Dutch exchange student sets Sheridan volleyball records as she adjusts to life in Indiana

SHERIDAN — Senne IJzer loves learning different languages.

A foreign exchange student from Alkmaar, a city of about 110,000 located 40 minutes north of Amsterdam, the Sheridan senior can speak Dutch, German and English, and her interests extend to non-verbal forms of communication, as well. She researched Dutch sign language for a class presentation last year, and jumped at the opportunity to take an American Sign Language class online while in the United States, a decision motivated by both her passion for languages and Dwight Casler, her host father, who is deaf.

"I thought it was interesting and I wanted to learn (sign language), but I never did," said IJzer, who also stars for the Sheridan volleyball team, which plays Cascade in sectionals Saturday. "I'm still young, so I'm (trying it out) and trying to learn it now."

Volleyball sectionals:Scores, schedules

Learning ASL has been challenging. IJzer has to translate lessons from English to Dutch before attempting to sign them out, and with early lessons focused mostly on categories like school stuff and weekdays, there aren't many opportunities for her to practice at home or during her daily life.

"I don't really practice, so it fades away and I keep needing to go back and (relearn it)," IJzer said. She admits she should probably start signing with Casler at home, but is hesitant to risk making a mistake in front of her host family, all of whom are fluent in ASL.

IJzer probably knows ASL better than she realizes Dwight and his wife, Angi, agreed — she can sign foods, certain things she likes and a few other terms — but her hesitations are typical of someone learning a new language.

"I don't even really like talking in English, because I speak differently," IJzer said, drawing a comparison to speaking up during Spanish class. "I don't want to make a mistake. And in English, it's kind of hard to form sentences and when people laugh at you, sometimes it's funny and I don't care, but other times I'm trying really hard."

IJzer eventually hopes to learn ASL well enough to communicate with Dwight, but for now the two communicate via text message and finger spellings when Angi and their daughter, Maelei, aren't around to help translate.

"I don't want to push because she'll be here for a while," Dwight said. "We're taking it a little bit at a time. I don't want to pour too much onto her… She just needs to come out of her shy shell."

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"There's a lot of land, a lot of farmland. I noticed when we're on the highway that a lot is kind of the same. Some parts you could say I'm still in the Netherlands, but it's still very different, especially with the farmland." — Senne on her initial impressions of Indiana.

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The first thing IJzer did when her plane touched down on Aug. 5 was head to Dick's Sporting Goods.

To get volleyball shoes.

Because her luggage was lost.

24 hours later, the senior hitter was at her new high school, wearing shorts and knee pads borrowed from someone she'd just met and boarding a bus for a scrimmage at Clinton Prairie.

"She looked like someone who had just gotten off the plane the night before," coach Melissa Jump laughed. "We just outfitted her and tossed her on the floor."

Given a chance to recover from her trip — and following the IHSAA-mandated 10 practices — IJzer joined the Sheridan volleyball team full-time and made an immediate impact, totaling 41 kills and five aces over her first five matches.

The 5-5 outside hitter can jump higher than all her teammates and most opposing players, Jump said, adding: "The first time she swings every match, you usually see the other girls' faces (drop)."

IJzer's club team in the Netherlands doesn't keep stats, she said, and though she was aware of the Sheridan record book, she didn't think she would have a chance to reach any of them, even as she maintained her high-level of play into October (highlights included two matches with 20-plus kills and four with 20-plus digs).

But then Dwight informed her of the school's single-season kills record (231).

"The second he told me, I started calculating on my phone how many I needed per game," IJzer laughed. "At the beginning it was 11, then I got it down to 7.5. I tracked it after every single match."

IJzer's pace had moved closer to nine at the time of the interview, but with 26 kills over her next two matches, she broke the school record and enters sectionals with 233 kills, 241 digs, 27 aces and eight blocks.

"Senne wants her name up there on our record board when it arrives and she wants it to be up there for a long time," Jump said.

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"I would practice two times a week because I was on the better team, then one game a week. So this (practices every day and multiple games in a week) is all very new. My family is scared I'll be worn out, but I like this more. Even though I'm tired, I like playing more volleyball." — Senne on differences between prep sports in the Netherlands (no school teams, only clubs) and America.

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Volleyball is IJzer's main sport, but she's tried a few others, including soccer, gymnastics and tennis. By the time she heads back to the Netherlands, she'll have added softball and basketball to her list, as well.

The former is Maelei's favorite sport; the latter is one IJzer just enjoys watching and has been interested in trying — especially after she and her dad watched "The Last Dance" on Netflix at least three times.

"I want to play sports all the time so when I go back to the Netherlands I can still play volleyball," IJzer said. "I'm a little nervous for basketball, I've heard it's way more competitive than volleyball, so I need to learn a lot of stuff."

Follow Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @Brian_Haenchen.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IHSAA volleyball: Dutch exchange student sets Sheridan kills record