"I don't think about it, I just do it."
Kim Yeon-ah, the "figure queen," once made a big splash in an interview with a broadcast program when she was an athlete. When asked, "What do you think about when you stretch?", her chic answer, "I just do it," was framed as a 'tweet' that caused a lot of laughs.
While Kim Yeon-ah's response was easy to laugh off, Nolan, Jung Kwan-jang's starting libero, disagreed. "It was a good opportunity to clear my mind," he said.
Last season was a roller coaster ride for Nolan. It was his first full season since his Achilles injury in 2022, but he faltered early on. In the first round, his reception efficiency was 24.18%. That's not what you'd expect from a starting libero. "I was embarrassed because I didn't play as much volleyball as I thought I would. I think I had a big mental breakdown, and I think I was just overwhelmed by the pressure (of her first full season back from injury)," Nolan reflected.
However, Nolan gradually stabilized. Meditating and listening to quotes, as advised by head coach Heejin Ko, helped. While searching for videos, she was drawn to Kim Yeon-ah's "Just Do It" video. "When volleyball wasn't going well, I was thinking too much about this and that. I had a lot of negative thoughts and was confused," Nolan recalls. "From the moment I simply thought, 'Just do it,' as Kim said, I felt relaxed and my volleyball started to improve. It was very helpful to clear my mind."
That "just do it" mentality paid off in the playoffs, where the team made its first appearance in seven years. In their first postseason appearance since the 2016-17 season, Jeong Kwan-jang's players played nervously in the first round of the POs and lost. Nolan, who played spring volleyball for IBK (2012-2016), was no different. "I was excited for the postseason after a long time. I had a lot of energy and pressure to do well," she recalled.
However, they came back to win the second game at home. It wasn't just Nolan who adopted a "just do it" mentality, but the entire team. "I think it was big sister (Yeom) Hye-sun's encouragement to the players, 'No matter what result we 메이저토토사이트 get, let's do it without regret,' that really got them going," Nolan recalled. Although they didn't make it to the championship game, Nolan and the other players were positive: "It gave us the confidence to say, 'If we do a little better, we can win the championship. It's a season that motivated me to want to go higher," he smiles.
After a season full of twists and turns, Nolan was rewarded with a free agency re-signing. As a free agent for the third time, he signed a contract worth 180 million won ($150 million salary, $30 million option) and remained on the roster. Nolan said, "I signed the contract without hesitation because I thought that if we challenge (the postseason) again with these guys, we can reach a higher level. The chemistry between the players, including Hye-sun, was so good that I didn't want to leave."
However, there is a difference in the new season. The team's best friend, Yeom Hye-sun, Nolan, and Lee So-young, is gone. Lee, who became a free agent together, moved to IBK. "If one of us wasn't feeling well, the other two would come up to us and say, 'We'll do more for you' and encourage each other, so it's a little disappointing that (Lee) is missing," Nolan said.
"But I have a strong pillar in (Yeom) Hye-sun, and I have good players on the team who can support me," he said.
The addition of Pyo Seung-ju as Lee So-young's compensation is also a big boost for Nolan. "She's two years older than me in high school (Hanil Jeonsan Girls' High School). I've always wanted to play with her, and I'm happy to be able to do so," she said, adding, "I want to have fun playing volleyball with good members and good chemistry and challenge for a higher place (championship)."
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