Looming at 6 feet 9 inches, freshman Nick Vogel stands out on campus.
With a scruffy beard and wild hair-do, Vogel stands out at practices for the UCLA men’s volleyball team.
Vogel has also stood out on the court, earning considerable playing time this season as a freshman.
Emerging as an energetic, role player off the bench, Vogel has been an asset by providing depth at the quick hitter position for the Bruins.
But unlike fellow volleyball players, who have been involved in the sport since childhood, Vogel’s journey to volleyball is truly unique.
“I wouldn’t say I’m supernaturally talented or anything,” Vogel said. “I just sort of fell into (volleyball).”
After pounding 14 kills to help the Bruins defeat Stanford earlier this season, Vogel’s productivity mirrors that of a longtime volleyball player, or at least a freakishly talented athlete.
But Vogel did not begin playing volleyball until his sophomore season in high school ““ less than four years ago. Instead, Vogel grew up playing soccer and tennis, a sport that he took up when he was 5 years old. Vogel lettered in tennis as a high school freshman.
“Tennis season was always volleyball season in high school,” Vogel said. “So freshman year, (volleyball) wasn’t even an option.”
With such a short time to learn the technicalities of a new sport, Vogel’s path to volleyball stardom and a UCLA athletic scholarship has been nothing short of extraordinary.
A late start
As a tall and lanky high school freshman, Vogel frequently experienced urges to play high school volleyball.
But he never played until friends compelled him to hit a few balls in the gym during 10th grade.
Then he was hooked.
Quickly falling in love with the sport, Vogel joined the Steele Canyon High School boys’ volleyball team as a sophomore.
“I remember talking to my mom one of the first nights after I first started playing volleyball … about how much I liked it,” Vogel said. “It just sort of came to me.”
For Vogel, the transition from tennis to volleyball was seamless, as he earned a varsity letter in his first season with the team.
“There are a lot of similarities from tennis to volleyball, just certain arm motions and the serve,” Vogel said.
The switch went smoothly, and Vogel played his last three prep seasons on the Epic Volleyball Club, serving as the team’s captain during his senior year. The club earned a silver medal at the 2008 Junior Olympics.
Yet another switch
For Vogel, success carried over from Epic Volleyball Club to his high school’s volleyball team. But after three years at Steele Canyon, Vogel and his family noticed a change in the school.
“Towards the end of my third year, there was a lot of talk about (Steele Canyon) turning into a charter school and a lot of replacement of people in the counselor department,” Vogel said.
“We felt, especially with a lot of changes being made with the faculty, it was a good time to change schools and try something new.”
So Vogel made the minor move to Valhalla High School, which is located just four miles from Steele Canyon.
“I was really surprised,” Vogel said. “Everything at (Valhalla) ran very efficiently. I knew two or three people there, and by the second week I felt like I had been there all four years, so everything just slipped into place.”
Vogel adapted quickly to the transition on the court, as well.
But he didn’t have the pressure to be Valhalla’s star. Vogel’s current UCLA teammate, freshman quick hitter Thomas Amberg, was already established.
“Thomas and I just had a great time playing together,” Vogel said. “We got to know each other pretty well. It was such a good experience to have someone like that on my team.”
With the duo quickly meshing together, Valhalla’s volleyball team dominated the Grossmont South League. Both Amberg and Vogel earned CIF Division II first-team honors.
“(Vogel) always brought this fire on the court,” Amberg said. “Having another player who can come on and … even out the work load was really fun to play with and really improved our team.”
College transition
Now at UCLA, Vogel has embraced everything about a university with a student population of almost 40,000.
“I totally love it here,” Vogel said. “It’s just such an incredible experience to be an athlete at a wonderful school like this.”
“It’s really cool to be playing in front of fans. We don’t come close to filling Pauley Pavilion, but at a high school, where occasionally I’ll have games of literally two fans, having 800 to a thousand people is really cool.”
Though Vogel plays behind redshirt senior D.J. Stromath and Amberg, he sees significant playing time because of his blocking prowess. Coach Al Scates also praises his maturity and energetic playing style.
“He has a lot of enthusiasm and brings a lot of passion to the sport,” Scates said. “I love to have him on the court ““ he fires guys up.”
Vogel’s presence on the court has been vital for a young Bruin team. Even though things on the court seem to be going according to plan, life outside of volleyball remains vital for Vogel.
Beyond volleyball
When people think of English students, they hardly think of somebody with Vogel’s personality.
Vogel adds that he is not trying to create a facade of being an energetic, outgoing player on the court.
“When I get into something as cool as volleyball and Pauley Pavilion and UCLA, it’s really easy to get completely fired up in front of a bunch of people,” Vogel said. “It’s just always been the way I have played, especially in volleyball because it’s such an emotion-driven game.”
And Vogel is equally energetic about his goals in life.
“I want to put myself in a line of teaching,” Vogel said. “Something I’m extremely interested in is teaching English as a second language in another country.”
At UCLA, English students are required to take five quarters of a foreign language, and Vogel hopes to use this as an opportunity to learn another language so he can teach English abroad.
“I have to figure out what language I want to take in terms of what direction I want to head if I teach abroad,” Vogel said.
Vogel is most interested in teaching in Africa, Thailand or India.
Teaching abroad, though, is not something foreign to the Vogel family.
“In (my dad’s) travels back in the ’70s he found his way to India and made his way to an Ashram at the base of the Himalayas,” Vogel said. “He began teaching meditation there.”
“The Sages there began inviting him back year after year, so he goes almost every other year and goes up and stays about six weeks in the Himalayas.”
This summer, Vogel explained, he plans on going to India with his father.
Whether he’s slamming a kill to solidify a Bruin victory or working to become an English teacher, Vogel is not a typical NCAA athlete. And that’s what makes him stand out most.