After playing for Lebanon, Sophia Youssef is ready to lead Benet

Benet’s Sophia Youssef is an expert at making adjustments, whether she’s switching positions, navigating cultures or traveling around the world

The 6-foot-1 senior can play middle hitter or setter, sometimes during the same match.

“That’s very impressive,” Benet senior setter Maddie Bryant said. “Playing setter and middle is a really hard job to do.

“Not everyone can play middle. It’s probably the hardest position, just physicality-wise.”

Youssef, a Washington University commit, was a starting middle for the Redwings last season, but she plays setter for her club team and the Lebanese senior national team.

“She has a really big game IQ,” Bryant said. “She’s a really intelligent player. She can tell you who is hitting lines and who is hitting cross.

“That’s probably one of the most impressive parts about her as a teammate, how much she pays attention to really nitty-gritty details.”

During the preseason, Benet coach Brad Baker still hadn’t decided how he would employ Youssef, who is one of four setters on the roster.

“That’s a good question,” Baker said. “Middle, setter and maybe both. She’s a good attacker, and that kind of translates into being a middle.

“Blocking in the middle is a little different. You just have to learn to change your footwork. It’s a skill she’s had.”

Youssef is used to change. She has both Lebanese and United States citizenship. Her parents, Elias and Cathy, immigrated to the U.S. in 2003.

Youssef’s father died of cancer when she was 4. But she and her older sister, Norah, who is a junior at Notre Dame, go to Lebanon with their mother every summer to visit relatives, who live in the northwestern part of the country.

“It’s a beautiful country, and I love it,” Youssef said. “We’re right on the Mediterranean. It’s gorgeous.”

While in Lebanon, Youssef makes sure she maintains her volleyball training. That opened up a unique opportunity.

“I go for a month every summer,” she said. “I didn’t want to get out of shape, so I’ve been doing lessons over there since I was young.

“One of the guys that I do lessons with, he coaches at a college there, and his cousin is the national team coach. So he helped me get involved and asked me if I wanted to come, and I said yes.”

In June, Youssef started at setter for Lebanon at the AVC Women’s Volleyball Cup in the Philippines. The team went 0-5, but Youssef appreciated the valuable experience she got by playing against women in their 20s and 30s.

“It was amazing playing against these girls I’ve been watching on TV from all these huge countries with great players,” she said. “Playing against them is just a whole different level, and getting to play at that level was spectacular.

“Honestly, the hardest part was the blocking because they set so fast. You have to be able to get up fast.”

That could prove valuable this season.

“It helps because I play setter and middle at Benet,” Youssef said. “So coming back after getting that blocking experience playing overseas is really nice.”

So is the leadership experience that Youssef got while playing for Lebanon. She and senior libero Claire Weathers are the only returning starters for the Redwings, who have finished second in Class 4A in each of the past four seasons.

“I’m really excited to lead,” Youssef said. “It’s not something that I’ve been able to do so far.

“It’s a great opportunity, and this program has such a rich history. That is also going to help me leading on any team or job I’m on in the future.”

The future is now for the Redwings, most of whom haven’t gotten any previous varsity playing time. While they aren’t favored to win the state title, it would be foolish to overlook them.

“This is not the first time this has happened where we’ve graduated a big group,” Baker said. “These girls’ expectations haven’t changed. Hopefully by the end of the year, nobody is talking about the people that have graduated.”

The Redwings have just five seniors, and Youssef is the only one committed to play in college. Yet she is optimistic.

“There’s some great talent on the team,” she said. “All the girls, honestly, I think they can be outstanding players at any school they went to.

“I don’t think people should count us out. Even though we’re a younger team, I think the talent that we do have and the girls on this team can do amazing things.”