Monique Marie Matthews

Started: She began playing sitting volleyball in 2010. (nbcsports.com, 11 Jul 2023) Reason: She first tried the sport after seeing a brochure about Team USA's sitting volleyball programme while she was being fitted for a prosthetic. "So I contacted them and ever since then, it's been history. I fell in love with it, and they kept inviting me back [to camps], and here I am today. [The sport] probably saved me because I had no idea where my life was going. It is so depressing, thinking that you can't do anything. It really gave me opportunities, because now I get to travel and do all this great stuff." (teamusa.com, 06 Jul 2023) Ambition: To win her third Paralympic gold medal at the 2024 Games in Paris. (nbcsports.com, 11 Jul 2023) Awards: She was named Best Blocker at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. (usavolleyball.org, 11 Nov 2022) In 2015, 2017, and 2019 she was named Female Sitting Team Player of the Year by USA Volleyball. (teamusa.org, 12 Dec 2019, 22 Nov 2019, 02 Dec 2015) She was named Best Server at the 2019 World Super 6 event in Tokyo, Japan. (teamusa.org, 12 Dec 2019) She was named Best Server at the 2017 World Super 6 event in Hangzhou, People's Republic of China. (volleymob.com, 25 Dec 2017) She was named Best Server and Most Valuable Player [MVP] at the 2017 Pan American Championships in Montreal, QC, Canada. (volleymob.com, 25 Dec 2017) She was a member of the US national sitting volleyball team that was named the 2016 Paralympic Team of the Year by the United States Olympic Committee [USOC]. (teamusa.org, 2016) Additional Info: VERSATILITY She is strong at both hitting and blocking, and has been used as both an outside hitter and a middle blocker. "I would call myself a workhorse, I go wherever the team needs me. I'll play any position needed and work my butt off. Technically, I play outside, but I will also stay middle [the blocking position]. I used to be just the plain middle, but I'm a good passer, and the coach didn't want to take me out of that." (teamusa.com, 06 Jul 2023) LEADER She has served as captain of the US women's sitting volleyball team. (nbcsports.com, 28 Aug 2023)