Junior from Belgium has most kills, points on USC volleyball team
Although Juliette Thévenin has more kills and points than anyone else on the South Carolina volleyball team, leadership has never come easy for her.
“I try to be a leader,” Thévenin said. “I never used to be a leader on any team I played on. But I try to be a leader because I know I get the most sets and I’m the one that scores the most. I try to be a leader in general. It’s not easy, though.”
Thévenin’s long career in volleyball began at the age of 3. Prior to playing at USC, the junior outside hitter was a member of Belgium’s junior national team and helped her club team, Dauphines Charleroi, win a national title.
The decision to move to the U.S. brought with it a challenging transition process, not only on the court but also in language and culture. But in her third year as a Gamecock, Thévenin said she not only tries to lead but is also able to blend with her American teammates.
“I think I’m used to it now,” Thévenin said. “My freshman year, I felt like a foreign girl. Now even my teammates tell me every day, ‘You look so American. You don’t look foreign to us anymore.’ I feel like I’m home right now.”
After Ben Somera, USC’s former volleyball coach, visited Belgium to recruit her, Thévenin weighed offers from South Carolina, Washington and West Virginia. She had previously visited the U.S. because her uncle lives in New York City.
“[Playing in the U.S.] has been a dream since I started playing because the U.S. is so big for us in Europe,” Thévenin said. “[USC] offered me a scholarship, and I thought about it and almost said no. I didn’t want to leave my family and friends and everything. But it was such a great experience. So I was like, why not? Let’s give it a try.”
Thévenin left her parents, an older sister and a younger brother in Belgium. She said she talks to her family once a week over Skype, but she misses the advice her father used to give her about volleyball. He played on the Belgian national team and coached her for eight years.
Her sister no longer plays volleyball, but her brother competes in the sport.
“He looks up to me a lot,” she said. “He wears my number. I don’t know if he’s thinking about coming to the U.S. because he’s still only 13. But why not?”
Asked whether the level of play is higher in the SEC or back home, Thévenin said it was hard to compare them.
“I ask myself that question every day,” Thévenin said. “It’s so much different. It’s way slower in Belgium. When we played the Slovenian national team, it reminded me. It’s crazy how much slower volleyball is in Belgium. I feel like there’s a lot more communication here. It’s really quiet back in Europe.”
Led by Thévenin on offense, this year’s USC team was undefeated in nonconference play, and its win over LSU gave it 13 consecutive victories to start the season for the first time in school history. The junior said the dynamics on the team have been the biggest difference.
“The chemistry is so different (this year),” she said. “We’re all so close. We support each other, even if we’re not having a good game. I feel like last year we would have given up, but this year we fight for every ball. Even if we’re down 2-0 and 20-16, we’re still going to fight.”
Since their strong start, the Gamecocks have lost four consecutive SEC matches. Thévenin said facing Auburn and Tennessee, both of which handed USC 3-1 losses, was a learning experience for the team’s freshmen.
“We didn’t play bad,” Thévenin said. “We just have to get used to playing other teams with their crowds ... We fought the whole game against Auburn — and Tennessee, too. We almost got two sets from Tennessee ... It wasn’t a bad loss. It was just that they were better.”
The Gamecocks finished last season with a 5-15 conference record. Thévenin said USC has not been discouraged by its recent struggles and still looks forward to improving on last year’s results.
“I think there is so much talent on this team,” Thévenin said. “I think what we’ve done so far with the young players that we have is already amazing. If we keep playing hard and working hard in practice, I think we can go really far.”