By Davis Ramage
In a predominately white sport, Long Beach State men’s volleyball senior middle blocker DiAeris McRaven is persevering and flourishing for the 11-0 No.1 team in the nation.
“Even in a predominately white sport, you can still find a way to be excellent and be great in it,” McRaven said.
Being 6-foot-5 and Black, McRaven often gets asked, “Why aren’t you playing basketball? There’s so much money in basketball.”
Getting asked those questions, McRaven says, is the hardest thing about being a Black volleyball player.
He realizes that the Black athletes who came before him have been through “10 times worse” than he has, and takes Black History Month as a time to reflect and look at all the people who paved the way for him.
A former high school basketball player, the thought of financials often enters McRaven’s mind when he asks himself why he chose volleyball over basketball, as basketball players get paid significantly more.
Regardless of the financials, McRaven says he is happier playing volleyball than basketball and likes to make his mother proud, who played for the women’s volleyball junior national team in Japan.
The at-the-time junior Long Beach State middle blocker DiAeris McRaven celebrated with the crowd after a LBSU point on March 16, 2024. The Beach took on The Warriors 3-2 at the Walter Pyramid. Photo Credit: Samuel Chacko
McRaven grew up in Honolulu, Hawai’i, where he had a “diverse upbringing” around many different races.
“I found my own way to kind of code switch and you know figure out how to sort of mesh with my group and try to fit in,” McRaven said. “Although it does come with its challenges, you know I always try to find a way around it.”
He started his collegiate volleyball career at Orange Coast College, a junior college in Orange County, Calif.
“The [junior college] route definitely broke me down and made me see who I really was, made me really reflect but it also gave me a strong work ethic, because going through that route you either want it or you don’t,” McRaven said.
JUCO is famously known as the level where athletes realize how much they love the sport as it is a slow grind with little recognition for the majority of athletes, but McRaven stuck it out because he knew the potential that he had.
Long Beach State senior opposite hitter Daniil Hershtynovich (left) and senior middle blocker DiAeris McRaven (right) go up for the block as they try to minimize UCLA’s offense. The Beach shut down the Bruins’ offense as they won 3-1 on Feb. 12. Photo Credit: Samuel Chacko
At OCC, the high leaper McRaven played opposite hitter, but has since made the transition to middle blocker for The Beach.
It was different for him to not only be playing a new position, but playing a new position at a higher level of volleyball where the game moves faster and the players on the other side of the net are bigger, stronger and more athletic.
After his time at LBSU is over, McRaven hopes to play professionally, preferably in Japan, but will take any opportunity he can get to play volleyball at the professional level. He hopes that leads to a spot on the United States Olympic roster.
He represented the U.S. at the North, Central America and Caribbean Volleyball Confederation Men’s Final 6 in 2024, and won a gold medal while being named the best blocker of the tournament.
“It’s a different feeling,” McRaven said. “You know, coming into the gym you already know you’re playing a different style of volleyball and you’re playing for a much bigger meaning than you know just playing for the school, you’re representing your country.”
Long Beach State senior middle blocker DiAeris McRaven looks up at the video board to watch the LBSU men’s volleyball hype video just as The Beach and the Bruins battle for the top seed in the nation. McRaven’s energetic three kills and one dig helped push the momentum to LBSU as they beat the Bruins 3-1 on Feb. 7. Photo Credit: Samuel Chacko
In terms of role models, McRaven takes inspiration from the work ethic of former and current NBA players like LeBron James, the late Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan, three legends of basketball who are all known for their devotion to their sport.
Despite differences in skin color and a disadvantage in experience due to his late start in playing volleyball, McRaven has put in a tremendous amount of work to put himself in the position he is today, as a pivotal player for the nation’s best team.
“If I can do it, you can too,” McRaven said.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 4:42 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 21 to shorten the story to under 700 words.
