Tara Cains: The Jennifer Aniston of SIU

Tara Cains is a senior outside hitter on the SIU volleyball team. Cains has been a starter since she was a freshman. She recently took time out to speak with Christopher Morrical of the Daily Egyptian.

Daily Egyptian: What got you started in volleyball?

Tara Cains: Actually, I really didn't have much of an interest in volleyball. I just played because I played basketball and I played softball and I didn't have a third season sport. I couldn't stand not doing anything. My friends played, and I thought I'd give it a try. I got into it and it got more competitive and developed into more. I love it now.

DE: How do you prepare for a match?

TC: I guess I just clear my mind. I try to focus on everything to do with volleyball. I look at notes. I listen to music. I just try to focus and get mentally prepared, because it is a big thing to block out everything in your life that doesn't have to do with volleyball. I try to block out school, work and anything that is going on in my life that isn't on the court. After the game, I can worry about it later.

DE: This is your fourth year on the team. What is it like to finally have a winning season?

TC: It's great. I can't even explain how it feels. It's so great. I haven't felt like this since high school and high school doesn't count. (Laughs.) We've just been working so hard and this is something that we have wanted so long and we deserve it. We stayed here over the summer and we worked hard every day. We wanted to be that much better.

DE: How does your personality differ from being out with your friends and being out on the court?

TC: I get out there. I try to just be as supportive as possible. I try to just bring an upbeat, energetic attitude to the floor. I think my teammates depend on me for that. They always look to me for a word of encouragement. I'll always be there for them.

DE: Being a senior, is there extra pressure now?

TC: I don't think so. There always was. Not necessarily pressure, but the need to do well. If you're on the court, if you're playing, if you're a starter, you have to step up. You have to play. I've been starting since I was a freshman. When I was a freshman here, I felt the same way as I do now. I need to get out there. I need to contribute to the team. I have to play my best every game. If I don't, I let the team down and I let myself down.

DE: You said you started as a freshman. Freshmen do not usually start. Was that a surprise to you?

TC: She told me when I was recruited that if I wanted the position, I would have to work hard to get it and it would be mine. I came in with the attitude that I was going to beat everyone out and I was going to play that position no matter what. I just worked hard every day and here I am. (Laughs.) I guess it paid off.

DE: Let's get away from volleyball. You just had a birthday recently. How was it?

TC: It was wonderful. My friends are awesome. They made me dinner. We went shopping at the Galleria. I just had a really great day. I ate at the Cheese Cake Factory, my favorite place to eat. Basically it was just a great day of hanging out with people that I care about the most.

DE: Where do you like to hang out in Carbondale other than teammates' and friends' houses?

TC: In volleyball season, we don't have much else to do. Kristie [Kemner] and I, we'll go out and hang out at Pinch [Penny] or Copper [Dragon], wherever there is a good band. We'll hang out in places like that. We'll try to get out of Carbondale. We'll try to go shopping in Paducah or the Galleria. Just a day away. We go to the movies every once in a while, but there really isn't a whole lot to do. When we go out, we just go hang out with everyone else and just try to be normal students for a while.

DE: How does Carbondale compare to LaPorte, Ind.?

TC: There is definitely more to do in Carbondale, if that is imaginable. LaPorte is just churches and bars. The drive home is just cornfields and highway. There is nothing. The town is really small. We don't have any nightlife. You have to go an hour and a half to Chicago to do something. Lake Michigan is only 20 minutes from there, so it's not too bad.

DE: What do you plan to do after graduation?

TC: That's a great question. I originally majored in journalism, specializing in advertising. Right now, I'm questioning that. I don't know if that is what I want to do. I don't know if I really enjoy it enough to go out and do it. It just doesn't seem like something that I'm really interested in anymore. My parents are really supportive. They said to go with what you want to do now, and if in six months you change your mind, go with that. Right now, I'm debating on grad school.

DE: Do you have a sports idol?

TC: I like Gabrielle Reece. I never really had one growing up, so I guess she doesn't count. I looked up to the fact that my dad was always there to do whatever I needed to do. If I needed to work on basketball or if I needed to work on softball. Those were major sports for me in high school. I don't think he ever said he was too busy. That is one thing I am still appreciative for to this day.

DE: There have been things written about the team in the Daily Egyptian that you didn't like. How do you use those things as a positive to go out there and get the job done?

TC: It definitely gave us something to shoot for and to prove wrong. We were pretty upset about that. We're over it. Being in journalism, there are going to be people who don't like something you write. I'm in journalism and I understand. I have to look at it from a different point of view. I guess it pumped us up. It gave a lot of people something to think about. It's not like we went out on the court trying to prove this guy wrong, we won and we thought "Hey, let's see some red hair." (Laughs.)

DE: I was supposed to tease you about your hair, but it looks fine to me.

TC: I dyed it about a week ago, and it turned out kind of purple. It was horrible. It has calmed down a lot and it looks much better. I was going for black but it turned out purple. It was great. It's much better now.

DE: Short-answer time. What is your favorite television show?

TC: "Friends."

DE: Who is your favorite character?

TC: It's too hard to decide. I love them all. My friends tell me that I'm just like Jennifer Aniston because I'm a pushover.

DE: What was the last movie you bought?

TC: "10 Things I Hate About You."

DE: How about the last CD you bought?

TC: Well, we burn them now. It was just a mixed one. I'm trying to get into country, so Tim McGraw was the last one I bought.

DE: Favorite author?

TC: Nicolas Sparks.

DE: Favorite movie?

TC: I'm a horror movie buff. I just saw all the Hannibal movies. Oh, I know. It was "The Goonies" from when I was little. "The Neverending Story." All those movies from when you were a kid.

Reporter Christopher Morrical can be reached at cmorrical@dailyegyptian.com