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From an early age, Holly Medina endured many trials and tribulations leading up to the moment she decided to dedicate her life to Christ.

SB5/13/2025 7:45 AM | By: Dermonte Bond

Holly Medina Takes Leap Of Faith

This feature originally appeared in the 2025 Spring edition of the Cal Sports Quarterly. The Cal Athletics flagship magazine features long-form sports journalism at its finest and provides in-depth coverage of the scholar-athlete experience in Berkeley. Printed copies are mailed four times a year to Bear Backers who give annually at the Bear Club level (currently $600 or more). For more information on how you can receive a printed version of the Cal Sports Quarterly at home, send an email to CalAthleticsFund@berkeley.edu or call (510) 642-2427.

 

Audience of one.

 

For some, it doesn’t mean much. But it’s a motto that California outfielder Holly Medina embodies. Reminded every time she’s in the batter’s box and with every sip of water – with the initials AO1 written on her bat and water bottle – she is never concerned about the opinions of others nor needs their acceptance.

 

Medina’s journey has not always been easy. From an early age, she endured many trials and tribulations leading up to the moment she decided to dedicate her life to Christ.

 

During her childhood, religion was never a huge factor in the household and was not forced upon her at a young age. Instead, after learning of her friend’s religious views and deeper discussions with her grandparents, she began to beg her parents, Niki and Adam Medina, to start taking her to church. That is where her religious journey began to take form.

 

“It was never like – we have to go, and I was never in a Christian or Catholic school,” Medina said. “I remember my friends in elementary school were pretty religious, and I would go home and be like – ‘Mom, can you please take me to church and – can we go to church on Sunday?’ My grandparents had a big effect on it. They would talk to me about religion here and there.”

 

Growing up in Hesperia in Southern California, Medina made the varsity softball team during her freshman year at Oak Hills High School. But that wasn’t enough. She knew if she wanted to reach her career goals, she would have to venture outside her hometown to get exposure. She set a goal to make the Firecrackers Select 18U travel ball team in Huntington Beach, over an hour from her home.

 

“I was committed to the grind, but it was so much fun,” Medina said. “I finally met people who were at the same level and pushing me to be more. I was the underdog the whole time. I was constantly being pushed. I had the best memories on that team and being in Huntington Beach, playing softball and traveling with all those people. That was when I knew – this is what I am going to do.”

 

Despite finding success on the field, Medina still had not received any attention from major college programs leading up to her senior year of high school. She earned recognition from mid-major schools and visited several campuses, such as Southern Utah and Montana.

 

Even though Medina thoroughly enjoyed her official visit to Montana, she ultimately decided to remain patient. She traveled to Texas to compete in a tournament where college coaches were in attendance.

 

“I go to the tournament and I end up balling out,” Medina said. “We had a recruitment guy on our team that handled a lot of that for us, luckily, and he told me – you’re not going to believe it, but Cal and LMU are both interested.”

 

Overwhelmed with emotions, she immediately scheduled visits to LMU and Cal that following week. While visiting Berkeley, she immediately knew her future and officially committed to Cal during the visit.

 

“I knew I wanted to stay in California,” Medina stated. “It felt far enough from home to experience things and the fact I was getting this education and being able to play in a power school. That was great.”

 

While on campus during the fall of her freshman year, Medina wanted to commit and dive further into her faith. Despite establishing a foundation during her childhood, she finally felt that everything was coming together.

 

“In high school, a church opened in my hometown, and I started working at the coffee bar there,” Medina said. “I got into fellowship with that, but it didn’t click until college that I truly felt my faith start to flourish.”

 

In December of her freshman year, she made a New Year’s resolution to fully grow her relationship with Christ. After enduring many hardships throughout the year, she took a leap of faith and got a tattoo, displaying a cross on her lower left forearm. That decision marked a key moment in her religious journey.

 

“It was kind of the reminder to put God first and to grow in my faith, Medina said. “Ever since that moment, that has been something I have stuck with because I’ve never felt the way I have in my faith as strong as I do right now.”

 

As she returned to campus for her sophomore year in August 2024, and after many months of compiling the thoughts that raced through her head surrounding the idea of being baptized, she finally felt that she was ready for the next step in her journey.

 

“I had been wanting to get baptized for a while,” Medina said. “Over the summer, it was a big turning point for me. Prior to it, I was like – I would love to be baptized, but I didn’t know why, what the point was, or if I deserved to be baptized. Those are the thoughts that were going through my head.”

 

During the nearly seven-hour drive from her hometown back to campus, she convinced herself that it was time. After returning to campus, she visited her church, City Center, and one of the first topics that was being discussed during service was about baptism.

 

“That’s crazy,” Medina said in disbelief. “I really wanted to do it, but it was happening the next week, and school hadn’t even started.”

 

As a member of Athletes in Action on campus, Medina went to bible study the next day and confided to one of the mentors and AIA team leader, Karen Butler. During the conversation, she shared her concerns about getting baptized without having her support system with her, as most of her teammates hadn’t returned to campus yet, and her parents were seven hours away. That’s when she discovered that the organization, AIA, holds baptisms. She was immediately sold and committed to a date.

 

“It was not really about where. It was more about who was doing it and the community,” Medina said. “I knew that AIA had been a big thing at school, and it had helped me a lot. I knew all the people in my support system would be there.”

 

After crossing off the days on the calendar for months, the moment finally arrived. On November 6, 2024, surrounded by loved ones, teammates, coaches, members from her church, and even her therapist, Holly took the cold plunge into the tub of war and publicly declared her faith in Jesus Christ.

 

“It was just uniting. All my favorite people filled in one room. It was not just celebrating me but how I felt and the fruits of the spirit. It was such a joyful day.” Medina said. “Not everyone there, I don’t even think, was religious, but they were supporting me. It was so inspirational for them, which is God’s work itself.”

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It’s the first round of the girls water polo playoffs. Tonight’s matchup features the eighth-seeded Neuqua Valley Wildcats facing the ninth-seeded Hinsdale South girls water polo. The Wildcats look to defend their pool and advance to round two with a home victory tonight, as the Hornets look for a road upset victory coming off a 13-4 loss against Hinsdale Central. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.

Neuqua Valley jumps out to a fast start

The Wildcats start hot as Samira Nadgar opens the playoffs for Neuqua Valley by scoring the first goal of the night off a long-range pass from Phoebe Puacz. Seven assists in the game for Puacz.

Neuqua looks to continue the pressure as Alexa Egan locates captain Phoebe Puacz for another Wildcat goal, sparking a scoring run for the blue and gold offense.

A part of the Wildcat scoring run, Isabella Marasco attempts the shot but is denied before she finds Nadgar giving the Neuqua a 5-0 lead with two minutes remaining in the first.

The Wildcats have all the momentum in their favor as Gabriella Snider takes on the Hornet defense alone before she puts it through. At the end of the first quarter, the Wildcats hold a commanding 8-0 lead.

Neuqua looks to press the advantage as Nadgar passes to Abigail Schiltz, who knocks down the first tally of the second quarter.

Nadgar looks to involve another teammate for another assist, as she locates an open Isabella Marasco, who quickly fires into the back of the net.

The Hornets look to score some points before the half and eventually come up with their first score of the game as Autumn Lambke connects with the back of the net however, the Hornets trail at the half 12-1.

The Wildcat offense shares the wealth

Coming out of the half, the Wildcats look to pick up where they left off. Ava Wallin scores the first points of the second half, as the lead builds to a dozen goals.

Her teammate Yarae Chung looks to feed off the scoring as she scores back-to-back goals as the Wildcats hold a commanding 15-1 lead with four minutes to go in the third.

Neuqua advances to the quarterfinals in blowout fashion

Nadgar continues to share the ball, as she finds Madelin Harp for the dagger as the Wildcats dominate the Hornets with a 20-3 victory in the first round of IHSA girls water polo playoffs. The Wildcats take on the top seed, Naperville North, for a quarterfinal round matchup.

What if I’m not good enough for college?

Everyone says junior year is the hardest — they aren’t wrong. From balancing multiple AP classes, dual credit courses and preparing for the SAT and PSAT, this year felt like a constant battle, and no one talks about how overwhelming and lonely it can feel when things don’t go as hoped. 

Junior year is considered to matter the most — it’s the year colleges care about. The one where your GPA, test scores and extracurriculars either set you up for success, or shatter your dreams. I walked into this school year confident, thinking that this was going to be my best academic year. I began chasing a version of myself I thought colleges wanted. However, when I tapped on the SAT’s “reveal your score” and saw a number that didn’t reflect my efforts, I broke – not all at once, but quietly and slowly — a pain that would linger within me.

I felt constant humiliation from my friends and family who teased me about my score. It hurt because I was the student who’d always earn A’s on assignments, studying day and night. Slowly, I began disappearing into my classes, not caring about anything because I felt like my dream of getting into a good college was crushed. After months of SAT prep, I couldn’t understand how it all fell apart. Now, I’m left wondering how I can improve as I’m running out of time.

With my own sport, track and field, I felt the pressure of having to succeed and make big achievements to impress colleges. I thought I would do well and that I’d work hard to earn a varsity spot. Despite my dreams, I ran my worst meet crushing any remaining faith I had for my future. Everything was falling apart. No matter how hard I tried to hold on, I constantly felt like I was losing grip of the future I wanted. 

But here’s one thing no one really says: it’s OK not to be OK.     

Our plans fall apart, and failure happens to all of us. The truth is, sometimes a person can do everything right, but still fall short. It’s normal. It’s not the end of the world. Failing a test and not being the “perfect student” doesn’t mean an individual failed at life. It’s how one responds to the obstacles that they’ll face that matters. 

Rather than figuring out my major, the college I’m going to or what my future looks like, I learned to get back up — even if I didn’t feel like it. Growth doesn’t always come easily; sometimes it shows up in big losses that can’t be redeemed, yet you choose to keep going anyway. 

It’s OK to lean on people, because without them, we might forget how to live. I distanced myself from the people I cared about. I missed out on my homecoming game, the dance, Thanksgiving parties, hangouts and late-night food drives with my friends — moments I’ll never get back all because I thought nobody would understand the pressure that consumed me. 

I realized the most meaningful parts of my junior year were the exact opposite of what I imagined at the start. It was the late-night FaceTime calls, the immaturity, laughter and the people who stuck around when I couldn’t be myself. 

Junior year was tough, but it showed me that being myself is enough. That meant more to me than any number could.