KCBA - Monterey, Salinas, Santa Cruz - News Weather-Karissa Cook
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Santa Cruz, CA- When Karissa Cook is on the court, it's hard to take your eyes off of her. She can serve, set, spike, and hustle better than almost every high school player in Santa Cruz. When Stanford offered her a full ride, it was a dream come true. "I always wanted to go to Stanford. It's been my number one school. So when I heard they were interested, I was incredibly excited," said Cook.
An honors student with a 4.2 grade point average, Karissa is the captain of Harbor High's volleyball team. But her passion for the sport expands outside of Harbor too. Karissa also plays for Main Beach, an elite club that competes in the nations top tournaments like Junior Olympics. " As a little kid I just dreamed of going to the Junior Olympics. It's such a competitive tournament, but to take gold in that was great," said Cook.
When she's not playing indoors Karissa hits the beach, a place where Coach Jan Furman says she's a natural. "She is the best youth beach volleyball player in California. Not just Santa Cruz but the state of California," said Furman. So what does Karissa think about when she is on the court? "Keeping it simple is what always works best. If I focus on individual skills I play better than if I think about winning the game or winning the match," said Cook. While she might not think about winning...she definitely doesn't like to loose.
Whispers of playing beach volleyball in the Olympics swirl around Karissa. Who isn't thinking about that just yet. Instead this senior looks forward to her first game as a Cardinal. "I think just putting on that uniform will be great," said Karissa.
For some people sports are for fun, for others they consume one's life. But for Karissa Cook she plays volleyball simply for the love of the game. "Just playing as long as I can, take it as far as I can. Then when I'm done, hopefully just keep playing with my friends," said Cook.
