GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Get to know libero Valeria León in the ninth edition of our “Offseason Conversation” series with the Grand Rapids Rise. León talks about signing with the Rise after spending last season with the Columbus Fury, playing with the Puerto Rico national team, the intricacies of being a libero, and much more.
Welcome to the Grand Rapids Rise. Preseason training camp is less than a month away. How are you feeling?
Yes, I’m so excited! I can’t wait to get to Grand Rapids and meet all the people — all my new teammates, the coaching staff, and everyone involved. I’m very, very excited.
Talk me through your decision to sign with the Rise.
Once I had a call with [Rise head coach] Cathy [George], I was excited to meet her and talk with her more. I believe we have the same values as people. I just thought it was the right decision. I think Cathy is great, and the team did really well last year, which speaks volumes about the work they are putting in.
What have you been up to over the summer?
Once I was done playing with the Columbus Fury, I was training with the Puerto Rico national team. We traveled throughout the summer. We had about four or five different tournaments. We flew to the Dominican Republic, Philippines, and Mexico.
What are the differences between playing with the Puerto Rico national team compared to playing in domestic leagues in Puerto Rico or the United States?
When you play internationally, you get to play against other teams from different countries and each team has its own style of play. Sometimes it’s hard to adjust to certain styles. Whereas in Puerto Rico or the United States, I feel like all the teams have the same style of play.
What do you think is the most challenging aspect of being a libero?
The fact that we can’t score. I think there might be more pressure on the position because people expect us to always be great at passing and defense, because that’s what our job is. With other positions, they have different and more skills that they can perform well in during a match. For example, an outside hitter can pass, score, and block. She can do different things. For us liberos, we pass and play defense. Mentally, we need to be strong because I think liberos are in a position that makes more mistakes than we do points. So, the most challenging aspect is just staying mentally tough during a match.
Expanding on that, a lot of athletes deal with pressure in different ways. How do you manage stress or high-stakes moments, especially when the match is on the line?
For me, I tend to go back to the basics. I try to think about why I’m doing what I’m doing right now. I love this sport, and I have fun doing it, so I don’t really try to think about what the challenge is or the pressure I’m under. I’m just grateful for this opportunity to keep doing what I love the most.
Entering your eighth professional season, you've never played for the same team in consecutive years. How has this constant change shaped your approach to the game, and what do you feel you’ve learned from adapting to new teams, coaches, and systems each season?
It’s a challenge to adapt, but that has helped me to be able to adjust to different styles of coaching and cultures. I have been open-minded. I like to think of myself as a sponge, absorbing everything I can to become a better player and, more importantly, a better person.
What’s the best piece of advice you've received from a coach or teammate that you’ve carried with you throughout your career?
Wow, that’s a great question. I have received plenty of great advice, but one that sticks out the most to me comes from last year. Our assistant coach said we have to remember that volleyball is something that we do, not who we are. When we are around the sport for so long and do it for so many years, we forget that we are also people. Even though volleyball is something that I love to do and I’m passionate about, I’m more than a volleyball player.
Along the same lines of being more than a volleyball player, you went to law school and eventually passed the bar exam while still playing professional volleyball in Puerto Rico. Quite an impressive feat.
That was a huge challenge for me, especially the time management. I couldn’t 100% focus on law school and be a professional athlete at the same time. It was like 50/50. But during those years, I learned to be very disciplined and had that determination to accomplish what I wanted to accomplish in life.
Yes, a lot of people told me that it was going to be tough. But I decided that was something I wanted to do anyways because being a lawyer is another passion that I have. I’m not working as a lawyer right now because I’m now focusing on 100% being a professional player. But I did pass, and the Puerto Rico bar exam is one of the toughest bar exams to pass.
It feels great to be that role model to little girls who have told me they want to be lawyers but also want to keep playing volleyball. They can look up to me and think, ‘She did it, so I can definitely do it as well.’
Off the court, you've traveled to a lot of new places. Which city or country left the biggest impression on you, and why?
I was really impressed when I went to Japan in 2018 for a world cup. That was one of the most impressive countries I have ever been to. I would like to go back, but maybe not to play volleyball. I’d like to just be a tourist and see things that I wasn’t able to, because you don’t have a lot of time to be a tourist when you’re playing.
Lastly, in your opinion, what’s the most satisfying way to win a match point?
I would say having a huge dig and ending it with an outside hitter or right-side hitter attack. As a libero, I’d like to be involved in that play. Some might say a block because blocks are exciting. But, for me, it would be the most satisfying to get a big dig and my team ending it with a kill.
Photo by Nicolas Carrilo/Rise