Player Spotlight: Caroline Carlton

A junior here at Mercer University, Caroline Carlton plays on the right side for the Mercer University volleyball team. She is a political science major with a minor in secondary education, and hopes to be a high school volleyball coach someday.

Her favorite artists right now are Taylor Swift and Kenny Chesney, and she originally hails from Nashville, Tenn. When asked what she thinks is her best feature, she says it’s her ability to talk to anyone, even if she has a tendency to talk too much and too fast.

In the struggle of college students everywhere, she hasn’t got as much time to read as she would like, but her favorite book is “To Kill a Mockingbird,” and her favorite author is the infamous Nicholas Sparks.

Carlton began playing volleyball when she was 10 years old, and continues to play it now because it’s “where she found her identity,” she says. “It’s as much a part of me as my family or my religion.”

When asked what her favorite part of being on the team was, she cited the competition and the team aspect. She enjoys having what she says is an “extended family;” 14 people she knows that she can count on to be there for her no matter what.

The volleyball team is currently in their indoor season, but will move to the sand volleyball season in the spring, which Carlton confirms she will also be playing.

Every athlete has their own pregame ritual. For Carlton, this mostly consists of arranging her thick, curly locks so that they stay out of her face. She wears it in a different style every game, simply because she has not yet found a magic trick to make it work. She also pumps herself up by listening to music and talking to herself.

When asked why she chose Mercer, Carlton mentioned how she went on several college visits, but nothing “clicked.” She liked the conference that the volleyball team is placed in, as well as the fact that she gets playing time. Another draw of Mercer was that, for her, it’s far enough away from her hometown that she has space to breathe, but is also close enough to let her go home when she wants.

Her favorite professor here is Dr. Jordan because he “involves the students.” She said that he has never made a student feel stupid for having a wrong answer, and he is very interactive, even when he doesn’t have to be.

Sports are something that runs in her family, as her older brother and sister also played sports in college. But it was never forced on her, Carlton said. Her parents were always very supportive of what she chose to do, and still are. Carlton also mentioned how she enjoys being the baby of the family, since it comes with the perk of being spoiled.

The Bears will be playing this weekend in Nashville, Tenn., at Lipscomb University and in Newport, Ky., at Northern Kentucky University.