Time Out With: Eliza Matley

SCHOOL: Carson High

YEAR: Junior

SPORT: Basketball

Q: What is your favorite sport and how did you get started playing it?

A: My favorite sport is basketball by far. I love that it is such a fast-paced game full of intensity and continuous excitement. I started playing basketball in the third grade when I signed up to be on a Rec team. I played Rec ball up until middle school where there was a school team, and I have played on school teams ever since.

Q: Who is your favorite professional athlete and why?

A: Sue Bird is my favorite professional athlete. She is in the WNBA and is on the Seattle Storm. She is an incredibly talented player. I love that in a close game she decides to take control and lead her team to a victory. I admire her for that.

Q: What has been your most thrilling moment in sports?

A: Every close, challenging game is thrilling because every play matters and I love to have all that pressure.

Q: Do you have a role model, and why is he/ she your role model?

A: My mother, Stephanie Matley, and my father, Marshall Matley, are my role models. They are constantly positive and loving people even when life does not go according to plans. They work hard in order to achieve what they want in life, and are honest and kind on the way.

Q: Do you have a teammate you hang around a lot away from school and why?

A: I hang out with just about all my teammates. Each of them are unique and special in their own way, and I am so glad that I met each and every one of them.

Q: Do you have any hobbies, and if so, what are they?

A: Besides sports, I love to hang out with my family and friends. I love to do anything with them from watching a movie to swimming in the Truckee River. I love to read, especially Jodi Picoult novels, and I love to learn the Spanish language. Someday I will be a fluent Spanish speaker.

Q: What is your favorite food?

A: I absolutely love Caesar salad and salmon. Just about every restaurant I go to I order exactly that. The best part about it is the fact that it is super healthy.

Q: What is the last non-academic book you read?

A: "Keeping Faith" by Jodi Picoult.

Q: Who is your favorite musician and/or group?

A: I don't have a favorite musician or group, but I really like Paramore, Kid Cudi, Taylor Swift, and just about all the songs on the radio.

Q: After graduation, where do you plan to attend college and what are you looking at in terms of a major?

A: I am still looking at colleges because there are so many, but I am planning to major in Nutrition.

Q: Do you have a favorite TV show?

A: I love the Desperate Housewives, and just like everyone on the team, Pretty Little Liars.

Q: Tell us something about you that would surprise most of your friends?

A: The Matley family was the third family to settle in Reno, Nevada. Not many people know that.