Hornet setter completes second Team USA tour

By Robert Williams

Editor

Incoming Frazee-Vergas High School senior and 2023 Miss Frazee Outstanding Teen Sophia Strand completed a busy year by following up a Junior Team USA volleyball team trip to the Dominican Republic last year with a tour of Italy this summer.

“It was so much fun,” Strand said. 

After landing in Italy and some sightseeing in Milan, the Junior Team USA was into the gym at 1 p.m. the following day to begin competition.

“The first day was really, really rocky,” Strand said.

Strand played on one of two USA teams against a field of Italian teams. The first day Team USA earned a split of four games.

The teams played a dozen games over three days with Strand’s team improving to 3-1 on day two and finishing with an undefeated day of four straight victories.

“We ended up winning the tournament,” she said. 

Strand was rotated through the lineup at different playing positions game-by-game, as a defensive specialist and a setter, experience she is looking forward to this year’s Hornets’ team coming off a 10-15 season last year.

The Team USA team roomed together in Italy, three players to a room, and away from tournament play were able to complete a crash course in building trust and teamwork to be successful.

“We went to the pool together and did everything as a team, so we really got close in a day-and-a-half,” said Strand. “We definitely got a big crash course on making friends and how to adjust together.”

After play completed in Milan, the tour included sightseeing tours to the Alps and scenic Lake Como.

“Of course, on the way to Lake Como I fell asleep on that part of the bus ride so on the way back I made sure to stay awake,” Strand laughed.

Next was a four-hour team train ride to Rome through Florence. The team visited Vatican City on a Sunday where they were blessed by the Pope.

“I spent all of my money in Vatican City,” Strand said.

The trip wrapped up with a visit to the beach.

“I’m very blessed and thankful to be able to travel and learn as much as I have,” Strand said. “It was very cool to learn a lot about Italy itself.”

Coming from the states, the immense history of Italy was something to behold.

“They’re still digging and finding ruins from ancient Rome,” Strand said.

Strand brought along a book that was focused on ancient Greece and Rome.

“I was reading it and learning about it the next day, so I thought that was one of the coolest parts of my trip,” she said.

Strand kept in touch with good friend Riyan Eckert back in Frazee, sending photos everyday and asking Riyan what she was doing at home.

“She said, ‘Oh nothing, just working with the cows,’ and I’m like, this is so weird, I’m in the middle of Milan looking at a big cathedral!”

Strand received a lot of family donations to make her trip possible, along with contributions from At Ease Dock and Lift, Daggett Truck Line and a fundraiser run by VFW Post 7702 in Frazee.

Upon returning home, Turkey Days was next on the calendar marking the end of Sophia’s reign as Miss Frazee Teen, along with her partner Miss Frazee 2023 Hailey Selly. 

“We did a lot in one year and I definitely want to do it again; I just don’t know when,” she said. “I love Hailey Selly.”

The two have history. Selly was one of the first people Strand met upon moving to Frazee when she was three-years-old.

“Her mom did my daycare, so I’ve always known them,” Strand.

Selly ended up being the perfect partner for Strand for a year of being the Miss Frazees.

“Yes, she definitely was,” said Strand. “I couldn’t imagine doing that year with anyone else.”

Strand has a lot to decide in the coming year on where to go to college as she prepares for law school in the future, while also wanting to continue her volleyball career.

A run for Miss Frazee may be in the cards next summer, but that remains to be seen.

“Maybe the summer after when I have my life figured out a bit more,” she said.

School will be an adjustment itself as Strand has been taking advantage of the school district’s Postsecondary Enrollment Options (PSEO).

PSEO is a program that allows 10-12th-grade students to earn college credit tuition free, while still in high school and those like Strand, who are successful in the program, typically earn their Associates degree before receiving their high school diploma.

“I’m going to need to get adjusted to learning in the classroom again,” she said.

Strand heads into her senior year on a high after enjoying her run with the Frazee crown.

“It was definitely the most rewarding year of my life, just to see the kids light up when they see you and knowing you’re making an impact on not just the kids in the community, but the elders and middle-aged people. Everyone and everything you make an impact on that whole year, it weighed heavy on me but in a good way,” said Strand.

Her experience was so positive, Strand made extra efforts to recruit girls for the 2024 pageant, nearly single-handedly convincing all the candidates, including the winners Miss Frazee Madison Olson and Miss Frazee Teen Neveah Wirth. 

“I’m very proud of myself for getting as many contestants as I did,” she said.

Strand is also gathering potential schools to attend next year, which range from the Minneapolis area to MSU-Moorhead and Bemidji State University with recruiting letters still coming in.

While law school is on the horizon, her undergraduate choice revolves around volleyball and being part of a team that feels like a family.

“That’s what I want,” she said. “Whatever feels most like home, or a family, that’s where I’m going.”