Senior Elliana Rocap has been been highly involved in many activities her entire life. From playing volleyball and dancing since she was 9 years old, to leaving high school with many accolades like being a captain of the varsity volleyball team, on the track team, part of Mac Youth Dance Company, a 2025 National Merit Scholar, and a member of National Honors Society.
Rocap has been playing volleyball and dancing since she was 9 years old through organizations like Austin Junior Volleyball and West Austin Youth Association. Despite her dance commitments, she wanted to continue playing volleyball in high school because both activities mean a lot to her.
“One of the ways I balance dance and volleyball is by communicating with all of my coaches and teachers,” Rocap said, “That means every time there might be a conflict I inform my dance teachers or volleyball coach”.
Rocap believes that the key to her success in balancing is to have lenient coaches and teachers who allow her to compromise.
“I am extremely fortunate to have a ballet teacher who is lenient and allows me to miss class for volleyball as long as I still get my work in and a minimum of four classes per week,” Rocap said. “So I set up a schedule with her during the season that allows me to keep up all my training to its fullest.”
Rocap dances around 9 hours a week, including during school dance which is double blocked fifth and sixth period. During tech rehearsal week, Rocap usually dances 20 hours per week, heightened during Nutcracker season..
McCallum Youth Dance Company co-director Terrance Carson, believes Rocap was showing skill and leadership even from a young age.
“Elliana is a very professional student, she understands the flow of class and is fully committed to everything she signs up for,” Carson said, “She’s great with organization skills, she’s a great example of a leader and a follower, she leads and holds responsibilities, but she’s also such a great follower and is inclusive of others and their ideas.”
The McCallum dance seniors are doing a dance research class currently, through ACC, where Carson saw Rocap’s academic side, as well as her openness to new dance knowledge.
“She’s mastering all the different dance styles we’re doing, and it being her senior year that’s where we want everyone to be so they can go into the next level of dance feeling confident,” Carson said. “She’s also taking the academic portion of our program really seriously, she’s doing a huge research project right now for our ACC class for our senior majors.”
Rocap enjoys McCallum volleyball due to the ability to spend time with friends and do something she loves. Being a volleyball captain, Rocap has varying responsibilities, whether it’s leading cheers on the bench or speaking up on the court.
“My favorite part about McCallum volleyball is probably the community it brings, all of us are united by our love for the sport and I think that’s a really amazing thing,” Rocap said. “My responsibilities as a captain vary depending on what I’m doing, which is why we have four captains so we can all communicate about different things and try to improve the team morale and performance.”
During track season, Rocap runs in the 4×100 relay, the 100 meter and 200 meter and occasionally the triple jump. Rocap’s favorite event is the 100 as it’s a flat sprint that she’s been doing since she started doing track in middle school. Rocap enjoys the community and coaches of track and getting to help out underclassmen.
“I really like the community track builds, and all of our coaches are really kind and you can tell they’re pushing us to be the best athletes we can be,” Rocap said.
Rocap was recently recognized as a 2025 National Merit Scholar, which is awarded to students with outstanding scores on the PSAT. When balancing her various activities with school work, Rocap tries to get all her work done as soon as possible.
“I always try and do my homework as soon as I can so it doesn’t build up, I usually end up taking a long chunk of the weekend at a coffee shop to get everything done so I can set myself up for a good week,” Rocap said.
Freshman Aria Rocap, Rocap’s younger sister, believes that having Rocap as an older sister brings Aria many opportunities to meet new people.
“I love seeing Elliana in the hallways, I feel like we’ve gotten closer in a way because now we can talk about everything McCallum related together,” Rocap said.
Rocap guides Aria through high school, and also steps in to help academically since the sisters have taken similar classes.
“Whenever I’m confused on homework, she always helps me very efficiently and explains things very well,” Aria said.
Aria said she has seen so much growth in her sister’s passion for school and all her sports over the years and enjoys seeing her dedication pay off. On Oct. 21, volleyball honored its seniors and Aria was able to make a speech to her sister prior to the game.
“When I found out I was getting to do Elliana’s speech, I knew exactly what I was gonna say, the words just flowed out of my pen,” Aria said. “When I went up to do my speech, I didn’t expect to uncontrollably sob, but I was very proud of my speech and hope I made it a memorable night for my sister.”
