By Sun Devil media relations intern Mikala Morris
Most freshmen go through quite a transition in their first year of college athletics. They move away from home for the first time and get used to life without their families nearby. They have to adjust to living in a new city, at a new school, new friends and new teammates. For Sun Devil volleyball freshman outside hitter Iman Isanovic, starting all over in a new city was far too familiar.
"I had a really unique journey," Isanovic said. "I haven't lived at home in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, with my parents since 2016. I finished high school in Slovenia, was there for three years and then eventually ended up here in Tempe."
At the age of 15, Isanovic left her small suburb mountain town outside of Sarajevo to pursue a better education and a more competitive volleyball environment, and was living on her own in a dorm room in a country full of people that didn't speak her native language.
"I wanted to get better in every field, school wise and volleyball wise." Isanovic said. "Slovenia has a lot more opportunities to play competitively in their leagues than where I was playing in Bosnia. All around, they invest in volleyball a lot more - so that's what influenced me to go there."
When Isanovic first arrived in Slovenia, she experienced a huge culture shock. In the Balkan region, she was exposed to people who spoke multiple languages, anything from the native Slovenian language to Croatian, to Serbian and even English. It taught her the value of learning new languages as she picked up Slovenian and Italian while she was away at school. Learning two new languages showed her how she could learn more about herself and others.
"When you know more languages, your world is just a lot more colorful," Isanovic said. "I always have the feeling that when I'm talking in a different language, I unlock different aspects of my personality. When you're speaking more than one language, you end up adapting your thinking."
It wasn't always easy for her.
Isanovic, an avid learner who strongly values her education, was devastated to learn due to the language barrier that she would have to repeat a grade in the Slovenian education system.
"They insisted that I repeat a year so it would be easier to go through the class materials while learning a new language," Isanovic stated. "So I had to basically re-do the same stuff for a year and also learn a new language, which was super frustrating for me because I'm very driven in school. But if I didn't repeat that class, I wouldn't be here. I could've missed an opportunity to go to college here. So I don't regret it."
Despite this adversity, she continued to learn through her education and grow as a volleyball player. Isanovic got the opportunity to play on the Bosnia-Herzegovina National Team that played in the 2019 Confédération Européenne de Volleyball (CEV) European Championship.
Through this experience, Isanovic earned the opportunity to play with older, veteran volleyball players who play professionally in Europe or at the collegiate level. One of her close friends on the national team was a former player of ASU head coach Sanja Tomasevic when Tomasevic was at the University of San Antonio. She introduced Isanovic to Tomasevic and before you knew it, Isanovic was on a plane to Tempe.
"I had a really big decision to make. I didn't know if I should go pro somewhere in Europe or go to America and go to college," Isanovic said. "But the thing that really caught my eye about Arizona State was that I could get the best of both worlds. I could get a really good education while playing in the Pac-12, one of the strongest conferences you can find. I've played against so many good teams and good players while training with some incredible, incredible girls. I instantly knew that I wanted to come here."
Since Isanovic has joined the Sun Devils, she's made quite an impact. She's played in 22 matches as a true freshman, earning 172 kills on the season with 2.39 kills/set. She's also produced defensively with 50 digs, nine solo blocks and 24 block assists.
The transition for Isanovic from playing with the national team and her experiences in Slovenia to playing the Sun Devils' style of volleyball wasn't simple. She was exposed to an entirely different offense and style of play and it took Isanovic a long time to feel comfortable being uncomfortable.
"Here, volleyball is so much different than what I was used to. Now I'm pretty comfortable with it but when I first got here, I had to adjust significantly," Isanovic said. "I feel like when foreigners come to a new program, it takes time to process moving to a new country alone, but the style of volleyball is also so different."
Isanovic had to shift from playing in a 5-1 offense to a modified 6-2. She had to re-learn her timing in her approach with new setters who set at a faster tempo than she had ever seen before. She had to learn new kinds of sets, what it's like using more substitutions in your rotations, and how to play in front of a boisterous home crowd. Yet, Isanovic is thankful for all of these experiences.
In a monster performance against then-No. 21 Washington State, where the Sun Devils upset the Cougars in five sets, Isanovic put away 20 kills while producing a .356 hitting average. Following that weekend, Isanovic was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week, the first time a Sun Devil earned the award since 2012.
"It was nice for my hard work to get recognized, because I worked really hard and it was really tough for me to adjust to playing collegiate volleyball in the beginning," Isanovic said. "But I don't want the recognition for the award to define me. It adds maybe a bit more pressure, but I don't mind it."
When she looks back and reflects on her journey to Tempe, Isanovic thinks back to her time in Slovenia. How it not only made her a better player who could compete at such a high level of volleyball, but how it also put her in the right mindset to be successful at anything she sets out to do.
"It definitely shaped me into the person that I am today and I'm really happy to say that I like who I am today," Isanovic reflected. "I'm just grateful for that opportunity. I met a lot of really cool people, I got a taste of what the world is like and what it's like to be independent at a young age."
The Sun Devils are back at Desert Financial Arena this weekend, hosting No. 5 Stanford on Thursday and No. 20 California on Sunday.
Most freshmen go through quite a transition in their first year of college athletics. They move away from home for the first time and get used to life without their families nearby. They have to adjust to living in a new city, at a new school, new friends and new teammates. For Sun Devil volleyball freshman outside hitter Iman Isanovic, starting all over in a new city was far too familiar.
"I had a really unique journey," Isanovic said. "I haven't lived at home in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, with my parents since 2016. I finished high school in Slovenia, was there for three years and then eventually ended up here in Tempe."
At the age of 15, Isanovic left her small suburb mountain town outside of Sarajevo to pursue a better education and a more competitive volleyball environment, and was living on her own in a dorm room in a country full of people that didn't speak her native language.
"I wanted to get better in every field, school wise and volleyball wise." Isanovic said. "Slovenia has a lot more opportunities to play competitively in their leagues than where I was playing in Bosnia. All around, they invest in volleyball a lot more - so that's what influenced me to go there."
When Isanovic first arrived in Slovenia, she experienced a huge culture shock. In the Balkan region, she was exposed to people who spoke multiple languages, anything from the native Slovenian language to Croatian, to Serbian and even English. It taught her the value of learning new languages as she picked up Slovenian and Italian while she was away at school. Learning two new languages showed her how she could learn more about herself and others.
"When you know more languages, your world is just a lot more colorful," Isanovic said. "I always have the feeling that when I'm talking in a different language, I unlock different aspects of my personality. When you're speaking more than one language, you end up adapting your thinking."
It wasn't always easy for her.
Isanovic, an avid learner who strongly values her education, was devastated to learn due to the language barrier that she would have to repeat a grade in the Slovenian education system.
"They insisted that I repeat a year so it would be easier to go through the class materials while learning a new language," Isanovic stated. "So I had to basically re-do the same stuff for a year and also learn a new language, which was super frustrating for me because I'm very driven in school. But if I didn't repeat that class, I wouldn't be here. I could've missed an opportunity to go to college here. So I don't regret it."
Despite this adversity, she continued to learn through her education and grow as a volleyball player. Isanovic got the opportunity to play on the Bosnia-Herzegovina National Team that played in the 2019 Confédération Européenne de Volleyball (CEV) European Championship.
Through this experience, Isanovic earned the opportunity to play with older, veteran volleyball players who play professionally in Europe or at the collegiate level. One of her close friends on the national team was a former player of ASU head coach Sanja Tomasevic when Tomasevic was at the University of San Antonio. She introduced Isanovic to Tomasevic and before you knew it, Isanovic was on a plane to Tempe.
"I had a really big decision to make. I didn't know if I should go pro somewhere in Europe or go to America and go to college," Isanovic said. "But the thing that really caught my eye about Arizona State was that I could get the best of both worlds. I could get a really good education while playing in the Pac-12, one of the strongest conferences you can find. I've played against so many good teams and good players while training with some incredible, incredible girls. I instantly knew that I wanted to come here."
Since Isanovic has joined the Sun Devils, she's made quite an impact. She's played in 22 matches as a true freshman, earning 172 kills on the season with 2.39 kills/set. She's also produced defensively with 50 digs, nine solo blocks and 24 block assists.
The transition for Isanovic from playing with the national team and her experiences in Slovenia to playing the Sun Devils' style of volleyball wasn't simple. She was exposed to an entirely different offense and style of play and it took Isanovic a long time to feel comfortable being uncomfortable.
"Here, volleyball is so much different than what I was used to. Now I'm pretty comfortable with it but when I first got here, I had to adjust significantly," Isanovic said. "I feel like when foreigners come to a new program, it takes time to process moving to a new country alone, but the style of volleyball is also so different."
Isanovic had to shift from playing in a 5-1 offense to a modified 6-2. She had to re-learn her timing in her approach with new setters who set at a faster tempo than she had ever seen before. She had to learn new kinds of sets, what it's like using more substitutions in your rotations, and how to play in front of a boisterous home crowd. Yet, Isanovic is thankful for all of these experiences.
In a monster performance against then-No. 21 Washington State, where the Sun Devils upset the Cougars in five sets, Isanovic put away 20 kills while producing a .356 hitting average. Following that weekend, Isanovic was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week, the first time a Sun Devil earned the award since 2012.
?? PAC-12 FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK ??
— Sun Devil Volleyball (@SunDevilVB) October 21, 2019
Congrats to Iman Isanovic, the first Sun Devil to earn this award since 2012! ?? pic.twitter.com/5enC0O558y
"It was nice for my hard work to get recognized, because I worked really hard and it was really tough for me to adjust to playing collegiate volleyball in the beginning," Isanovic said. "But I don't want the recognition for the award to define me. It adds maybe a bit more pressure, but I don't mind it."
When she looks back and reflects on her journey to Tempe, Isanovic thinks back to her time in Slovenia. How it not only made her a better player who could compete at such a high level of volleyball, but how it also put her in the right mindset to be successful at anything she sets out to do.
"It definitely shaped me into the person that I am today and I'm really happy to say that I like who I am today," Isanovic reflected. "I'm just grateful for that opportunity. I met a lot of really cool people, I got a taste of what the world is like and what it's like to be independent at a young age."
The Sun Devils are back at Desert Financial Arena this weekend, hosting No. 5 Stanford on Thursday and No. 20 California on Sunday.