When Portland State head volleyball coach Michael Seemann recruited freshman Ellie Snook as a libero for his Vikings, he realized he was getting an overachiever.  In fact, he said, "that's one of the reasons we recruited her."  
 
Since Snook is the daughter of former PSU basketball player Jamie Snook (1996-1999), she was around PSU a lot growing up. And, of course, he watched the West Linn High School product as she improved during her high school and club years, since she was local. So, he had a pretty good introduction.
 
Those years hinted at what was to come as she was a two-time all-state first team selection (2017 & 2018), three-time all-league, and helped her team to three straight outright league titles as well as a co-championship as a freshman. 
 
Another part of the picture was her academics. This year's co-recipient of the Alice and Taylor Alexander Endowed Scholarship for Women's Athletics, graduated high school with a 3.9 cumulative GPA.
 
Even with all that, 15 matches into the 2019-2020 season, he probably didn't expect her to be ranked nationally, 13th in digs overall and first among freshmen liberoes in digs per set at 5.32. She had 30 digs in the Vikings' match against CSUN, making her the first Viking freshman to record 30 digs in a match in at least 10 years. Neither Kasi Clark nor Tash Bojanic, who were both named Big Sky Libero of the Year later in their careers, had as many digs in a match as freshmen.
 
This past weekend, Snook tied a career high with 30 digs against Big Sky defending champion Northern Arizona, then topped herself with 39 against Southern Utah, the third most ever by a Viking in a match.
 
It all started when she was four years old. Snook started playing sports…t-Ball, soccer "that sort of thing". She first hit a volleyball at the age of seven. And it was love at first hit.
 
"I considered playing soccer for a while, but mom said I had to choose. So, I chose volleyball (her mother's college sport—two years at Pepperdine)."  She chose it "partly because she [her mom] had played it. But, most of my friends ended up going into soccer and this gave me my own thing."
 
Snook discovered immediately that she liked to pass, which was a good thing because "I was the shortest person on the team (she's now 5'7") so they made me the libero."  
 
She had some advantages over her teammates because she had her own in-house coaching team. Her mom Dina helped coach an early team. Her grandfather (Scott Flelker) coached club teams for her mother, aunt Lacey, Snook and her younger sister Lily. He also coached at Rex Putnam and Lakeridge High Schools. He worked with her on technical issues. "He really helped me. He was super technical and had me doing things like drills that seemed silly at the time. He also helped me with my serve."
 
With a former basketball player as a father, Snook also took a look at that sport. But it wasn't for her.
 
"I think it broke my dad's heart a little bit, but my heart really wasn't into basketball. Like, we'd be set to go to a tournament and I didn't really want to go. I find volleyball way more fun to watch than basketball and I have more emotional attachments," said Snook.
 
At nine, Snook was asked to join a 12's team.
 
"I think I was better at passing than my teammates. But I had to learn to dive without hurting myself," she recalled. She found she loved diving for the ball. "I like making a good play, like when someone dives for the ball, it's explosive. And, I want to impress people."
 
And, that's one of the things Seemann likes about Snook.
 
"She has a good nose for the ball, knows instinctively where it's going to go. She can get to serves, for instance, that someone else might take. That's part of her nose for the ball," said Seemann. That's particularly useful on a young team like the Vik's 2019 squad (seven freshman, two red-shirt sophomores) because "it takes pressure off our hitters. Many of our hitters are young and inexperienced and this allows them to focus on hitting."
 
Snook continued to "play up", and joined a 16's club as a high school freshman. Importantly, she also changed to a more challenging club, practicing in Salem (45 minutes from home) and joining a "much more competitive" team.
 
Highlight of her West Linn high school career came her junior year when her team made a state tournament appearance. "We were the eighth seed, playing first-seed Jesuit in the opening game and we beat them."
 
Early in her high school years, Snook began having conversations with college coaches. Among the first was PSU Coach Seemann. As time went on, she also talked with UConn, University of New Hampshire, Oregon and Oregon State, among others. She got a couple walk-on offers, but wanted stay near home. And, PSU offered her a scholarship.
 
"I loved Michael as a coach. My parents liked him and trusted him. I'm a very family person.  I just couldn't leave my family," she said.
 
Besides her technical skills, Seemann liked Snook's passion for the game. "Ellie loves the game. She's passionate and that's contagious. She makes people around her better."
 
Snook is easing into her college academics, taking only three classes her first term as a Viking.
 
But, her goals in class and on the court are those of an overachiever. "Academics are important to me (she's currently majoring in business with a minor in management)." She's pleased with her current ranking in digs, but "I want to be first in the Big Sky in digging and I'd like to be first nationally." To do that, "I need to keep digging, get as many touches as possible, be more aggressive."
 
And Seemann thinks those are good goals for his overachieving freshman.
 
"Her growth potential is unlimited. She's on track right now to be one of our best ever statistically," he said. And, he says, it's going to be fun watching her do it because "she's always at practice with a huge smile and a great attitude. She's just a great kid!"