When Kellie Kawasaki first arrived in Eugene two summers ago to begin her Oregon volleyball career, she had a bit of trouble with the transition from high school.
Things were fine on the volleyball court. Kawasaki endured normal freshman trials and tribulations, but her talents carried over well to the collegiate level.
Dorm life, on the other hand, proved more of a challenge.
“It’s a lot different living on your own,” Kawasaki said. “I definitely had to get used to doing my own laundry and stuff like that.”
It didn’t take Kawasaki nearly as long to get the hang of Pacific-10 volleyball.
After splitting time with fellow freshman Haley Jacob and senior Amanda Westrick at the libero spot, Kawasaki earned a starting role midway through her first season in Eugene.
“Kellie came in and was our best passer last year for sure,” Oregon coach Jim Moore said.
Kawasaki’s contributions helped Oregon to a berth in the NCAA tournament and a No. 17 final ranking.
This year, despite switching positions from libero to serving specialist to allow Jacob, a better defensive player, in the lineup, Kawasaki hasn’t missed a beat. She ranks among the top five Ducks in service aces per set and digs. But according to Kawasaki’s teammates, her consistency might be her best trait.
“She’s a lot more consistent (this year),” said Courtney Vaccarello, Kawasaki’s summer roommate. “She’s not so up and down, she’s really steady. You won’t be pondering how she’s going to play one night and have her play the complete opposite the next.”
“She has gotten more consistent on the court than in the past but I’ve always thought she was really good,” added fellow sophomore Katherine Fischer.
Kawasaki has also excelled off the court. A general science major, she recently earned Academic ESPN All-District honors and holds a 3.72 cumulative GPA.
“She’s a good student and she tries really hard in school,” Fischer said.
How Kawasaki wound up excelling at Oregon on a volleyball scholarship is another story. Growing up, Kawasaki wasn’t fond of the idea of playing the sport.
As a child, Kawasaki played nearly every major sport — soccer, basketball, softball and tennis — but not volleyball. Her mother and aunt had played volleyball when they were younger, and Kawasaki wanted to carve her own niche.
“I kind of grew up around it, but I always wanted to play all the other sports because I didn’t want to follow in their footsteps,” Kawasaki said.
Nonetheless, when Kawasaki was in fifth grade, her mom pushed her into a tryout. Early on, it was apparent Kawasaki was a volleyball natural.
“My mom kind of forced me into trying out for club volleyball,” Kawasaki said. “I had never played before. I went to tryouts expecting not to make the top team but I made the top team when I was 11 or 12.”
From there, Kawasaki went on to star in high school at West Linn High School in West Linn, a suburb of Portland. She switched positions from middle blocker to libero in her sophomore year (Kawasaki thought her modest frame would limit college opportunities at middle blocker), and colleges began to take notice.
“Mostly just like local schools (showed interest), pretty much all in the Oregon/Washington area,” Kawasaki said.
Eventually, Kawasaki narrowed her choices to Oregon and Washington. She planned to walk on at Washington, but Oregon turned up its pursuit of Kawasaki after watching her at a club volleyball event in Seattle.
“We saw her a few times over the summer and we were real excited,” Moore said.
After a visit to Eugene with her family, Kawasaki committed to play for Oregon. The Ducks’ scholarship offer weighed in her choice, considering that had Kawasaki picked Washington, she would have entered the program as a walk-on (with a good chance to earn a scholarship early in her career, as is common practice for libero prospects). But in the end, Kawasaki relished the opportunity to go to school close to home and play for a program with a winning mentality.
“Mainly how the volleyball program was built, how it came from the ground up (appealed to me),” Kawasaki said. “I can see that in the coaches how they have the mentality to have a winning team and I also just liked being close to home and being able to go home on the weekends if I wanted.”
So far, so good. Kawasaki is an integral part of Oregon’s 2010 squad that is in contention for an NCAA tournament berth despite playing only one upperclassman.
“As long as we win the matches we’re supposed to win I think we should be okay,” Kawasaki said.
And if she ever needs a hand getting her laundry done, parental assistance is only a short drive away.
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