Fourth in a series
Part 3 - Maddi Vigil, Volleyball Freshman
Part 2 - Natalie Cabiad, Women's Soccer Freshman
Part 1 - Kylee Clarke, Volleyball Freshman

MSUB SPORTS – The Montana State University Billings volleyball team suited up for a home match at Alterowitz Gym, sporting its brand new gray jerseys up and down its lineup.
 
The Yellowjackets lined up for the National Anthem, matching from head to toe. Except for one.
 
Standing at 5-foot-2, freshman Izela Alvarez was adorned by MSUB's gold uniform signifying her role as the team's libero. The standout color represents her exemption from the rotational substitution rules employed by volleyball, and the No. 1 across her chest has come to represent much more than a jersey number.
 
"I'm not good at settling for average," said Alvarez, who is known within her team simply as 'Zel.'
 
Entering Thursday's match at No. 13 Northwest Nazarene, she is No. 1 in the entire Great Northwest Athletic Conference in digs with 5.69 per set. With four matches left this year, she is primed to reach No. 1 in the MSUB record books in single-season digs, needing just 49 more to break the school record of 577 set by Erin Compton in 2012.
 
MSUB Single Season Digs Leaders (As of Nov. 8, 2017)

Rank	Name	Digs	Season
1	Erin Compton	577	2012
2	Izela Alvarez	529	2017
3	Nicole Kruse	439	2006
4	Brandee Sayles	437	1997
	Gina Langer	437	1998

 
2017 GNAC Digs Per Set Leaders (As of Nov. 8, 2017)

Rank	Name	Digs/Set	School
1	Izela Alvarez	5.69	MSU Billings
2	Jayme Bratsberg	5.37	Simon Fraser
3	Keala Kaio-Perez	5.21	Alaska Anchorage
4	Kyla Morgan	5.12	Central Washington
5	Aubrey Buckner	4.99	Western Washington

"To have the kind of numbers she has as a freshman is very impressive," commented MSUB head coach Casey Williams on Alvarez's prowess not only within the team but across the entire conference. "We don't have to make adjustments very often because of how well she reads the game from the middle back position. She has been consistent for us no matter where the team has been."
 

Staring down the most dominant attackers in the conference from the other side of the net, few know which spot on the court the next spike is intended for before Alvarez. Lunging forward with fully-extended arms and sprinting laterally before a leaping, one-handed fist to the ball has made it clear that nobody covers as much range as the GNAC Freshman of the Year candidate. "There are a lot of balls I don't think I can get to, but I just go as hard as I can and I end up getting them," Alvarez commented on pursuit ball saves being her favorite aspect of volleyball. "I focus on the hitter's shoulders, whether or not she's going to hit the block and if there is a hole in the block. When they see an open spot on the court, I put a lot of effort into trying to sneak that way." 

A keen instinct and drive to reach seemingly impossible balls is what separates Alvarez from her defensive counterparts. The base behind her game however is impeccable footwork, a skill she developed through her first passion in life as a young child.
 
"I was determined to be a ballerina," Alvarez commented on the tap, ballet, and jazz dancing that consumed her time from ages 3 to 11. "I wanted to dance on Broadway."
 
Even as a 3-year-old Alvarez was a step ahead of her peers, her mother frequently reminding her of her young daughter's frustration as teachers

repeated moves and instructions for other young dancers. Alvarez traveled from her home town of Dumas, Texas, to Albuquerque, N.M., for competitions starting when she was eight. Pulling off a synchronized routine with up to nine other dancers gave Alvarez her first taste of working together with a unit. "You had to be in really good shape," Alvarez commented on dancing. "That's what made me good at athletics."
 
Alvarez made the decision to get into organized sports by taking up volleyball, although it was a close call as she had to look past her ambition to become a cheerleader. It wasn't defense that initially drew Alvarez to the sport however, as she immediately stood out as one of the top attacking players with the second-most kills on her junior-high A team. Wisely giving up big swings for preventing them on the opposite side of the ball, Alvarez emerged as the defensive specialist on the Dumas High School varsity team in her freshman year.
 
Playing behind Dumas HS liberos Leslie Nevarez and Haileigh Valenzuela may have been the best thing that could have happened to Alvarez, for the skill she learned from the upperclassmen as well as a future connection that would put her on Williams' coaching radar. "I first saw Zel as a freshman in high school, because I was recruiting some players that were ahead of her in Leslie and Haileigh," said Williams, who was then the head coach at Frank Phillips College in Borger, Texas. "I was immediately interested in her after watching her first year there. I knew she was a player who could step into a program right away and do her job. Dumas High has always been a strong representative for volleyball, and that was another thing that made her an attractive prospect for us here at MSUB." 
 
Alvarez's familiarity with Williams, as well as the commitment to MSUB by one of her high-school teammates played into her decision to become a Yellowjacket. Having junior outside hitter Katie Campbell, who transferred this year from New Mexico Military Institute, provided Alvarez with a sense of stability from the moment she set foot on campus. "I felt a lot better knowing Katie had committed here since we were high-school teammates," said Alvarez. "It was a big decision because it's so far away from home." 
 

If her performance on the court is any indication of Alvarez's adjustment to being 900 miles north of where she grew up, the change hasn't bothered her one bit. In her very first collegiate game against Minnesota State Moorhead on Sept. 1, Alvarez notched 38 digs which still stands as her personal season high. Since then, she has had four more 30-plus dig matches, and has reached double figures in digs in all but two matches.
 
There has been pressure on Alvarez from the start of the season, as she was given full trust by Williams to run the show defensively as a first-year player. Not only is Alvarez keeping the ball off the floor with her spectacular diving saves, but every touch she makes is done with an intent on placing the ball on target. She masterfully executes the passing role of the libero, adjusting for extra hang-time on a shot when her team needs to get into rhythm or for a quick touch to setters Kylee Clarke and Alexa Smythe when she senses an urgency to put the opponent under pressure with an attack.
 
Her composure showed more than ever in MSUB's opening GNAC match against the University of Alaska, which came down to a thrilling fifth set that the 'Jackets claimed 16-14 to win the match. Though Alvarez had 35 digs in the league victory, what she does with her mind and voice is often times just as impactful as what she does with her hands.
 
"Zel talks to our hitters on every single play, and lets them know what is open on the other side of the court," Williams said. "Our hitters have gotten used to listening to her, and she is very rarely wrong. That has been a big tool for us offensively to let our hitters know what's open."
 
Set to major in health and human performance, Alvarez has an interest in the area of therapy centered around sports. She'll spend the next four years completing her degree at MSUB, while building what she is confident will mature into one of the top teams in the conference. "We are excited because we always talk about how strong of a team this can be when we have played together for a few years," Alvarez commented on the 14 underclassmen on MSUB's roster. "This is the team that gets along the best of all the teams I've been on."
 
When the pressure is high and the match is on the line MSUB knows it has a fearless ace in No. 1. Not only is she entirely unintimidated when opposing attackers target her, but she welcomes it. "I like to make them know who I am, and make them avoid me," Alvarez said. "My goal is to make them go somewhere else, and I like seeing girls get frustrated when they don't get kills."