University of Georgia Athletics
Quick Chat: Sage Naves
September 04, 2019 | Volleyball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
Staff Writer
Just before going in to do a Quick Chat on Monday with Georgia sophomore volleyball player Sage Naves, coach Tom Black told me that she'd be a great interview subject. He also said to ask about her father, who was a Navy Seal for many years. Black, as usual, was right and wise.
Naves, a 6-foot-2 middle blocker from Agoura Hills, Calif, just north of Los Angeles, was shaped in many ways by her dad's frequent deployments. She said his career is a big part of why she's long been fascinated by politics and why she's majoring in International Affairs.
A late-comer to volleyball despite her mother being a former collegiate player, Naves led the Bulldogs with nine blocks and was second with 16 kills during the Bulldogs' season-opening weekend of games at Clemson. Georgia this week is back on familiar ground for Naves, Black and the team's California contingent as the Bulldogs play a trio of games in Long Beach, starting Thursday against UCLA.
During our Quick Chat, Naves talked about adjusting to college, her dad the Navy Seal, her first Georgia football game and much more. Here's some of what she had to say:
Frierson: What do you know now at this point in your college career as a student and an athlete, that you wish you'd known a year ago?
Naves: Certainly my skills with time management could have been better. That has improved so much and I think that if I had a better grasp of my time management last year that would have helped me a lot just with the stress of being on a new campus, the stress of being on a new team, the stress of being at a new school.
Frierson: Time management is a popular answer to that question, which makes me wonder if high schools or parents should be doing a better job of imparting time management skills or if it's just something you can't really get a handle on until you're in the thick of it.
Naves: I honestly think there's no way to really prepare you for it until you're in the thick of it. My high school did a good job of preparing me but just as far as how demanding being a student-athlete is, you really, really, really don't know it until you're at the level.
Frierson: You're one of four players on the team from Southern California, plus Tom and the other coaches, so does that manifest itself in any way within the team? Is there a SoCal vibe on the team?
Naves: I really didn't primarily grow up in Southern California, though I would consider most of the maturing I did happened in California. When people ask me where I grew up, I usually say Nevada.
I definitely think we have little inside jokes with each other that sometimes only people from California get, and I think it's the same with every other state. There's a few things that connect us, like our affinity for Mexican food, but only Mexican food from California.
Frierson: What is it about people from L.A. and Southern California and Mexican food, particularly tacos? I don't know if obsession is the right word, but it's close.
Naves: I haven't spent much time in Texas but I've heard a few similarities between Texas and Southern California. There's just something about it — if you can go to the tiniest place and nobody there speaks English, you're in the right place, you're in good hands for sure.
Frierson: If you could go anywhere in the world on somebody else's dime, where would you like to go?
Naves: I would probably go to Byron Bay and I would probably take my best friend Erica. I've always wanted to go to Australia and I think that Australia is probably the country that reminds me the most of California; it just looks like a very beautiful place, a very beautiful landscape, and I've always wanted to go.
Frierson: Australia and New Zealand are very high on my list of places to visit but I'm worried about how I'll handle that long of a flight. ... What's the longest flight you've ever taken?
Naves: My longest flight was 15 hours. I flew into Dubai and then from Dubai flew into Entebbe, Uganda, which was another five hours. I went there on a mission trip.
Frierson: How life-changing was that?
Naves: I absolutely loved it and I want to go on as many mission trips as I can for the rest of my life. I loved it.
Frierson: Tom told me just before I came in here that your dad was a Navy Seal. When you're the child of a Navy Seal, what is that like at home? Clearly, it's someone that can go and do just about anything anywhere, a very capable individual.
Naves: Honestly, of my two parents my mom is the stricter one and I think people always assume my dad is more of the stoic, hard-headed and really strict parent. Because my dad was gone so often in our childhood, when he came home he just wanted all of the moments to be positive with me and my sister.
Frierson: When your dad is deployed for so much of your childhood, does that make you at a young age very well aware of what's happening in the world, the serious stuff, beyond just your day-to-day life?
Naves: I think it did for my sister and I think for me it got me more excited to travel and just to experience new cultures, because my dad would come back with all these amazing stories about all these places that he's been to. I think that just got my love for travel and for politics, I think that's where it started.
I'm majoring in International Affairs and I absolutely love it.
Frierson: Do you have a creative side or is there something creative you wish you could do?
Naves: I wish I could speak every language, that would be awesome. I'm absolutely awful at learning languages, but if there was a big skill I wish I could take on it would be that.
Frierson: Are you studying a language right now?
Naves: Yes, French — not very good. Definitely working on it.
Frierson: What was your first Georgia football game like? Was that a very unique experience for you?
Naves: Yes, absolutely. I had never been to a big SEC football game before and it was on my official visit. Honestly, I couldn't even tell you who it was against but I was overwhelmed; I had no idea the scale of football games in the South and that it was almost a religious experience. I absolutely loved it and I enjoyed it so much.
My mom got to go with me, too, and she was blown away as well. Growing up on the West Coast, football is a big deal but it's certainly not how it is here at all. I loved it and I loved the tradition that came with it, and I was really excited to be a part of something like that.
Frierson: I know your mom (Tiffany) played volleyball collegiately, so was it all volleyball all the time growing up or did you play a bunch of different sports?
Naves: I honestly didn't really know what sports were until like the seventh grade, I never really played any sports. My mom begged me to play volleyball, she wanted me to play so badly; my sister (Saylor), she's two years younger than me and she was playing all the time.
They'd be rallying in the backyard or something and they'd be like. "Come join us." But I just was so, because my mom wanted me to do it that made me not want to do it. [Laughs.] I remember going into my seventh-grade year and I had some friends that were doing a clinic and I was like, sure, I'll join, just because my friends were doing it. And I really enjoyed it.
I started club from there and I was doing basketball, track and volleyball, and I liked track and volleyball the most. Freshman year of high school I kind of had to pick one or the other and I chose volleyball and it all worked out.
Frierson: I'm guessing your high school basketball coach, given your size, probably was not thrilled. He or she probably didn't encounter too many athletic 6-footers passing through the high school.
Naves: [Laughs.] For me, it was more the water polo team at school and the water polo coach always wanting to get me to play. I really wanted to but it was during our volleyball season; I think I would have liked it but unfortunately I never got to do it.
Frierson: That's one of those sports that's fun to watch but my goodness it looks like a lot of work to play.
Naves: Oh, my gosh, it's four-minute quarters and they look exhausted. Four minutes of swimming and they're exhausted.
(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
