Nov. 19, 2015

Editor’s Note: Senior Haley Bonneval played in 14 matches and totaled 64 kills, 10 digs and six blocks before suffering a knee injury that ended her 2015 season. Her best match came in a 3-1 win over Mississippi State to open the home portion of the schedule. Against the Bulldogs she totaled a career-high 16 kills (.343 A%). A Mandeville, Louisiana native, Bonneval is enrolled in the Mendoza College of Business and is majoring in accounting.

Next year Bonneval will return to the Irish for her third season of competition and work towards a Master’s of Science in accountancy.

As told to Jane Horvat (’18) & Russell Dorn, Athletics Communications Assistant Director

Q: If you could be any character in any movie, who would you want to be and why?

HB: “Katniss Everdeen (Hunger Games – Jennifer Lawrence) because she’s pretty legit. I think it’d be interesting to go through the Hunger Games, and I’m Katniss, so I know I’d survive.”

Q: What’s the last picture you took with your phone?

HB: “It’s a screenshot. One of my friends had really long hair and he had to cut it before his internship. There was a language barrier with the person that cut his hair and the haircut didn’t turn out very well.”

Q: What is your favorite quote?

HB: “‘Let It Be.’ It’s applicable to every facet of life. We can’t control most of the things that happen around us so we just need to ‘Let It Be.'”

Q: What is the strangest thing you’ve ever eaten?

HB: “I’ve intentionally eaten both a mealworm and a cricket. I was in fourth grade and they are edible so we made chocolate chip cricket cookies and we made some cool sauces to eat with the mealworms. It didn’t taste bad, but it didn’t taste particularly good.”

Q: Which Disney Princess are you most like?

HB: “Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) because I like sleeping a lot and we both have blonde hair.”

Q: What is your favorite joke?

HB: “What do you call a cow with no legs? ââ’¬¦ Ground Beef!”

Q: What is your least favorite memory from high school?

HB: “We call the main hall of my high school The Mall. At the beginning of the day, everyone walks through the main doors of The Mall to hang out and talk to their friends before classes. It was my freshman year. It was a rainy and muggy day and my shoes didn’t react well to water on the floors. The seniors sit at the very front of the hall, so you have to pass by all of them to get to your locker. And I just completely slipped and landed on my butt in front of them all. My sister came over to help me up and I slipped again while all the seniors just sat there staring at me. After that I put my head down and walked to where my friends were – the ultimate walk of shame.”

Q: What is your favorite memory from high school?

HB: “We won state my senior year of high school on my 18th birthday. It was easily my best birthday so far.”

Q: Describe winning a state championship in 4 words.

HB: “The best feeling ever.”

Q: What is the most unique thing about your home in Louisiana?

HB: “The culture. Everything is slower in a way. Everyone there still wants to be successful, but it’s not cutthroat. It’s also very family-oriented. People seem to be much happier with where they are in life.”

Q: Your hometown is less than an hour away from New Orleans, what impact has the NOLA culture had on your life?

HB: “I think it’s made me more carefree. I try not to let things get to me. I like to enjoy the moment and not rush from place to place. I mean, I still meet deadlines and manage my time, but I don’t like to spend my time worrying about the next thing on my list.”

Q: Hurricane Katrina was devastating to Louisiana, especially the New Orleans area. How did Hurricane Katrina impact your childhood?

HB: “My house itself was completely fine, but my grandparents’ house and a lot of my family members’ houses were partially or completely destroyed. My grandparents lost a lot of their old pictures and other items that carried memories for them. I think that taught me to appreciate the little things and the memories that accompanied them. It showed me that it’s important to preserve those types of things because you are going to want them later in life. That’s why I’m a big fan of disposable cameras. I bring them out all the time that way I can always have the physical copies of the pictures. It also helped me realize that everything is temporary, so if things go wrong it’s still going to be okay eventually.”

Individual match tickets for Notre Dame volleyball’s last two home matches in 2015 are on sale. The Irish play Georgia Tech (7 p.m. Friday) and Clemson (1 p.m. Sunday) this weekend (November 20 & 22). Visit und.com/tickets or call the Murnane Family Ticket Office at 574-631-7356 for more information.

For the latest Irish volleyball coverage, be sure to log on to UND.com or follow the program on Facebook (/NDVolleyball), Twitter (@NDVolleyball), Instagram (NDVBall) and Snapchat (NDVolleyball).

–ND–