Everyone’s heard the sports cliché “there’s no I in team.” But Wiesbaden senior Leah Rojas is the living embodiment of the phrase.

The Warrior outside hitter has a lot of volleyball-related skills, but talking about those skills isn’t one of them. Rojas is unable, it seems, to talk about anything but her team.

“I prided myself on being able to mesh with the team. The team led itself,” Rojas said. “We had so many strong players that were also leaders and good in their position. Everyone knew what they had to do and we just worked together.”

And it worked spectacularly well. The Warriors navigated a tough regular season without taking a loss, did the same over the first two days of the European volleyball tournament and finally outlasted Naples 19-25, 25-11, 25-14, 23-25, 16-14 in a classic title-match duel.

Rojas won’t talk about her central role in the Warriors’ success this year. But her efforts didn’t go unnoticed. She was named the most valuable player of the Division I tournament, just minutes after recording the title-clinching point with a service ace.

Now, she is the Stars and Stripes volleyball Athlete of the Year.

“There is no doubt that she was the glue keeping everything together, on and off the court,” Warrior coach Linnea Velsvaag said. “She is a true team player.”

Wiesbaden’s 2014 season doesn’t look like a roller-coaster ride, unless that roller-coaster starts at the top of an ascent and stays there until the end. The Warriors emerged as a championship favorite early and stayed firmly in that strata until they actually won it.

But that success didn’t come easily. There were unexpected obstacles, moments of adversity and the ongoing challenge of turning a talented group of high-school athletes into a high-functioning, championship-caliber team. The fact that it all worked out so well doesn’t mean there weren’t other, less desirable possible outcomes.

“We had to find that right mix to work together, on the court and off the court,” Rojas said. “It’s just really hard to pull everybody on the same page.”

The most Rojas would say about her own contributions to that process is that she tried to “help the girls keep good spirits.” But her contributions went well beyond that.

Velsvaag offered a lengthy string of adjectives to describe her senior star, from “savvy” to “smart” to “humble.” In every way, Velsvaag said, Rojas was instrumental to Wiesbaden’s success. Her on-court play was a key to the Warrior championship.

“She plays anywhere and everywhere on the court,” Velsvaag said. “She is sound defensively as well as being a great hitter and setter.”

And her off-court demeanor kept the Warriors focused and poised for the success that was quickly coming their way. Rojas was “able to represent the team with a calm, clear head,” Velsvaag said.

The days after Wiesbaden’s championship win have confronted Rojas with a new challenge. People are approaching her with congratulations and high-fives. And while she usually knows just what to do in volleyball-related situations, the attention has left Rojas a bit flummoxed.

“I don’t feel like a champion,” Rojas said. “But then I watch the game, and I think, ‘Wow, maybe we are champions.’”

broome.gregory@stripes.com

Twitter: @broomestripes

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