mapac continues even after the season is over ly Frank ’rint ny Hinds Gumapac is a volley- »r year round. When the sea- wer in the winter, Gumapac hand up her shoes but con- claying in the United States all Association. apac was born 20 years ago in but spent most of her growing ¡Redland. She spent her first jh school years at Estacada ¡hool. She transferred to Ore- y High School and graduated ¡from there. ¡apac said that she first became edin volleyball her sophomore len she and friends decided that anted to go out for the volley­ in. She not only made the team ¡started. Ileyball didn't like me as well edit because I was very uncoor- I, It took a long time to learn play volleyball,"Gumapac said. USVBA is a league that teams eked by sponsors. The team i a name and then determines aliber of play. They register ither an A, B or AA division, ng to their determination. teams play tournaments from ¡through April and there is a age limit. the USVBA I saw my first «¡petition because there were Fin our division that were of ¡1 caliber and good enough to i the Olympics," Gumapac said, iyed the first time in the league tier junior year in high school. ¡Ileyball in the USVBA is ex- y important to me because it me to play the sport I love hound. Besides its been a lot ¡"Gumapac said. fact volleyball in the USVBA mportant that when I get a’ job faI plan to work my schedule KI can still play on the nights the weekends." Gumapac is a nursing student at the College. "I guess it all started in the seventh grade when I decided for some reason, that I wanted to be a nurse and an elementary school teacher/' she said. "I personally didn't think we were that good. I remember coming home from playing our matches and I'd say to my husband, 'I just don't under­ stand it. We won again.' "I figured that I would go to school for one year and become a Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) and then work my way through four years and become a teacher," Gumapac said. "However, when I got to Clackamas and discovered how much I really liked nursing I decided not to go on. for four more years to get my teach­ ing degree," she said. "Norsing has become so import- and that if it wasn't for the fact that Clackamas didn't offer a nursing pro­ gram I simply wouldn't be here," Gumapac said. The school's nursing program also brought Gumapac in contact with the Cougar volleyball team. "Besides coming for nursing, the volleyball coach, Connie Wilson, last year saw me play in the USVBA and offered me money to come to Clack­ amas to play volleyball," she said. ■L ' 4 "I have only one goal left and that is for the team to play well in nationals. For me, it is to get on the national all-star team. I feel my record will back me on that," Gumapac said. I "My only disappointment is all the injuries that I had and that the team had this season. Otherwise, I enjoyed it alot more than I did last year." Gumapac envisions herself as the leader and director of play on the court and as a player who responds best in in the toughest pressure situations. "When I came back this year I could immediately tell a difference. We had a new coach, but the biggest difference was that we had almost an entirely different team and all the problems were gone," Gumapac said. "Because we had so few players, we tended to bond together more and because of this bond we set a goal of reaching either the nationals or reg­ ional," she said. Teams generally play with 18 play­ ers. Rival Mt. Hood has 30 players on its team while Clackamas has only eight. "The biggest problem is that Clack­ amas hasn't built up a name for them­ selves in volleyball and as a result a player with any skills at all won't come to Clackamas because of this lack of reputation," Gumapac said. Gumapac wasshocked by the team's performance this year. cause we played better than we ever had before. In the finals against Ricks there was a real neat feeling. It was like we were supposed to be there and that there was no way in the world that we were going to lose. We won it and we had reached our goal," Gumapac said. "I was very satisfied with the sea­ son," Gumapac said. "I reached my goals of learning how to serve a floater (a serve that acts like a knuckleball be­ cause it doesn't spin) and dive after balls. Tammy Hinds Gumapac "I honestly didn't think we had a chance in the world to take regionals because I felt that we simply didn't have a national caliber team. However, we were better than all our competi­ tion and won regionals. It still came as a shock to me," Gumapac said. "The reason we won regionals is be­ "For some reason, people don't seem to bother me; they only inspire me to play better. I remember once that I was playing at Portland State for some USVBA tournament and there was a really good turnout. I had one of the best hitting nights because the crowd got me all fired-up." "After each good hit I looked into the crowd to see if they thought it was as good a hit as I thought it was," Gumapac said. Gumapac has received awards that include the Most Valuable JV Player at Estacada High School, All-State ber­ ths on Wilco League, Junior Region II USVBA, and state and regional north­ west junior college teams. In 1974 she played on the USVBA Region II State and Regional Champ­ team. In 1976-77 she was a member of the Canadian-American team. Guma­ pac also had a chance to play for a pro volleyball team, the Seattle Smashers, but declined because it would void any chances to compete in the Olympics. Women hoopsters full of optimism Like its volleyball predecessors before it, Clackamas Community College womens basketball team faces a season full of doubts, but there is always optimism to be found. "I'm very optimistic about our chances this season because this team has more depth, strength and ability than previous Clackamas teams and their eager winning at­ titude will make our team tough to beat," said second year head coach Nancy Mikleton. The doubts spring from the fact that this year's squad has only one returning player from last year's 8-8 team. Asa result, Mikleton has had to start from the beginning and rebuild with new players. Photo by Brian Snook hgh it might look like some new modern dance, actually ¡Simon and Debbie Leathers are participating in a scrimage J the women's basketball practice last Tuesday. First outing •“eagers ¡s this Monday, Dec. I2 at Salem, taking on Willamette "Last year I had seven strong players that I could always count on, but the rest of the team I was afraid to put in any condition," Mikleton said. "This year we have a lot more depth in the fact that the whole team is so balanced in their talents that it will be tough to pick a start­ ing five," Mikleton said. In addition to depth, Mikleton feels that this year's team will have more strength and ability. One of the reasons for this prediction is 5-10 freshman Tammy White. Already one of the best volley­ ball players in the state, White's height plus her considerable strength should give the Cougars one of the strongest center posi­ tions in the league. She is also a fine shooter. A couple of added strengths ap­ peared in the form of walk-ons Cindy Fitzpatrick and Aaron Gamby. "Cindy and Aaron are really un­ expected bonuses in the fact that we didn-'t recruit them and they just simply showed up for prac­ tice one day," Mikleton said. "However, as it turns out, they are both fine players who have had basketball experience and should add a lot to our club," she said. In addition, Mikleton is very* hopeful about two former track stars who haven't quite decided yet whether they want to come out yet--Barb Young and Vickey Pad­ dick. ’ "We are not quite sure if they are coming out, but they could add a lot to our team because, unlike many of the girls, both Barb and Vicky are in very good shape as a result of their track season and should be ready to play almost im­ mediately," Mikleton said. "The return of Carol Razio will also add a lot to the team both as a player and because of her playing experience from last year," she said. Mikleton sees two other assets which will make this year's squad tough to handle and that's scrappy and aggressive play and their fired- up attitude. "This team is going to be pretty scrappy on defense and they will not be afraid to take chances, to be somestimes aggressive on occa­ sions and to get into foul trouble, but that's the risk you take for playing this game to always win," Mikleton said. "Their fired-up, eager-to-win attitude came as a result of the big successes of the womens volley­ ball and cross country teams doing so well and now this team figures that they can do the same thing," Mikelton said. The teams first game is sched­ uled for Monday, Dec. 12, when they take on Willamette Univer­ sity in a 7 p.m. game at Salem. However, the team's first big competition takes place on Dec. 29 and 30 when the Cougars take part in the She-Devil Classic at Lower Columbia Community Col­ lege in Longview, Wash. Scheduled to participate are some Washington Community Col­ leges and some of the big name colleges from around the area. ■ "I look forward to that tourna­ ment for several reasons. One is the fact that tournament always has good caliber of basketball and should be a real test of our abil­ ity," Mikelton said. Page 21 ’“’Community College UHI centimeters SN:OLOD55 EEESS3.