For sophomore Katarina Raicevic, coming from halfway across the world to LSU wasn’t always in the plans.
Raicevic traveled thousands of miles from her hometown of Belgrade, Serbia, to attend the University. She experienced quite the culture shock, right down to the spicy food.
“It was a really big difference moving from Serbia to Louisiana,” Raicevic said. “The worst part about moving was the food, everything was so spicy and I wasn’t used to that.”
Both of Raicevic’s parents were professional runners in the former nation of Yugoslavia. Despite that, volleyball has been the focus for Raicevic in her household.
“Growing up I used to hear how good my parents were at track but they didn’t want that pressure for me,” Raicevic said. “Since I was 9 years old, my mom has had me involved with volleyball especially when she realized I’d be really tall, I made it my focus.
LSU began recruiting Raicevic her senior year of high school, when she sent them a tape of her playing volleyball. Even with a impressive highlight film, Raicevic wasn’t offered a position until very late in the process.
She said she had been speaking with associate head coach Jill Wilson during her process of coming to LSU, but nothing was confirmed until April or May.
A big part of Raicevic’s decision to move from Serbia to Louisiana for college was the opportunity to continue playing the sport she loves.
“LSU gave me an opportunity Serbia didn’t,” Raicevic said. “In Serbia school and volleyball do not go together because we are not allowed to have student athletes.”
The high level of competition at LSU startled Raicevic a bit, not to mention the campus.
“Playing volleyball in college changed me a lot.” Raicevic said “The difference of speed and the attention to detail you need to play here is so different from Serbia. When I go back home people are amazed at how much I’ve improved my game. Before I arrived at LSU I had no idea it was a big campus but its one of my favorite things about this campus now.”
For Raicevic, LSU became obvious once she spoke with her coaches. Her biggest concern was having a having a family-like environment such as she did back home. Wilson became like a mother to her in the process, making her feel comfortable, not only worrying about her as a player but being concerned with her personal life as well.
Traveling to and getting to compete against teams around the country was another convincing reason to chose LSU.
“Going around the country to compete on a high level is very enjoyable for me,” Raicevic said. “Traveling to places like Florida to compete in tournaments like the Fiesta on Siesta Key is a big part of why I came here in the first place.”
You can reach Malcolm Poree on Twitter @MalcolmP_TDR.