Ella Connor, a beach volleyball student-athlete at Cal Poly, never imagined the impact her story could have on people she has never even met.
It was not until she was approached by a stranger at the 2024 National Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championship that she fully understood the importance of discussing and being an advocate for mental health in athletics.
"I had a mom come up to me … she was, like, 'My daughter has really bad anxiety and saw your story,'" Connor said.
The mother went on to share that seeing Connor's story made a lasting impact on her daughter, who no longer felt like she was alone in the struggles she was going through and the mental health symptoms she was experiencing.
"I was in shock," Connor said of the interaction. "I think it is super important to talk about your mental health. … Talking about it and sharing your story makes it feel relatable to other people."
Connor's impactful story is that of her and her service dog, Herc. Since February 2023, Herc, short for Hercules, has been by Connor's side every moment of her daily life, including at beach volleyball matches. Trained specifically for panic attacks, Herc can sense when an attack is about to occur and can intervene by laying across Connor to apply pressure for a calming effect. After struggling with panic attacks during the first few years of her college career, Connor says that having Herc around has been extremely beneficial not only for her but for her teammates and all who have had a chance to interact with him.
"He's just been so great. All my teammates and roommates just absolutely love him," Connor said. "I wish he could meet everybody."
Connor's roommate Emily Nedom, a Cal Poly soccer student-athlete, can attest to this.
"Even though he's a service dog for Ella, he improves my mood," Nedom said. "I actually think he's had a positive impact on my mental health. Having him around the house … it's so great."
Herc attends beach volleyball matches with Connor and has been embraced by Cal Poly coaches and team members
Connor has had a successful athletic career at Cal Poly, highlighted by two first-team AVCA All-America honors.
Years before Connor took the court on college beach volleyball's biggest stage, her journey in the sport began as a kid growing up in Maui. Her parents, who met through volleyball, first exposed her and her siblings to the sport through summer camp when Connor was in third grade.
The siblings soon joined a club volleyball team on Oahu, which ultimately required them to take a flight just to get to practice on the weekends. Connor's father, who played club volleyball at Clemson and eventually served as Connor's high school volleyball coach, even took a job at Hawaiian Airlines to help offset the cost and allow her to travel to and from practices as needed.
"I loved it," Connor said of the experience. "I flew over to practice every weekend. I went to a college prep school, so it was pretty difficult. But I was very on top of my work, and I think that helped."
This constant travel gave Connor a taste of being away from home, and when it came time for college, she was ready for an adventure away from Hawaii. Committing to play beach volleyball at Cal Poly, Connor moved in with future teammate Piper Ferch in Seattle during her senior year of high school and played on a club team through the summer to prepare for college competition.
When Connor arrived on campus for her freshman season, she thrived.
Named an American Volleyball Coaches Association first-team All-American, Connor became the first in her school's history to earn Big West Freshman of the Year honors. She was even selected to be part of the U.S. Collegiate Beach National Team the summer following her first season. After such a successful freshman campaign, Connor felt the pressure to continue to improve rapidly throughout her next season and career.
"The stress of having such a good freshman season, and me being a perfectionist … (I felt like) I needed to do everything the exact same and needed to keep improving at the rate that I did. And I just wasn't," she said. "It wasn't happening."
Facing a variety of challenging circumstances, Connor ultimately ended up medically redshirting for mental health reasons during her sophomore year. While it was difficult to step away from the sport that had been such a big part of her life, Connor reflects positively on the experience and the benefit of taking time away.
"Volleyball wasn't the main factor of why I was struggling, but it was a lot of it," she said. "I pulled myself away from that. … I think it was much needed, as volleyball was creating a lot of stress in my life at that moment."
It was during this time that Connor first met Herc and began to discover the importance of using resources and encouraging discussion about mental health both on her team and beyond.
Connor's time away from the team proved beneficial, and her journey eventually led her back to the beach volleyball court. She returned to the Cal Poly team during the 2024 season and once again thrived. Earning AVCA first-team All-America honors for the second time in her career, she was also named to the All-Big West first team and was named Big West Pair of the Year with teammate Izzy Martinez. Connor and Martinez then led their team to an appearance in the 2024 National Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championship semifinal.
After medically redshirting for mental health reasons for the 2023 season, Connor returned to lead her team to the 2024 National Collegiate Beach Volleyball Championship semifinal match.
Connor's journey has motivated her to become a mental health advocate both on her team and beyond.
Through it all, Herc remained by her side.
"I had a lot to go through, and he was a really big help in that," she said. "I don't know a single person that doesn't like him. … Everyone loves him, and I think that it just brings up the happiness of everyone."
Not only has Herc fostered a positive environment and culture on the team, but his presence and Connor's story have also inspired more conversation about mental health advocacy and resources for student-athletes.
"It's opened up our team a lot more to having group conversations," she said. "I have been more of a team mom in that scenario, because I went through it firsthand. I've had lots of talks with girls on the team about what I did to fix it and how I went through it … getting the right people in place to deal with those sorts of things has been super helpful for our team."
As Connor now looks forward to the remainder of her college career, she hopes that her story can continue to inspire and make a difference in the lives of others, even those she never has a chance to meet.
"There were a lot of times where I felt like I was alone, and I was dealing with it on my own," she said. "I hope that (my story) inspires others to reach out for help, because that was the biggest game changer for me."
