Romero now a record-breaking star despite late start in the sport

The people that we call Stanford Division I athletes generally have one thing in common: they’ve all been playing their sport for most of their lives. They didn’t just pick it up and somehow become amazingly talented in the sport. But then there’s Evan Romero.

While most of his teammates come from volleyball families where they were given volleyballs as soon as they could run around, Romero’s career started a little later. His sophomore year of high school, his basketball coach, also the volleyball coach, approached him about playing on the team.

Romero said yes.

“I liked playing volleyball; it was fun. That’s where I started off,” Romero said. “I learned how to hit and pass somewhat. From there, I kind of blossomed a little bit.”

Playing with his high school team highlighted a slightly different chapter in his volleyball career — while he still plays with a different set of his closest friends, the Taco Bell runs and hang out sessions are memories from the beginning of his career.

“We had some upset wins and it was just fun hanging out with the guys all the time. It was a good time playing with them,” Romero said.

After a few phone calls to coach John Kosty, Romero became Stanford-bound, with more nerves than any of his teammates.

“I was most afraid that I had nowhere near the level of experience that everyone on the team had,” Romero said. “I was hoping that I’d be able to learn quickly and be able to contribute to the team.”

“I had some growing pains definitely. I didn’t exactly play too well my first two years, but the coaches have been phenomenal. They’ve been really supportive and they’ve taught me a lot in a short amount of time.”

Among the many skills and techniques he has picked up while playing here, Romero learned that sometimes, brain does beat brawn.

“When you get comfortable with the game, and in my case, you learn you don’t have to hit as hard as you can every time,” Romero said. “You have to hit some smart shots. I learned from my teammates like Spencer [McLachlin], who always does that.”

While experience is the biggest skill he has acquired over the years, his teammates — including Ed Howell, Jason Palacios, Garrett Werner and Kawika Shoji — have all helped him with technique.

This experience and technique led Romero to break the school record for career kills with 1,295 last year. Moreover, he has been the leader in kills on the team for the past three years as well. However, this offensive powerhouse radiates humility when asked about his leading numbers.

“With Spencer [McLachlin] and Brad [Lawson] on the outside, our middles are playing well with Garrett [Werner] and Gus [Ellis], I’m just one of the parts of the team,” Romero said. “I love it. Our team is doing well. If our team is doing well, I’m happy with it.”

Of his many stellar kill nights, the match that stands out most for him is the home match against UC-Irvine of the 2008 season.

“It was my favorite game because Irvine was a very good team and it was the first time all our friends from the water polo team and soccer team came out in costume to support us,” Romero said. “From then, it’s grown into a big group of guys coming out in costume.”

Alongside the appreciation Romero has for his friends’ costumes, the most remarkable aspect of this senior Mechanical Science & Engineering major is the amount of time he dedicates to volleyball.

“It’s pretty amazing to see that 25-30 hours are dedicated to your sport that you could have to do work or relax. In the end, it’s 100 percent worth it,” Romero said. “We love what we do and we want to spend 30 more hours playing volleyball.”

As Romero checks into his last season of volleyball and his last five months left at Stanford, he strives to reach his goals of playing better volleyball, hanging out with friends more often and simply enjoying the life of an undergraduate as much as possible.