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Ten Questions Columnist Katie Schubauer caught up with women’s field hockey back Paige Mollineaux and discussed her close relationship with her sister, her diva attitude and her inevitable fate as a lonely maid with 15 cats.
1. Paige, you are a senior on the women’s field hockey team. What has field hockey meant to you over the course of your college career?
Field hockey has meant a lot to me. I love my team and I love Cornell. When I came to campus, I fell in love with it immediately — It was also the summer, so that could have played a role. But it has been a great four years and I’ve met some of my closest friends playing field hockey.
What role has your family played in your athletic career?
My family has been a huge influence. I think I was in fifth grade when they tried to make me play soccer and I refused to play so they had the choice of signing me up for field hockey or cheerleading, so I went with field hockey. And my younger sister, Shelby, does whatever I do—still to this day. And now she is on the Cornell team with me.
Who is your favorite teammate?
I’m going to go with… Wow this is hard … I’m going to say my favorite teammate is my sister. On the field during practice, she knows when I’m upset or frustrated and she always knows what to say to make me refocus and feel better.
Why do you sit with the freshmen every bus ride?
I like it up there. It’s not near the toilet.
2. Can you tell us about the time sophomore year when you and former teammate Catie DeStio ’10 couldn’t stop laughing during a team huddle?
(Laughing) Ok, so one day during practice, Coach had us in a huddle and we were listening to her explain something and DeStio and I were in the back of the huddle and I accidentally made a … noise … And we started laughing and couldn’t stop. Coach got a little mad and she asked us what was so funny. DeStio, who was the older, more respected person at the time, said, “Coach, don’t worry about it. You really don’t want to know.” And so Coach demanded that we tell her what was so funny. So I had to tell her and it was a little embarrassing. And then after, when everyone went off to do the drill, she pulled me aside and apologized.
3. You have been known to have a “diva” attitude. Can you describe this?
I just have a lot of confidence and I like to flaunt it because it’s one of my best attributes. But underneath that, I think I have a motherly quality about myself. Underneath that diva layer, there is definitely a motherly layer.
Do you think you’re really pretty?
I mean…isn’t it obvious?
What did you program Siri to call you?
Well my favorite show is HBO’s Game of Thrones. It’s an excellent show. I love it. And one of my favorite characters marries the king of a tribe and their language is called Dothracki. Since she marries a king, she becomes the Queen and in Dothracki the word for queen is “Khaleesi.” So some of my friends call me “Khaleesi”. SO I thought it was only appropriate for Siri to call me that, too, because I own Siri … I am her master.
4. How would you describe your relationship with your sister Shelby?
She’s my best friend. When she decided that she was going to transfer, she basically had no option but to transfer here because of me. When she got her acceptance letter to Cornell, she hadn’t decided yet. And she was taking a while to decide and I was getting kind of annoyed, so I put on her Facebook wall, “Congratulations Cornell Class of 2015.” And then a million people liked it so she had no choice but to come here.
Is it true you used to torture her as a child?
I wouldn’t use the word “torture” — We were just playing with each other.
What sort of things did you used to do when you were “playing with each other?”
When we would play with our toys, it would go something like this: we would take all of them out, I would put her in the toy box, and then I would sit on it. (Laughing) I don’t know why she let me do these things to her, but she did it without a fight and just let me do it. I think that’s why she’s very obedient to this day.
5. Would you say that your default face is angry?
Yeah. I don’t mean to do it and I actually feel bad because people think that I’m mean sometimes. I’m really not. It’s just my natural face when I’m not trying. My sister tries to show me what the face looks like and apparently it looks like I’m frowning and kind of lowering my eyebrows. I don’t know. It’s probably attractive, whatever it looks like.
6. I understand you worked at ESPN this summer. Is it true you are replacing Erin Andrews?
Yes, that’s absolutely true … Ok, fine. I’ll be honest. It’s not true. I just thought it was funny to joke about, and I thought that people would know right away that I was joking. But people actually believed me. So I started telling other people and they believed me. I basically started a really good rumor about myself.
7. What happened the time you and former teammate Molly Casey were sitting on the bench at the Dartmouth Tailgate?
Everyone always makes fun of me for this! We were having a nice tailgate after the Dartmouth game. Everyone was happy, we were all eating food, and it was just a joyous time. Someone asked me to slide down the bench, so I did, not realizing that we were on an old, wooden bench. I got splinters everywhere. Everywhere. Splinters all over my legs, in my butt. Everywhere. I was angry. You know that angry face? It was on. And … Ugh there are pictures of it — and my teammates haunt me with them to this day — of our trainer Sarah squatting on the ground and me with my pants down while she picks splinters out of my butt.
8. Can you tell us about the time you and two friends drove home in the Wings Over Ithaca delivery car?
(Laughing) I think it has to do with my diva attitude. I don’t like to walk places. We couldn’t get a taxi. We couldn’t get anyone to come pick us up. So our only option was to flag down the Wings Over Ithaca guy and make him take us home.
9. Have you ever been worried about your future as a lonely maid with 15 cats?
You know, I’m starting to worry about it. Everyone keeps telling me that 1) I’m never going to find anyone and 2) that I’m going to wind up with a million cats. And I hate cats. I’m a dog person. I’m really getting worried.
How are you going to avoid that?
Hmm … I don’t know. I’ll probably make my sister live with me.
10. Which other Cornell team do you like to hang out with the most?
Well that’s easy. I’m going to go with the football team. But I’m also going to give a shout out to the men’s heavyweight crew team. Come hang out with us.
