Riley Moeder and Kristyn Lerma both took unique paths to playing their favorite sports, but they both ended up at the same table signing their intents to play in college.
The two Sobrato seniors officially signed their letters of intent to play for Lewis and Clark and Sonoma State during a ceremony held in front of the Bulldogs’ gym Wednesday morning.
Moeder will move on to play volleyball at Lewis and Clark in Oregon while Lerma will play soccer at Sonoma State.
Lerma said she fell in love with Sonoma when she visited her brother who attended the university.
She said she reached out to the women’s soccer program, who watched her play, invited her to a camp and offered her a chance to play college soccer.
“The women’s soccer program really impressed me and the coaches are of such good spirit and have such good energy. When I visited and they asked me to commit, it was a really quick decision,” Lerma said. “I am so in love with the culture of the college and the team. There was no doubt in my mind.”
Lerma said she got started with soccer after her friends invited her to come out and play.
At the time, Lerma was playing football, but immediately was drawn to the sport.
“All my hard work finally paid off,” Lerma said of how special it is to know she is moving on to play soccer in college.
Lerma had hit a bump along that path, getting cut from a Class 1 soccer club. She said the experience forced her to rededicate herself to putting in the work to succeed.
“I think that was my main motivation to get back on my feet and start working harder,” Lerma said.
Moeder likewise didn’t immediately get into volleyball, but fell in love with it during a family trip to Hawaii.
At 8 years old she got her first taste of volleyball playing in a pool and recalls being fascinated by the game.
That led her to get more involved and eventually to join her middle school team. And from there, things took off.
“Since then, it’s been full force all the way,” Moeder said.
For Moeder, the appeal of Lewis and Clark was its small campus and just how much the coaches have worked to turn a program around in a short amount of time.
“They went from losing almost all of their games to winning 95 percent of them,” Moeder said. “That growth in two years with a new coach is almost unheard of. To have that ability to join a program like that, I am so grateful to have that opportunity.”
Moeder said the appeal to volleyball is that while there is a power element to the sport, you don’t need to be a powerful player to excel and be among the best on the floor.
“It is so much finesse and so much technicality. You can be a 5-foot-2 and be an incredible player,” Moeder said.
Both girls said they will cherish the memories at Sobrato, particularly with the ups and downs they experienced during their times at the school.
Moeder said she will always remember beating Live Oak her sophomore year and the team chemistry her senior year as they had to deal with question marks around who was going to coach them right up until almost the start of the season.
“It came down to us. Teresa (Hodges) did a great job in coaching, but it came down to us. We had pretty close to the same girls for two years and we had to decide as a team if we were going to win or if we were going to lose,” Moeder said. “But we really came together and that was really important.”
Lerma had a similar sentiment as Sobrato had to learn who it was when one of its go-to players got hurt. But the team kept fighting.
“We had such a great bond, especially this year. It’s the closest I think we’ve ever been,” Lerma said. “I think it’s the most we’ve ever grown.”
