(Photo courtesy: Sun Devil Athletics)
Since sophomore setter Shannon Shields first began playing volleyball at the age of eight, she knew she wanted to play at the collegiate level because of how different the atmosphere is compared to any level of the sport she could play.
“It’s basically your job, and I love that about this,” Shields said. “It’s school and your job. I think college is awesome, too. I was so excited to leave my home and be on my own and learn new things, and it’s been really great.”
After playing various sports as a child, Shields said that volleyball was the sport she enjoyed the most and fell in love with from the beginning.
“I tried all different types of sports and just stuck with volleyball,” Shields said. “It was just super fun and really competitive. I really liked the team atmosphere and I still do to this day because I stuck with it.”
Shields was named Gatorade Player of the Year for Arizona her senior year and was a four-year member of the varsity volleyball team at Xavier College Preparatory in Phoenix. In 2018 and 2019, she won the state championship with the Gators — her junior and senior year — and also finished in the final four of the state tournament during her freshman and sophomore season as well.
While a student at a college preparatory high school, her head high school volleyball coach Lamar-Renee Bryant said that academics at times can be difficult to manage due to a heavy course load but that Shields was able to manage it well, aiding her in preparation for being a student-athlete in college.
“She was able to and she always tried to work on time management since her freshman year,” Bryant said. “Being a student-athlete, she’s used to having heavy demands on being on a high-profile volleyball team in high school has prepared her for the collegiate ranks of being in a high-profile situation.”
The Gators volleyball team, like the academic side of Xavier Prep, was at a higher level compared to smaller high schools, Bryant said. The team often traveled during the school volleyball season to a tournament in Las Vegas, called the Durango Fall Classic, which invited teams from various states in the country such as Texas and Florida. Bryant said this tournament along with playing for a traveling school volleyball team and playing with a club volleyball team led to Shields being recruited during the early years of high school.
At the end of her sophomore year, Shields committed to Louisville after beginning her recruitment process as an eighth grader. In recent years, the rules have since changed in regard to recruiting players who are younger than the high school age. Bryant said the connection Shields was able to build with the hitters on the teams she played was beneficial to her during the recruiting process and for developing as a player.
“All players love to play with her as a setter, she is able to build strong connections with our hitters,” Bryant said of Shields, who saw action in 64 sets for the Cardinals and had a season-high 45 assists in a match versus Boston College in the 2019 season. “She knows how to take care of people, which is awesome as a setter. It’s her job to distribute the ball and make sure that the hitters are getting the ball where they want it.”
During her freshman season at Louisville, the team made the NCAA tournament last December and advanced to the Elite Eight before being defeated by eventual national runner-up Minnesota. While Shields said she did not play in the Elite Eight match, she had a great experience just being at a college sporting event of that size and wants to experience the NCAA tournament again with the Sun Devils.
After her freshman season playing with Louisville, Shields transferred to Arizona State in January 2020 where she will play her first season with the Sun Devils this spring. The transfer process was a smooth transition, Shields said, and fellow sophomore teammate and middle blocker Kennedi Boyd helped introduce Shields to her new teammates.
Boyd roomed with Shields when the transfer from Louisville arrived at ASU in the second semester of her freshman year. Boyd met Shields when they were in high school through mutual friends in volleyball and Boyd was one of the first teammates Shields reached out during her transfer process.
“I found out we were gonna be roommates, and I was excited,” said Boyd of her first impression of Shields. “But I was a little nervous because she’s intimidating when she plays and she’s very serious. And then when I went out to go meet her to help her bring stuff in, she was so fun and just so goofy and so kind to me.”
This fall, the Pac-12 elected not to play its season during the typical fall calendar, delaying Shields’ homecoming in Tempe. With extra time in her off-season, Shields said she focused on schoolwork and improving as a setter.
“I wanted to really excel with the school part, but also the volleyball part,” Shields said. “We had time, so it was nice to be able to get better at my techniques with my setting, and also to build more of a deeper relationship with each of my teammates.”
Boyd also said the transfer process for Shields was a smooth process despite the team not being able to play until the spring semester. She said she believes Shields is happy with the decision she made to transfer to ASU and that her addition to the Sun Devil roster is the right fit for Shields as a player.
“She made a choice that was right for her, and she’s loved it so far,” Boyd said. “I’m super happy because you do take that risk, especially when it’s so quick. But we’ve talked many times, she’s like, ‘I’m so much happier.’”
While in high school, Bryant said her team played some of their games throughout the volleyball season at Desert Financial Arena in Tempe during the seasons when Shields played for her. What Bryant said she is most looking forward to in Shields’ career as a Sun Devil and return to the Phoenix-area is for her to be happy.
“I miss having her in the gym,” Bryant said. “She definitely has a great training disposition. She’s a great leader, but I’m just looking for her smile. I want her to be happy, volleyball makes her happy.”
