Sports_
University of California at Eugene?
UO imports
Cal recruits
When Chris Voelz went on the
recruiting trail last year, she
must have had the Beach Boys
song "California Girls" on her
mind.
Voelz came away with five
highly rated Southern Cali
fornians — Liz Eakin, Shaunna
Koenig, Jill Koscinski, Connie
Riel and Stephanie Tambe —
who are expected *to raise the
fortunes of Oregon volleyball.
So what's the big deal about
recruits from California? Well,
California is the volleyball
hotbed of the United States
Don't even bother arguing
there’s no doubt about it Vol
leyball is played in a lot of
places, but in California, it's a
religion.
Great, but what are these girls
doing here? "This was one of
the few schools that even knew
what sports medicine was,"says
Koscinski, a P E major who
serves as the comedienne of the
group, "and it’s pretty here "
"I liked everything about the
area," says Eakin, an honors
college student Mostly, though,
all five agree that they wanted to
get away from Los Angeles,
where they all went to high
school within an hour of each
other
The recruiting tactics of Voelz
didn’t hurt either. “She was a
very impressive recruiter," says
Koenig, recruited for her quick
ness "She had a way with
words," adds Riel, a 6-0 hitter
setter.
It is interesting to note that
most of the girls didn't know
they were all attending the same
school. "We were really sur
prised,” says Koscinski. "Con
nie and I knew, and then
Shaunna walked into the gym
one day and said, 'Hi Ducks '
Super frosh clown around off court, but once on. exhibit a picture of
determination Above, front row; Shaunna Koenig. Liz Eakin Back
i t<i>viKa anW nil k'Ao/'incirt I Au/or /aft
Riel blocks a spike against the University of Washing
ton. Lower right, Tambe grimaces after smashing a spike of her
own
Then Stephanie and Liz came
too."
They're a very close group —
“like a family," says Eakin
They're a very confident group
as well And why not? Between
them, they've accumulated
nearly every high school vol
leyball honor possible In addi
tion, all of them played for the
prestigious South Bay Vol
leyball Club, which won a na
tional championship two years
ago and is coached by Pat
Zartman, coach of the 1964
women's national team
Furthermore, three of them
start for Vaelz. Tambe, a 5-5
sparkplug with great leaping
ability, says, “As a freshman,
you normally don’t start, but all
of us are " (Actually, only
Koenig, Riel and Tambe are
starters.)
Koenig said she even bet a
friend that Oregon would be in
the top 20 by her junior year.
Still, it’s a young group. Be
sides Koscinski, who is red
shirting this year, all the girls
have been victims of rollercoas
ter-type play. They have led the
Ducks as high as a win over
18th-ranked Utah State and as
low as a disappointing loss to
unheralded Fresno State.
Obviously, the adjustment
from high school to college has
taken its toll. Academically, “it’s
a pain," says Tambe, “but it
won’t be that bad after this
term.” Koenig, who replies
"Help!" when asked about her
major, says, “It's hard to study
when you have volleyball on
your mind.”
It's also hard to have a social
life. Koscinski says, “It's hard to
meet people when you are al
ways playing volleyball — why
don't you put our phone
numbers in the article?” she
laughed.
“It's getting better. We re
meeting a couple of people
here, a couple there," chimes in
Riel.
The girls have even had trou
ble getting used to the state of
Oregon. “People from out of
California can't relate to us,”
Story by
Doug Levy
Photos by
David Corey
and Mark Pynes
says Riel. "I’ve never seen so
many bellbottoms," says Kos
cinski And from Koenig, "I
thought the people would be
really friendly I mean, they are,
but I thought people would be
running up and saying 'Hi!'. I
guess I overestimated."
Despite their problems ad
justing, these five girls give
Voelz all the tools for great
teams in the future. Koscinski is
a great blocker, Riel a hitter who
can double as a setter, Eakin a
‘‘real thinker" and Tambe a
defensive specialist “who can
crack the ball as hard as any
one."Koenig? Voelz calls her
“the quickest athlete we have”
and “fun to watch."
Along with sophomore Ronda
Dalthorp, a powerful hitter who
rounds out Voelz’ "California
Connection", freshman Sue
Harbour ("our best recruit
ever,” says Voelz), and senior
redshirt Cathy Hill, an All-Amer
ica possibility, the five have
Oregon backers licking their
chops for 1983.
Overall, the girls are excited
about being at Oregon. "The
year has just started, but I think
I'm going to like it here," says
Tambe. Eakin says, "I know I
sound so positive, but I don't
think I could have picked a bet
ter place to go.”