person to stop.”
Despite her short tenure with the team, Barrett has already had tremendous success. Barrett is second on the team with 29 service aces, with a season-high 18.5 points against Pittsburgh and again versus Elon.
“My favorite memory on the team so far was beating Pitt, for sure,” said Barrett. “I watched some of their players on TV before and playing against them was a really cool moment.”
Outside hitter Fay Bakodimou said she is already impressed by Barrett’s contributions to the team this season.
“It is refreshing to see even as a fifth-year, people that are new are taking our team culture seriously and are able to contribute a lot to the program,” Bakodimou said.
Bakodimou said this season’s offense has been one of the best Towson has ever had, and credits Barrett’s contributions for helping it reach that level. She said Barrett is a great teammate all around and that they can rely on each other for feedback on how to improve their shared position as outside hitters.
“She jumps high, she hits really hard,” Bakodimou said. “We’ve never had that many heavy arms on the squad and it’s great to see all around we have so many people that can do that. And she’s definitely one of those people.”
TU Volleyball is currently 24-1. Barrett has helped contribute to the team’s winning mentality that was already a part of the squad from prior years, on the heels of their three consecutive CAA Championships.
“My drive to win drives other people to want to win,” Barrett said.
Barrett said she is looking forward most to the CAA Tournament, and is hopeful that her team will be able to take her to her first-ever NCAA Tournament.
Towson’s next game will be Saturday, Nov. 12 at 1 p.m., when the team faces a two-game slate at home against Hofstra, a series that will decide the standings heading into the CAA Tournament.
