Sophomore Vasiliki Paplomata had never left the house without a jacket before she traveled more than 5,000 miles from Greece to study as student-athlete at Hillsdale College. 

Paplomata, known as “Vas” on the court, hails from Thessaloniki, Greece, a 20-minute drive from the coast of the Thermaic Gulf. 

“Where I’m from, it’s not exactly like what you’ve seen on TikTok, with the white and blue houses, but it’s still very beautiful,” she said.

Paplomata started playing volleyball when she was seven years old. Following in the footsteps of her older sister, Paplomata never questioned which sport she should play.

“In Greece, we usually only play one sport,” she said. “You usually choose your sport from a young age, so it made sense for me to play volleyball because my sister also played volleyball.” 

Paplomata was a top youth volleyball player in her age group in Greece, according to the Hillsdale Chargers Athletics website. She represented her country at the U16 Volleyball European Championships and the European Volleyball Confederation in 2019, and earned a spot on the U18 Greek National Team in 2021. Paplomata was also a “strong student with a variety of academic accomplishments,” according to her profile on the Hillsdale Chargers Athletics website. 

Paplomata said she wanted to combine academics and a competitive volleyball environment in college, which is not something she could do in Greece. Colleges in Greece do not offer athletic programs, according to Paplomata.

She said the idea of going to America for college and volleyball came from some high school teammates who ended up in the U.S. for volleyball. 

“I was like, ‘Why not do it? It’s a great experience, and when am I going to be able to turn my life upside down just for fun?’” Paplomata said.

Head coach Chris Gravel said he first noticed Paplomata on a recruiting website, where he saw her highlight video and then reached out to her over email. 

“You could tell that she treated her teammates around her really well, and she was making good decisions,” Gravel said. “When we had the phone interview with her, she was really sharp, really understood servant leadership, and that’s what we teach a lot here. We decided that she would be a good fit and asked her to come.”

Paplomata said the language barrier made it difficult for her on the court when she first arrived in Hillsdale in August 2023. 

“I was kind of like an alien that came from a different planet,” she said. “That’s how I felt.”

Gravel said that the language barrier was a challenge for the whole team at first.

“Although she spoke wonderful English, when it came to volleyball, it all moves so fast,” Gravel said. “She was interpreting in English and then translating to Greek, and then processing. So it took her a little while to think quickly and to deal with her teammates and how fast it was played. But when she got past that, things got even better.” 

A miscommunication with the recruiting agency was also an issue at first, but quickly became an opportunity for Paplomata to show that she could still deliver as a player, according to Gravel.

“The recruiting service said that she was 5’11” but she’s 5’9”,” Gravel said. “So I told her, ‘You owe me these other three inches in jump touch,’ and she kind of laughed and I said, ‘No, seriously.’ And she did it. She worked really hard, and she brought her jump up.”

Though she has experienced a few culture shocks, Paplomata said she’s getting used to how Americans live.

“My mom would never let me go outside without a jacket,” she said. “But Americans just go outside in a T-shirt and shorts. Their immune systems are much stronger than mine, but I think I’m getting used to it because I haven’t gotten sick this whole semester.”

Paplomata said one of the best parts about coming to Hillsdale is the people she has met. 

“The community is just insane,” she said. “People here are actually willing to help. For example, the teachers that are responding to you on a Sunday night when they really don’t have to be doing that but they do it because they want to. I think that’s beautiful.”

One of her favorite memories comes from the current season, when a coach assigned a biking workout around the woods at Hayden Park. 

“I didn’t know how to ride a bike before I came here,” Paplomata said. “I learned how to ride a bike over the summer, but since coach knew that I couldn’t ride a bike really well, I knew he would make me do it at some point because he challenges us in every way he can.”

Paplomata’s teammate, freshman Caroline Lanicek, said that Paplomata is a support to her teammates.

“She’s always looking to engage with everybody, and to form better relationships with her teammates, especially the freshmen,” Lanicek said. “That’s something that I absolutely love about her.”

Lanicek shared a story of how her family traveled to Greece this summer where she met Paplomata for the first time.

“We were in the same workout group chat for volleyball that summer, so I texted her and I said that my family was going to Greece,” Lanicek said.

Lanicek’s family was eight hours from where Paplomata lived, but Lanicek said Paplomata and her family made the drive to meet them for only a few hours.

“It really showed me the kind of person she was,” said Lanicek. “She always goes above and beyond to do things for the people around her and she brings light and joy into their day.”

Paplomata expressed gratitude for her time so far at Hillsdale.

“For some reason God put me on this team from the other side of the world, and I’m friends with these people who could be at any other college,” she said. “ But God put them in Hillsdale so that we could be together. Isn’t that insane?”