The dunes chronicle
At a few minutes past nine on a cool August
morning, two vans pull away from McArthur
Court "I think," head volleyball coach Chris
Voelz tells two journalists, "you'll like this
"This" is The Trip, thfe debut of the Oregon
volleyball team's fall camp Their destination is
Honeyman State Park at Florence for a full day of
work outs on windy Oregon sand dunes It is, for
the newcomers, the first real introduction to what
Voelz calls the "Flying, Diving, Digging. Ducks
1982 " For the veterans of the team, it is what
they've experienced before, a strenuous eight
hours of interval training
The vans head out of Eugene, down Highway
126, through small towns like Mapleton and Noti
The mood aboard Voelz' van, an assemblage of
rookies and one red-shirted senior, Cathy Hill (see
be expecting a confirmation from someone, any
one None is forthcoming
Tambe is one of several blue-chippers Voelz
nabbed The head coach isn't hesitant to discuss
the newcomers, their talents or her recruiting
methods The van ambles west as Voelz starts to
list the freshman she recruited from Oregon and
southern California
"Steph,” says Voelz, pointing to Tambe and
explaining her origins, “is a scrambler ” Voelz
rattles off a few more names, Connie Riel, Jill
Koscinski, Shaunna Koenig — all blue chippers,
all from south of the Bay Area. "They’ve all played
in the junior nationals together, they're all so
confident," Voelz says with a knowing smile
Voelz explains her recruiting methods as
honest and upfront "I don't want a player who
can't work within this sys
Junior transfer, Jenny Stevens, takes a dive over a tether-ball for the
Ducks.
tern, she says
Voelz also tries to
recruit heavily in Oregon,
but, for reasons Voelz
says she can't explain,
Oregon State University
seems to have the best
luck with the Oregonians
Voelz has turned, not un
willingly, to other areas,
namely southern Califor
nia, the nation’s volleyball
hotbed.
That area has dealt
Oregon all of its freshmen
- some of them Voelz’ will
use as her ace in the hole
In addition, over half of
the Ducks on the 1982
roster are native southern
Californians.
When she came to
sidebar), is boisterous Several ot the freshmen
try to fend off the older and wisened Hill's taunts
of the tough workout ahead
"Oh, come on, it won't be that bad,” says
Stephanie Tambe, a bona fide, blue-chip recruit
from Palya Del Rey, California Tambe seems to
Oregon, Voelz says, a lot of recruiting was done
farther east, out toward Colorado, which Voelz
says was too expensive for the number of players
she could recruit from that area "We recruit
mainly from the west coast," Voelz says
As the vans cruise through yet another one
horse town, Voelz switches topics - to the rest of
her players, and to the assistant coaches
Both assistants have extensive volleyball
backgrounds and a lot of similarities Both are
Oregonians, out of the Portland metropolitan
area Both played against each other in the state
| prep championship, four years ago Christie
McFarlane, a hitter and anchor of the Wilson High
team, went on to school at the University Anna
Maria Lopez, the anchor of just about everything
athletic at St Mary s Academy, went to the
University of Southern California There is an
other similarity, both coaches have Voelz' un
abashed approval
McFarlane is one of the first four-year
products of the Voelz method She comes into
Oregon’s program with a complete knowledge of
j the philosophy and methods
Lopez was an All-American at SC and
traveled with the US national team
As a coach, Lopez is still integrating herself into
the Oregon system, something she and Voelz
expect to happen quickly
The players that Voelz talks about first are
Hill, the redshirted senior And academic soph
omore: volley ball freshman Sue Harbour. The two
roommates would have been The Ducks for Voelz
this year
Knee injuries felled Hill, who will red shirt this
year. Harbour, who spent last year as a redshirt
| because of injuries is ready to go, something
j Voelz is counting on
“We're going to ask a lot of her," Volez says
of Harbour. "She's going to have a lot of pres
sure ”
Because of injuries, the Voelz attack will turn
from a skying, net game to a hustling, scrambling,
hell-bent for volleyball-leather plan. “Our goal is
to never let the ball hit the floor,” Voelz says
Among the other goals Voelz hopes the team
will aspire to and which the team will set, is to end
up "around fourth" in the newly formed NCAA
Nor-Pac league
With the likes of the University of Washing
ton, San Jose State and Fresno State in the same
league, Voelz says the goal for the young Duck
The Oregon volleyball team, running silhouetted against the sand dunes, warms up for a practice
session
squad (only five upperclassmen are on the ros
ter), is realistic and a building block for the future
Youth is something Voelz is happy with, but
some healthy upperclassmen would have eased
the transition. To date, of all the veterans not
injured, only Anetta Ensworth has ever played in a
I major college game
However, Voelz says the youngsters will be
"fighters,'' and intimidation won't work against
them "They have friends going to school at
USC," Voelz says. "They ve played against them,
they're not going to be intimidated "
Voelz says a lot of the reason for the abun
dance of youth at Oregon is that players haven't
typically stuck with four years of volleyball.
Especially when Voelz first took the reins at
i Oregon Voelz says a number of the players
weren’t willing to put out the effort that it took to
win.
The coach recalls the first day at the sand
dunes, during the first year of Voelz volleyball at
Oregon "We took about 40 — 45 players up there,
and by noon, half dropped out," Volez says
As Voelz talks about the first year's ship
jumping, the volleyball team hits the junction that
will lead them into Florence Driving through the
town, comments about the weather and the
chance of rain involve the whole population of the
van
"Our Lady of the Dunes Church, says
Tambe as the van passes a small church, "jeez,
Continued on page 18
Stories by Debbie Howlett
Photos by Mark Pynes
Cathy Hill’s shirt changes
from green to red this year
Cathy Hill works through technique drills with
the Oregon volleyball team While her teammates
do "pre-steps," a prelude to executing a pass,
their knees bend past 90 degrees to accom
modate a low ball Hill’s knees won't break a 15
degree plane
As a senior, a two-year letter winner and an
All-American candidate, the volleyball team was
looking to Hill as its stalwart Coach Chris Voelz
anticipated Hill as the anchor of the "Flying,
Diving, Digging, Ducks 1982 "
Hill will have to wait another year to be the
on-court anchor Problems with both knees and
subsequent surgery have forced the steady Duck
to red shirt 1982 and pin her hopes on 1983
Hill says the problems with her knees began
her freshman year, with her left knee Gradually,
the right knee became tender too During her
junior year, Hill says the pain worsened
"It was painful, yeah — but you have to learn
to play with pain," Hill says during a recent
summer workout
As the seasons progressed so did the pain in
the 21 year-old s knees It definitely affected
me," Hill says "It was making me slower, less
explosive Then I decided to see a doctor. "
Hill also saw a doctor the day of the interview
She says he told her it would be at least three to
four weeks before she saw any action
"I've never had this surgery before, I don't
know how fast I'll progress," Hill says
When asked if she would rather play this year
or redshirt. Hiii hesitates "Right now I don t, my
knees are real sore
"With the way my legs are right now," Hill
adds with resignation. “I'd rather redshirt " And
Voelz agrees
"We'll redshirt her She'd probably only make
the last few weeks That's not how we want her to
spend her senior year," Voelz says.
Hill came out of Dallas High School in Dallas,
Oregon to Oregon State University in 1979 She
expected to play basketball and volleyball as a
scholarship athlete After fall term in Corvallis. Hill
transferred to the University, a decision she
doesn't regret.
“I came here because of my love for (vol
leyball) I like basketball but I wasn't willing to
work that hard at it." Hill says "And I wanted to
play at Oregon "
Hill's year as a redshirt won’t be a complete
loss to the team Hill still wants to be the leader
she and the rest of the team have come to expect
She views her leadership tor the Ducks in two
Cathy Hill, an all-America candidate, will spend
this year on the sidelines.
ways. During matches, she says it will be exerted
in a supportive role. During practice, Hill says her
leadership role will be what it has been before —
j as an example
Continued on page 20
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