Ruiqi Wang will be attending the University of Pittsburgh Honors College at the Swanson School of Engineering where he intends to study chemical engineering.

1. Now that the news of the spring season being over has had time to sink in, what are your thoughts or emotions about not being able to play your senior year?

A: “When I first found out that our season was being canceled, of course, I felt really frustrated and annoyed. Even now I can still say I’m annoyed that we as seniors won’t be able to play that last game together, but at the same time, I understand our governor did it to keep us safe, and that’s the important thing. So while I still regret not playing, I’m thankful that the governor reacted in this way for the greater good.

2. What were you looking forward to the most this season?

A: “For this season, I was looking forward to making a deep run through playoffs the most because I wanted to leave some kind of thank you to our first coach (Coach Ammary) for recruiting the other seniors and me and to thank the current coaches for all their time and energy.”

3. What activity do you find yourself doing the most during quarantine?

A: “When the weather is nice out, I usually go outside to practice setting and other small ball control stuff. Other times I’ll stick to binging Netflix and taking care of my younger brother while my parents work.”

4. What do you miss most about normal life?

A: “I miss school because of the classes, friends, and knowing that I would have practice all week.”

5. If you had the choice to be stuck at home with any teammate(s) during this quarantine, who would they be and why?

A: “I would pick Devin mostly because he’s a nice guy overall and his motivation to work out and go outside would definitely make the days more fun and productive.”

6. Can you name your favorite movie, show or series you’ve watched over the past month?

A: “I just started watching the Tiger King and it’s a fairly interesting show.”

7. What’s the worst part about being stuck at home?

A: “The worst part is not being able to play volleyball with the rest of the seniors because we’ve been a team for four regular seasons, four club seasons and three summers just playing volleyball. So, this break is going to be the longest that I haven’t been on a volleyball court.”

8. What’s the first thing you want to do once this quarantine is over?

A: “The first thing I would do is go for a nice drive to a restaurant and enjoy being outside.”

9. Can you tell your favorite sports story about yourself, your team or your teammates over the years?

A: “I’m pretty bad at telling stories, so this question is better suited for the other seniors.”

10. What lesson(s) have you learned throughout this whole process?

A: “Hard work pays off. It seems like a fairly common and simple statement/lesson, but I never fully appreciated its significance until I looked back and saw how much our practice paid off. When Coach Ammary pulled me into this program, I was just some tall skinny freshman. But after all of the regular season, preseason, and offseason practices, I can confidently say I am far more athletic and less awkward than I was four years ago.”