Dig R Knights: Anastasiia Maksimova
Sep 18 | Women's Volleyball
For Anastasiia Maksimova – or Maks (pronounced Max) as her teammates call her – volleyball is a family affair.
Her grandfather played volleyball. Her dad played volleyball. Her mom played volleyball and currently coaches children back in Russia. And then came Nastia, as she's called back home.
In fact, volleyball was such a natural part of Maksimova's life that when she was brought to her grandfather's and father's practices and matches as a child, it was those sounds that soothed her to sleep.
Soon though, the court came calling for Maksimova.
"My father was like 'okay, you have to start playing volleyball, you see everyone is playing'," she recalled.
Even though volleyball was in Maksimova's genes, her first thoughts were, "No I hate volleyball. I don't want to do this," and her father had to convince her to play."
Maksimova turned her attention to badminton, but little did she know that her badminton coach happened to know her father and his love of volleyball.
"The coach asked me to stay afterward to play a little volleyball and ever since then I've been playing."
After a year or so, Maksimova's grandfather and father decided to coach her.
Although he passed away two years ago, Maksimova can still hear her volleyball obsessed grandfather saying "Maks, let's go. You can do it" and his enthusiasm was contagious.
"He really believed in me that I was going to play at the highest level," she remembered. "My father also taught me that you have to love what you are doing. You can't be successful if you don't love what you are doing."
Enthusiasm and a love of coaching is something Maksimova also sees in the new coaching staff.
"The energy is amazing during practices and we all like it," she mentioned. "We don't know what to expect when we go into each practice. It is a lot of fun."
"Caitlin (Schweihofer) is task-oriented," noted Maksimova of the Scarlet Knights' first-year head coach. "Whenever she comes to practice she's very energized and we can see that she wants to make this program better. And it's like that way every single practice."
Maksimova also sees the same type of liveliness from the assistant coaches.
"Robbie (Belden) is playing with us all the time and he's very competitive. He's the one blocking me, getting me to improve my hitting. He's good at that skill and although I sometimes I joke 'please stop', he gives us a jolt of energy.
"Steve (Santonastaso) is the one who sees the little things that no one else will see. He's really specific and we appreciate it. I'll change something he says and it works.
"Scott (Schweihofer) is very friendly and supportive and also very funny. He was an outside hitter, the same position I play, and he tells us about his experiences and it's very helpful. He was in our shoes before.
"Emily (Rocherfort) is very, very helpful, especially in the beginning when we were trying to come back to campus. If I have an issue, she's just like 'don't worry, I'll help you'."
All the energy and enthusiasm from the staff is something that has rubbed off on the Scarlet Knights.
"I think we are really motivated right now, even though we don't have games," said Maksimova. "We really want to work hard and be better than we were the day before. You cannot just go through the motions to work and improve. The staff makes the drills very competitive and it makes us want to win."
While Maksimova is enjoying her Scarlet Knight volleyball family, she does miss her biological volleyball family back home in Ulyanovsk, Russia eight time zones away. Technology, however, has made being away from home easier using FaceTime to talk to her family every day.
In the meantime, Maksimova concentrates her efforts on Rutgers improving its standing in the Big Ten.
Last season, the rising junior outside hitter swung for a career-high 17 kills as Rutgers captured its own invitational title. She also had double-digit kills in the conference victories over Northwestern and Iowa helping RU to its best year in the Big Ten since joining the league in 2014.
"We are going to be better," said Maksimova. "It takes time, but I think Caitlin (Schweihofer) and the other coaches will change this program."
And just like Maksimova's grandfather told her when she was younger – "Maks, let's go. You can do it."
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Her grandfather played volleyball. Her dad played volleyball. Her mom played volleyball and currently coaches children back in Russia. And then came Nastia, as she's called back home.
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Soon though, the court came calling for Maksimova.
"My father was like 'okay, you have to start playing volleyball, you see everyone is playing'," she recalled.
Even though volleyball was in Maksimova's genes, her first thoughts were, "No I hate volleyball. I don't want to do this," and her father had to convince her to play."
Maksimova turned her attention to badminton, but little did she know that her badminton coach happened to know her father and his love of volleyball.
"The coach asked me to stay afterward to play a little volleyball and ever since then I've been playing."
After a year or so, Maksimova's grandfather and father decided to coach her.
Although he passed away two years ago, Maksimova can still hear her volleyball obsessed grandfather saying "Maks, let's go. You can do it" and his enthusiasm was contagious.
"He really believed in me that I was going to play at the highest level," she remembered. "My father also taught me that you have to love what you are doing. You can't be successful if you don't love what you are doing."
Enthusiasm and a love of coaching is something Maksimova also sees in the new coaching staff.
"The energy is amazing during practices and we all like it," she mentioned. "We don't know what to expect when we go into each practice. It is a lot of fun."
"Caitlin (Schweihofer) is task-oriented," noted Maksimova of the Scarlet Knights' first-year head coach. "Whenever she comes to practice she's very energized and we can see that she wants to make this program better. And it's like that way every single practice."
Maksimova also sees the same type of liveliness from the assistant coaches.
"Robbie (Belden) is playing with us all the time and he's very competitive. He's the one blocking me, getting me to improve my hitting. He's good at that skill and although I sometimes I joke 'please stop', he gives us a jolt of energy.
"Steve (Santonastaso) is the one who sees the little things that no one else will see. He's really specific and we appreciate it. I'll change something he says and it works.
"Scott (Schweihofer) is very friendly and supportive and also very funny. He was an outside hitter, the same position I play, and he tells us about his experiences and it's very helpful. He was in our shoes before.
"Emily (Rocherfort) is very, very helpful, especially in the beginning when we were trying to come back to campus. If I have an issue, she's just like 'don't worry, I'll help you'."
All the energy and enthusiasm from the staff is something that has rubbed off on the Scarlet Knights.
"I think we are really motivated right now, even though we don't have games," said Maksimova. "We really want to work hard and be better than we were the day before. You cannot just go through the motions to work and improve. The staff makes the drills very competitive and it makes us want to win."
While Maksimova is enjoying her Scarlet Knight volleyball family, she does miss her biological volleyball family back home in Ulyanovsk, Russia eight time zones away. Technology, however, has made being away from home easier using FaceTime to talk to her family every day.
In the meantime, Maksimova concentrates her efforts on Rutgers improving its standing in the Big Ten.
Last season, the rising junior outside hitter swung for a career-high 17 kills as Rutgers captured its own invitational title. She also had double-digit kills in the conference victories over Northwestern and Iowa helping RU to its best year in the Big Ten since joining the league in 2014.
"We are going to be better," said Maksimova. "It takes time, but I think Caitlin (Schweihofer) and the other coaches will change this program."
And just like Maksimova's grandfather told her when she was younger – "Maks, let's go. You can do it."
Follow Rutgers women's volleyball on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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