Senior outside hitter Angela Mooney
September 22, 2003 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 22, 2003
Knowing Angela Mooney on a personal level, is knowing how important her family is to her. Mooney is only known as Angela around her teammates and at school but at home, everyone in her family calls her Lolly, a nickname that Mooney says she has always been called. And it only seems fitting that her family has a special name for Mooney, because in Mooney's eyes her family holds a special place in her heart.
Mooney is one of five in her family, with three older sisters, and one younger brother. Anne, 30, Amanda, 27, Allison, 25, Mooney, 22, and her only brother Andrew, 18, were all coined to be children of parents who met just to breed athletes. Anne played volleyball at Tech, Amanda played basketball at Baylor and Allison played basketball at LCU. Mooney's brother, a senior at Monterey High School here in Lubbock, plays football for the Plainsmen and is being highly recruited for college.
"My parents met up at the Tech track," said Mooney. "My mom was a great runner and worked out a lot, and my dad did track at Tech and then walked on to the football team. A lot of people say they met and got married just to breed athletes,"
While her parents might have been the reason for her athletic ability, Mooney says her parents were also a main reason for her coming to Tech.
"Both of my parents were graduates from Tech, and they were one of the main reasons that I came here," said Mooney. "I wanted to be closer to my family so they could see me play, and it was always a dream of mine to play for the Red Raiders."
Yet, Mooney says that her future as an athlete was not always certain when she was in junior high. Though Mooney grew up in the gym, doing gymnastics and working out along side the rest of her family, early in life, unlike her sisters, she wasn't really built for sports.
"I was short and fat when I was in junior high," said Mooney. " Everyone thought that I was going to be the dud of the family. But when I moved into the eighth grade and on, I grew a lot taller and became faster, and was able to jump higher."
Even though in high school Mooney played varsity volleyball, basketball, and track, Mooney said that her niche seemed to be with the court and net of volleyball.
"I liked the other sports, but it just seemed that volleyball was my best," said Mooney.
Mooney says that, even though her dream has been fulfilled of playing for the Red Raiders, she finds a lot of joy off the court in doing crafts.
"I am very artsy, and I love to do crafts like picture frames and things like that," said Mooney. "I like to be a little Martha Stewart, and decorate anything."
Mooney's craftiness extends all the way to refurbishing an apartment along side her dad. Mooney and her dad took on the feat of refurbishing an apartment, the one that Mooney currently lives in. Mooney says her apartment is also where she got to use a lot of her decorating skills.
Whenever Mooney is not on the court or in school, she finds time in her week to eat with her family. Mooney and her family eat together every Sunday for lunch after church as well as spend the rest of the afternoon together. While family time is very important to Mooney, she says whenever she gets a chance to relax she also turns to the old faithful, shopping.
It was also clothing that was the source of one of Mooney's most embarrassing moments.
"I was walking into class wearing jeans, and I didn't notice that while I was walking to class, a bird had pooped on the front of my jeans," said Mooney. "To my luck, Jessy walked in and pointed it out in front of the whole class. I was so embarrassed."
On the flip side of Mooney's most embarrassing moment, some of her most memorable moments are once again centered on her family.
"When I saw my sister get married, that had be one of the greatest moments for me," said Mooney. "Seeing my sister's baby was also a great moment for me."
While Mooney is a big family person, she also sees herself as a strong and a hardworking person who pushes herself in all that she does. Whether it is in volleyball or in the classroom, Mooney sees herself as a perfectionist, and wants to put forth the best and strives to be the best in all that she does.
Right now Mooney is a Human Development and Family Studies major, a degree she used to want to use to start her own childcare center. Yet, since Mooney started coaching club volleyball here in Lubbock, she has just recently found her passion to be in coaching.
"I really fell in love with working with the girls on my club team," said Mooney. "I am sure now that I want to coach later in life."
Mooney feels that a coaching job could be a perfect fit for some of her lifes goals including raising a family.
" I am not one of those girls that needs a lot of money and one of those rich guys to be happy," said Mooney. "I just want to make enough money to support and provide for my family, and find a great guy that makes me happy. I especially wouldn't mind coaching, because I don't see it as work at all, it is more fun for me than work."
Even though Mooney is wrapping up her senior year here at Tech, and will soon be looking back at her life at Tech rather than experiencing it, she has no regrets in choosing to be a part of the red and black the past four years.
"I wouldn't change anything about my decision five years ago when I was a senior in high school to sign a letter of intent to play with the Tech volleyball team," said Mooney. "I am happy that I choose Tech, and glad that I had the opportunity to be close to my family, and play on such a great team as the Red Raider Volleyball team."