By Ryan Bernstein

            Representing your country is more than an honor, it is a privilege. With Team USA being a part of the Olympics, they are determined to pick the best of the best for each sport that they compete in. The sport that brings excitement to a specific duo is ice dancing. This duo consists of Eva Pate and Logan Bye who both represent The United States of America. On the ice, they have a connection like no other. When off the ice, the connection continues as they have recently announced their engagement in August of 2022.

            Eva and Logan have now been together as a team since June of 2019. They are currently competing for the 2026 Winter Olympics and have high expectations as they already have medaled second place three times in international competitions this season. The couple is currently competing in France making their Grand Prix entrance, which is a sequence of ice dancing competitions arranged and put together by The International Skating Union.

            “Our goals for the Olympics would be to have two really nice clean skates that reflect Logan and my four years leading up to the next games,” Eva said. “The Olympic Games are a very difficult competition to get in to because the USA only takes three ice dance teams.”

            Competing for your spot in the Olympics means you need to set distractions aside and keep your eyes on the prize. After already being an exciting year for Eva and Logan because of ice dancing competitions, the excitement continued after they became engaged. To make sure they both stay focused, they “keep their home life and skating life two separate things”, Eva said. They like to think of skating as their job and their home as their home.

            Eva moved to Michigan after watching the 2014 Olympics and realizing she wants to be a competitive ice dancer. When moving, she knew she had to find a partner to compete in competitions with. She eventually met Logan in Canton, Michigan where they both trained. Eva explained Logan was “kind and nice” the moment she had first met him. Looking down the line, Eva sees both her and Logan staying involved in ice dancing.

            “Five years down the line, I see myself probably still skating or coaching for sure,” said Eva. “I really enjoy the sport so I know a part of me will still be a part of it. I keep trying to take every skating season year by year up until the Olympic season. It’s good to have those goals to make the Olympic team, but again it is very difficult to make the team”

            After finding much success in their careers so far, this dynamic duo still has a few years to collect and earn more medals and recognition than they already have to help show why they deserve their Olympic shot.

            Dreams consist of having mentors and leaders to help show you the way. For Eva, her mentor was one of her first coaches, Janet. She always taught Eva to push her past her limits and to help achieve her goals. Eva mentions how Janet always wanted her to achieve her goals but was “very hard on her”.

            Eva learned so much from her coaches and fellow ice dancers. She plans to help young ice dancers follow their dreams the way her and Logan have.

            “My advice to athletes going into ice dancing would be to take your time. In ice dancing, usually the team goes to the Olympics at the ages of 25 to 30, so me being 22, I am still on the younger side of the sport. So really take each season one at a time,” Eva Pate says.

Posted: Oct 31, 2022

COUNTDOWN TO NJCAA VOLLEYBALL REGIONALS: Spotlight on Mallory Rice

Former Rockets DS now a Triceratops stopper

By RYAN BERNSTEIN

A key aspect to Cuyahoga Community College’s phenomenal volleyball comeback season in 2022-23 after a two-year layoff due to Covid-19 is the team’s excellent defense. And that starts on the court with Mallory Rice.

The team’s libero or defensive specialist (the player in the other colored jersey), Rice is frequently the focal point as she reacts to the opponent’s hits. She’s unafraid to end her digs flat on the ground if it leads to a good pass that sets up a spike for her front-line teammates.

Rice started playing volleyball in fifth grade at Streetsboro Middle School. In seventh grade, she decided to join the school team and play more competitively. She has loved it ever since.

After her middle school years, she continued playing at for the Rockets’ team at Streetsboro High School. Rice realized that volleyball was her calling and she chose to continue her game in college. On the court, she’s averaging 2.88 digs, 3 points, and .38 service aces per set for the Triceratops.

“Tri-C is a mix of everything that I wanted,” Rice says. “I wanted to stay close to home. I wanted to be on a competitive team. I didn’t want to travel far, and I get to stay home. We have a lot of workouts, but we’re not overdoing it.”

Like Rice, everyone on the Triceratops volleyball team is a newcomer to the program. That means there needed to be a significant investment of time in the players getting to know each other. That’s been a secret to the squad’s success, she adds.

“We all get along well because we have the same mindset of us wanting to study hard and compete athletically while we living at home,” she explains. “The schooling here is nice, and I just couldn’t ask for a better group of teammates.”

Tionne El-Amin, also a newcomer as Tri-C’s head volleyball coach, speaks highly of Rice.

“Mal is one of my top recruits and has lived up to my expectations for her,” El-Amin says. “She has a very high IQ, she’s dedicated and hard worker, which keeps her on top of her game and is helping to be one of the best defensive players on the team.”

For Rice, the sentiment towards her coaching staff is mutual.

“I think she’s terrific,” she says. “Coach T is a great person, a great player, and a great coach. She’s new and she’s working well with all of us. And we love her and Coach Shanyla (assistant) also.”

Cuyahoga Community College’s Triceratops have a record of 7-12 going into the National Junior College Athletic Association’s Region XII playoffs. Mallory Rice has great expectations for the team in the playoffs.

“I think we’ll do great. We’ve been building up to be a great team and we just haven’t gotten to that point just yet. But I think we’re going to leave it all out on the court, and I believe we can go far (in the tournament).”

What advice might Rice have for younger players going into volleyball?

“Just keep a level head, if you begin to think negatively, you’ll play worse,” she says. “Volleyball is a game where confidence and attitude will make a great difference in the outcome.”

Bernstein, a second-year student at Tri-C from Independence, is taking courses in news writing, social media, and sports reporting this semester.

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