“Recruit, recruit, recruit” was the mantra of volleyball coach Jim Moore and his staff when he first took over at Oregon. Knowing the only way to compete in the Pacific-10 Conference was to have the best players, Moore set about on a personal odyssey around the world to find talent.
“I started off in Vegas, and then I went to Omaha, Chicago, Munich, Belgrade, Singapore, then finally Australia,” he said.
This is an abbreviated version of his trek across the globe, but the point is clear: Oregon volleyball will not limit the search for top-flight players to one specific region.
This philosophy has paid dividends, too. Moore’s trip to Belgrade earned him a connection with Serbian volleyball, which in turn has produced Nevena Djordjevic, as well as transfers Marija Milosevic and Gorana Maricic.
The broad range of recruits can be applied to this year’s freshman class as well. With highly-sought after players Betsy Sedlak, Dana Stephenson and Rhiannon Tooker coming to campus, Oregon gets three girls who bring a lot of talent from three unique regions of the globe.
Sedlak is a middle blocker from Pleasanton, Calif., was the 2006 Cal-Hi Sports NCS Player of the Year, and as a junior helped her Foothill High School team win a Northern California state title.
“I think she is going to be very, very good, and she has a legitimate shot at having a big impact on this team,” Moore says.
Joining Sedlak are outside hitters Stephenson and Tooker. Stephenson, who is from Canyon, Texas, brings a high-flying hitting attack to the Ducks that amazes coaches and players alike.
One day while the team was watching film, they were looking at tape of a particular block of either Neticia Enesi’s or Kristen Forristall’s when one of the players yelled.
“I was like, ‘What’s going on?’” Moore said. “And they told me to look at Dana. Her head was at the height of the blocker’s hands.”
It’s times like these when Moore knows he has found a great player.
“Dana is going to be special,” he says. “It took her a little bit longer to decide where to go, and we just hung on hoping she would choose us, and boy am I glad she did. She is as strong and tough a
human being as I know.”
Tooker has a bit of a different story. Two inches taller than any other Duck, her height was what drew Oregon’s coaches to her. Moore actually recruited one of her sisters while he was at Northern Michigan, and he knew her high school coach.
“We knew about Rhiannon because her coach had mentioned her when we were looking into her sister,” he says. “I saw Rhiannon play her sophomore year when I was in Australia during my around-the-world trip.”
On campus, things have changed for the three girls. Tooker transferred to Oregon last spring, and adjusted to the pace of college volleyball while coping with university classes. Stephenson and Sedlak arrived during the summer, and Stephenson took a few summer classes.
“It was really eye-opening,” Stephenson said. “The pace of everything, from classes to practices, is a lot faster.”
Sedlak agreed, saying she still is trying to adjust to the pace in practices.
“Playing was difficult,” she said. “As a middle blocker you have to travel to both sides of the net, and the girls we’re playing against in practice are really fast.”
All three girls mentioned that academic tutoring for athletes has helped them keep up in classes, but they all agreed it was their teammates who really made them feel welcome.
“It just felt right,” Stephenson said. “I liked being here and all the girls were like a family I could be a part of. They work really hard and I wanted to be somewhere where everyone works as hard as I do.”
“All the girls have been there before,” Sedlak added. “They have all been very supportive of us.”
Practices are where the players have grown the most. They all faced difficulties adjusting to the speed of the college game.
“Practice is every day and you have to be on your game for every ball, all the time,” Tooker said.
But the pride the girls share from being part of the team the starters play against every day is something they say is special.
“It’s really exciting knowing we are a part of why they are so good, and watching them win is a feeling I can’t even describe,” says Sedlak.
In part, it’s because they are all on the cusp of being as good as the likes of Maricic, Enesi and Sonja Newcombe.
“During the UCLA game, Nevena (Djordjevic) tipped a ball, and I turned around to Coco (Yokoyama) and told her, ‘You dig that in practice,’” Stephenson said. “We have so much depth, that we know if someone gets hurt one of us can step in.”
The depth is also why they don’t play as much. Stephenson has played in 14 sets, Tooker in nine, and Sedlak in seven. Coach Moore is conservative when it comes to substitutions because a slight change can be the difference in momentum.
So they wait. The three know they are ready to play when the time comes, whenever that may be. But they are all content with being a part of Oregon’s great ride from Pac-10 doormat to serious contender.
Ben Schorzman
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