TALLAHASSEE – Jess Horwath has a skill that is easy to dismiss as useless: She speaks Latin.

It’s commonly referred to as a dead language, seeing as nobody in the world actually speaks it. Yet that dead language has also provided the building blocks, the very foundation, of languages and cultures around the world, namely Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese, while others, like English, borrow quite a bit from it.

It also provided Horwath with the framework for the perfect fit she was seeking when she entered the transfer portal last Spring.  That framework can be summed up as competere.

“It’s what competition comes from,” Horwath said on this week’s SandyNoles Podcast. “It’s to strive together. And so when I was in the transfer portal, I was looking for somewhere where I would really be able to work with and around the people that I wanted to be with in terms of reaching that goal and having that national championship mentality moving forward, but also being in environment where, ‘Hey, we can push each other in practice and we’re going to get better as a team and as a collection of individuals moving towards that one goal’ versus just, ‘Hey, how can I get better? How can I get better?’ Having that separate mentality, I think that’s something that Florida State has really embodied.”

 And Horwath has embodied it in return.

In just her second time suiting up in a Seminole jersey, Horwath won the AVCA East Coast Qualifier alongside true freshman Elena Lam. They finished the weekend 4-0, including an excellent and gritty final win over Stetson in which Horwath and Lam found themselves down early in both sets but remained not only unbothered, but almost inspired by the deficit.

It was the very personification of competere.

“In this tournament in particular, I really tried to catch myself on being, ‘Hey, let me be really thankful for this present moment because these are the moments that you’re gonna look back on as a player, really enjoy being in the heat of the competition,’ and that was something that I approached this tournament with where every time that I got onto the court just seeing it as a great opportunity to play,” she said.

It would have been difficult to miss the joy, both with your eyes and ears. While Lam is more of the stoic, cerebral type – although she does have her moments of expressive celebration – there is no missing Horwath on the court. Her personality carries enough wattage to light up the entire sprawling facility in Tavares, Florida, something she credits to a state playoff match with her indoor team at Barrington High.

After getting smashed by their rivals, Huntley, in the first set, 25-10, and hearing it from their student section, all clad in country flannels and straw hats and rocking the tight quarters of a high school gym, Barrington again found itself down again in the second, 18-23. In Illinois high school volleyball, the state playoffs are best two out of three. Horwath’s high school career was on life support, two points from being finished.

“It’s those moments where I’m a senior in high school, this is my last chance at another state title, and we’re really looking to get there,” Horwath said. “Some people on the sidelines are already getting down. Things are not going well. So we take the time out, we take the moment. That’s something where I was able to step up, really talk to the team, come back out of it… We ended up winning the set 26-24.”

Then they won the next, eventually finishing third in the volleyball-mad state of Illinois.

That moment left an impression on Horwath and how her energy can sway the tides of a match with 12 people on the court.

Imagine what it can do with four.

“Having those vocals and that energy is something that’s really powerful and I love doing it and I love firing my partners up and I’ve played with a lot of partners who really respond well to that,” she said. “As long as they respond well to that and they bring the energy to it, when it’s getting them fired up, that fires me up even more.”

This translates off the court as well. Horwath can remember as early as 8 years old that her parents, Anne and Rich, instilled in her what she calls a servant or host mentality. Summer backyard games at the Horwaths were legendary in Barrington, long, hot days filled to the brim with whiffle ball and water balloon toss and all manner of competitions. Beyond the competition, though, was the camaraderie. It didn’t matter how many games of whiffle ball you won if the family left not wanting to come back. 

“Having that host mentality is something that our parents always talk about and making sure other people are accounted for and kind of being a servant leader before serving yourself and making sure that other people are accounted for,” she said. “It’s not necessarily, ‘Hey, can I get you a drink of water when you’re on the courts?’ There are other ways where you can help out and be encouraging and have those other aspects as well.”

So she’ll check in on her teammates. Grab coffee and lunch and whatever else it may be, perpetually being the one to reach out. 

“It’s just a matter of saying hi first, being welcoming first, having that smile, having that positive attitude,” she said. “I think that’s really been reflected at Florida State within the culture of the team and I think that’s allowed us all to get along so well because we are like-minded in just our willingness to play and our willingness to go for it all out and really support each other along the way.

“We want to go forward together, but also recognizing that not every day is going to be somebody’s best day and just having that vulnerability and that authenticity. And I think that starts with having one-on-one connections with each person on the team. And that way you really build that camaraderie so that you’re able to have those meaningful conversations. And then when you get in the tough moments, that’s when you can really lean on each other because you’re there for each other even in the small things on the daily.”

Listen to Horwath on the SandyNoles Podcast by clicking here.

For more information on the Florida State beach volleyball program, check Seminoles.com and follow us on social media at fsubeachvolleyball (IG) and @FSU_BeachVB (X).