Olympians Daniela Álvarez and Tania Moreno embrace long-term bond on, off court

Daniela Álvarez and Tania Moreno, beach volleyball student-athletes at TCU, very well may have ended up on completely different paths in their native Spain. 

Moreno was destined for a successful volleyball career. She grew up attending the beach volleyball matches of her mother, Olga Matveeva. Her father, Juan Manuel Moreno, was her mother's coach.

Moreno began playing the sport the moment she could pick up a ball. When she was a teenager, Moreno and her mother even had the opportunity to play together as a pair.

"I have some flashbacks of great tournaments where she was playing," Moreno recalled of growing up watching her mother play. "The crowd was amazing and the atmosphere … I guess my passion comes from those moments that I was already experiencing." 

Álvarez, on the other hand, grew up playing tennis and dreaming of competing at the collegiate level in the United States. It wasn't until 2016, when she was encouraged by her friends to give volleyball a chance, that she began to consider different options for her future. Using the strength and coordination she developed as a tennis player, Álvarez played beach volleyball for just nine days before being invited to travel to the National Training Center.

"I was like, 'I'll give it a try,' because you don't get called for the national team every day in your life," Álvarez said of the decision to pursue beach volleyball. "I loved it. The atmosphere in tournaments is completely different to tennis. Everyone is friendly with each other. … It's really fun." 

It was during this time that Moreno and Álvarez met, playing their first match together at a youth tournament in 2017.

The rest is history. 

"We found a connection so many years ago," Moreno said. "We just found that chemistry on the court that we keep having and developing." 

Álvarez eventually fulfilled her dream of studying and competing in the United States. She arrived at TCU as a member of the beach volleyball team in 2020, and it wasn't long before Moreno joined her the following year and the pair reunited, ready to take on NCAA competition together. 

"I never dreamed about going to the States or studying abroad," Moreno said. "I didn't know that college was there. … I was fine here in Spain with the national team. And then Dani's opportunity came to the table, and she decided to go. So I, of course, was following her." 

The connection and chemistry on the court carried over into college competition as the pair has put together a dominant career at TCU. Both Álvarez and Moreno earned individual first-team All-America honors in 2021, 2022 and 2023, and the duo earned American Volleyball Coaches Association Pair of the Year honors in 2022 and 2023. 

Immersed within a supportive team environment while simultaneously studying to earn a college degree proved to be beyond the wildest dreams of both Álvarez and Moreno. Both say that their lives would be completely different had they not made the decision to attend TCU together.

"I thought it was a good opportunity to take advantage of all those new things that we cannot experience here in Spain," Moreno said of attending college and competing in the United States. "I think it's one of the best decisions that I've made."

"There's no place in the world where you can play such a high level of volleyball for 10-11 weeks in a row when you're like 17-21 (years old)," Álvarez added. "The volume of reps and everything, the fact that you're supported by like 25 teammates, I think all of that makes it super special. Not only that you're studying, competing a lot and you're representing your school. … It's feeling so supported by literally everyone. I've never felt as supported as I feel in the academic part and athletic part as I do at TCU."

Building off their dominance at the NCAA level, Álvarez and Moreno quickly recognized their potential for success on an even larger scale. Heading into the 2023-24 school year, the pair decided to take a gap year from school to train for the 2024 Olympic Games. While the decision was a difficult one, it has paid off for the duo.   

"It wasn't easy to combine our situations academically," Moreno said. "The team, the head coaches, academics, athletics … they all help us to make it work. We just knew we wanted to pursue our goal, which was an Olympic qualification. We feel the support that TCU is giving us and the way they just try to make everything work and make it easy for us. We're just grateful for that." 

This support allowed the pair to compete in 22 events over the course of the last year, during which they earned enough points to capture the No. 14 spot on the FIVB world ranking. This ranking qualified them to compete with Team Spain at the Olympics, making them the first Olympians in TCU beach volleyball program history.

As the duo reflects on the journey, the significance of the moment and the journey they have shared is not lost on them.

 "It means a lot," Moreno said. "But not just for us, for everyone who has been there in the journey — family, friends, coaches. You're representing the Spanish community, all the Spanish athletes. … You fight for your flag, for your country. I'm still processing the journey, all the months of fighting and competing. It's just like so many butterflies in my stomach right now." 

"It's just beautiful," she added of the pair achieving this milestone together. "You grow with this person by your side, on and off the court. You live on this journey together, sharing the same goals and the same dreams. That makes it magical."

While Álvarez and Moreno are currently training and preparing for what will be a significant moment in their athletic careers, they look forward to returning to TCU together in 2025. The unique nature of college competition is something the pair is excited to experience again for one final season.

"Having 25 girls supporting you on the sides of the court, it's insane," Álvarez said of college competition. "You don't have that on the pro tour.

"Learning from all my teammates and managing to get 27 girls to work on the same page to achieve the same goal … it's something that you can use everywhere in your life in the future," she added. "That's super important."

While the duo look forward to the team bonding, teamwork and sense of community that they will once again find off the court, they also look forward to having a final opportunity to leave a legacy on the court.

"I think we still have some business to take care of when we go back to college, and I'm just looking forward to it," Moreno said. "We need to stay present and go step by step, because there are really good things coming up, but I'm so excited for college again."

The pair is ready to take on the challenge the same way they always have: together.

"I think it's really a special journey that we're sharing," Álvarez said. "I'm really grateful to have Tania by my side. It's not only the chemistry we have on the court. We spend 24/7 together. … It's really nice that we got to go to TCU together. We got to experience all of that together, and now we're going to get to represent Spain at the Olympics together. Hopefully we will get to do that more times."