MEET THE REBELS: Middle Blocker Regina Thomas

July 22, 2010

Regina Thomas is a junior with the Ole Miss volleyball team entering her fourth season as a part of the program after redshirting in her first year with the Rebels. Thomas came to Ole Miss from Richardson, Texas, as a three-sport athlete having competed in basketball, track and volleyball. The 6-1 middle blocker is the daughter of Rosemary Thomas - a native of Nigeria - and comes from an athletic family. Her sister, Esther, ran track at Texas Christian University and Austin Peay, while her other sister, Victoria, played volleyball at Southern University.

She was named an All-SEC Freshman team selection in 2008 and has been a big part of Rebel volleyball success in her time with the Red and Blue. Thomas put down a career-high 17 kills against Georgia Tech at the Magnolia Invitational in 2008 and came up with a career-high 11.0 blocks against Wisconsin-Milwaukee to win the Magnolia Invitational last season.

Q: You're entering your junior season this fall. What are you looking forward to most as far as making your mark in your third year on the floor?

RT: Every season you look forward to playing people other than yourself. You spend your whole preseason playing against each other and getting ready for new competition. As soon as one season is done, you're looking forward to that next one. Not so much the practices, but you want that Friday night in the SEC and that Sunday afternoon. That's the exciting part when you get the season going. We really want to make a better name for ourselves and we want to get past last season. What better way to do that than start fresh and do something better? It doesn't mean anything at the end of the day if you don't get that W.

Q: What will it take to come back and make a return trip to the NCAA Tournament?

RT: It's going to take even more dedication from all of us. Every summer we're here working hard, but we've all done even more this summer. We've gotten in the gym more and had more open gyms - working out and scrimmaging against each other on our own. I think a bit more dedication from each of us will be what gets us there. We're in the shape we need to be in, but it's the dedication, the extra work and the pride we have in our program that can be the difference.

Q: Why did you pick volleyball? Why not continue with basketball or track?

RT: The first time I played volleyball it was in the seventh grade. Most people start with this sport when they are like five years old. From the first day I played it, I knew it was what I wanted to do at a higher level. Basketball was always there. Track was a good sport for me. But I like playing with other people and track is such an individual sport. I love interacting with my teammates and the fast pace of volleyball that you don't get with other sports. I love the momentum and the pace and the fact that you can show so much emotion after every point - and I think that's missing from so many sports. You can't celebrate after every basket you score in basketball because people will look at you like you're crazy. I definitely feel like I made the right decision continuing with volleyball. It's an escape for me, honestly, which I'm sure every college athlete could say about their sport.

Q: What was it about Ole Miss that made you know this was where you wanted to continue your volleyball career?

RT: That's an easy one. It's this place and this team. I think that's the case for a lot of these girls. If we can get someone to visit campus, it's crazy how they just know this is the place for them. It doesn't matter what other schools they have visited. I knew this was the place and girls I could see myself around every day. There are so many facets. It's growing and it's so beautiful. The team is just so laid back and down to earth. We are so accepting and you don't feel like an outcast. Everyone has open arms.

Q: Where else did you visit?

RT: Nowhere. I came for a visit and didn't want to go on any other visits. I went home from my weekend visit and talked to my club coach and said, "This is where I see myself playing for the next four years." And he told me to go for it.

Q: Take us through game night at the Gillom Center and what's going through your head. What's so special about it?

RT: You can always go somewhere that's bigger. You can go to Florida or Tennessee and play in their huge arenas. But, there's something about our gym. It's intimidating for other people. It's smaller and the fans are right there in your face. It's intimidating for other people, but it's the biggest comfort zone for us. Every time I'm in Gillom, I feel at home. Going into our gym and playing in front of our fans is special. At bigger schools you may not know your fans, but we know just about everyone who walks in there. We build such a good relationship with our fans. You feel like you're really playing for them because you have such a close relationship. It's so exciting. The fan base we have is amazing. Volleyball isn't a huge sport, especially here in Mississippi. To have the amount of fans we do - and have them come back season after season - it's amazing. They're always there for us.

Q: What match here in the Gillom Center would you say stands out most vividly in your mind?

RT: Tennessee last year when we played them here on television. I remember the place was packed and people were going crazy. The student section was filled with students wearing their white t-shirts. It was insane. Every point we got, you could feel the place shaking. The adrenaline was pumping the entire match. It was awesome.

Q: Do you feel like the crowds you get really feed your intensity on the court?

RT: Definitely. You have a couple of matches a season where your crowd isn't quite as big. Football games conflict or something has gotten in the way. You don't get that same feeling, no matter how much you try to recreate it. But, when we have those nights where the fans are all there showing us they support us like that Tennessee match; that energy you're giving off, you feel coming back at you too. You feel like your tank is never empty because you get that energy fed back to you. Another was our match against Florida last year. The crowd just had crazy energy and was phenomenal.

Q: Are there moments where you can see that the other team is getting rattled by the support you get?

RT: Absolutely. Especially when they are going back to serve and they can hear our fans. The way our gym is set up they can really see our fans and hear the crowd on them. It's most noticeable when they go back to serve because our gym is a smaller venue and the fans are right there pressing down on the court. It's not like that in bigger arenas where the fans are so far away from the court, but when the other teams walk in the gym or go back to serve you can see that expression on their face where they are thinking "Oh no! Here we go. What have I gotten into?"

Q: What is that moment on the court that you just live for? What's that moment in a match where your eyes light up and you think to yourself that this is your moment?

RT: A big block. It can be a solo or a blocking assist. When that ball hits your hand and goes straight down to the floor before the hitter can even blink her eyes. Those are the moments. After that ball hits, something just snaps and you get fired up. You can see the look on the other player's face is just shock. It takes their breath away; it takes your breath away too. This is what it's about. It's knowing you did that, and you helped your team win that point. That is what you're playing for.

Q: What's going through your head at that moment when you're going up for that block?

RT: *laughs* I'm about to eat this up. I want this ball. Sometimes it's just indescribable. In your head you're just thinking 'this one has got to be mine and I'm going to eat this ball up.'

Q: Who is the unsung hero on your team? Who do you walk into the gym and think that you can be excellent if you just match the effort put forth by this one teammate?

RT: Emily Kvitle. She will give and give and give until she can't give any more. She is an amazing leader. She will do everything in her power to help you get better. She wants to get better herself and is constantly asking you for feedback. She has changed positions so many times and it's just done because the team has asked her to do it. Whatever she has to do to make us better, she'll do. You can grind her into the ground and she will get right back up and give whatever she has left. That's the type of person and player she is. I look up to her. She doesn't know that and I don't tell her as much as I should, but she is the definition of a leader in the way she does things and through her actions. You can emulate her. She doesn't even realize she's being a leader sometimes, but she is the epitome of a leader with the way she does things and the dedication she has for the program.

Q: What's the best movie you've seen this year?

RT: I just saw Inception and that may be the best movie I've seen this year. Inception or Shutter Island. Both of those are Leonardo DiCaprio movies, but I walked away from both of those movies going "Wow, what just happened there?" I'm a pretty big movie buff.

Q: Are you reading anything now?

RT: I'm not really a big reader, but I have read some fascinating stuff in my Language and Gender class. It's a gender studies and linguistics course. We read a lot of stuff about things we never think about with regards to how women and men talk. Gender Studies is my minor and Psychology is my major, so I am fascinated by that sort of stuff. I'm one of those crazy thinkers who over-analyze people. It just grabs me and I think "Wow, we really do talk like that as women" and "Gosh, guys really do communicate like that." We do have those differences and similarities.

Q: Is that your favorite class?

RT: Definitely, my gender studies classes have been my favorite. People think "oh, we're just going to talk about feminists" and all those stereotypical images for what people think of as feminists. It opened up my mind so much. Even just the definition of a feminist - which isn't limited to gender or race. It's about equality for every individual. I didn't have any idea what I was getting into, but it opened up my mind so much and I view the world so differently than I did before and that's why it's my minor now.

Q: What's playing on your IPod right now?

RT: Eminem. The new song with Eminem and Rihanna called "Love the Way You Lie". It was definitely blasting in my car on the way over here.

Q: Do you have a favorite television show?

RT: "Modern Family." I went home for Christmas and my cousin told me to watch this show. You watch one episode and just keep watching. It's three different families all intertwined somehow. It is definitely a funny, funny show. I'm also weird in that I love murder mysteries and watch a lot of "Snapped" on Oxygen and "Women Behind Bars" on WE. They are always on in my house and I don't know why. They are just so good. I love watching that kind of stuff.

Q: What is your favorite sport to go watch on campus?

RT: Basketball - men's or women's it doesn't matter. I like the fast pace of the men's, and I'm so close with several members of the women's team. They play so hard.

Q: If you were able to just go to one athlete since you have been here at Ole Miss and ask for an autograph...who would it be?

RT: Dexter McCluster. Not that I can't get his autograph now, but if I were just a fan or a little kid. If I wasn't an athlete. I mean, I wouldn't want his autograph now; that would be just kind of weird for me since I'm an athlete here too. But if I were someone who didn't get to talk to him regularly and interact with him by virtue of being an athlete, that would be the autograph I would want.

Q: Do you have a favorite professional athlete?

RT: LeBron James. It's weird. I don't have a favorite team, so it doesn't faze me that he went to Miami. But, he's just amazing. I am not a Kobe fan, so I'm not about to ask him for an autograph. I love Lebron, so not Kobe. Definitely not Kobe.

Q: If you could speak to the Ole Miss fans and had two minutes to tell them anything you wanted them to know about Ole Miss volleyball, what would you say?

RT: Hellooo fans! No, seriously. I would tell them that even though we're an underrated sport and volleyball isn't the first sport that comes to mind when you think of college athletics - we work just as hard as any other sport. It's the unheard of sport. Sometimes we might have to work twice as hard because you have to prove yourself to people and prove that you deserve their support. We are working hard every day to be better to represent ourselves well and represent Ole Miss well. We take pride in Ole Miss and what we do. We want to make people proud of us and Ole Miss and bring championships to Oxford. The fans are a big part of that and can provide that edge for us, like I said earlier. I hope they'll come out and give us a chance and see what we're about. So come out to a match and help us get this thing going.

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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