The first glimpse of Liz Brenner’s considerable athletic prowess came at an age when most of her peers were still attempting to master basic arithmetic. At 6 years old, Brenner was a shining star on her local tee-ball team, hitting home runs with shocking frequency.
But, as the story goes, she was too powerful and too talented for her own good.
“We had to advance her out of tee-ball, because we did not want anyone to get hurt from Elizabeth hitting the baseball at them,” says Doug Brenner, Liz’s father.
Not much has changed in years since. Brenner, a freshman standout on the Oregon volleyball team, has made valuable contributions in her first season in Eugene. She’s hitting .261 and is fourth on the team in kills with 113.@@http://www.pac-12.org/Portals/7/images/wvolleyball/2011-Stats/HTML/ORE.HTM#team.ldr@@
She also leads the team in forced intrasquad injuries. In a preseason practice, one of Brenner’s teammates felt Brenner’s power, up close and personal.@@http://www.google.com/search?q=intrasquad&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a@@
“She’s incredibly strong, so when she hits the ball, the first week she was here as a freshman, she hyperextended (Kellie Kawasaki’s) elbow,” Brenner’s teammate Lauren Gross says.
Brenner recalls, “She was coming in thinning, and I was going to hit it straight down but I caught her neck/face area. It was not good, but she was fine after a few minutes.”
Unintentionally instilling fear in opponents and teammates alike — it’s just part of the composition of a girl who’s always been the best athlete in the room.
A born athlete
The daughter of two competitive swimmers, Brenner was immersed in a wide variety of sports at a young age. When she was five, she took up racquetball, basketball, tee-ball and swimming.
Brenner’s competitive nature manifested itself early on in her career. A superior athlete, Brenner would grow frustrated when one of her teammates made a mistake.
“She does have a very competitive spirit,” says Jennifer Brenner, Liz’s mother. “When she was younger, she was very hard on her teammates. She had to learn how to help them; she expected everyone to do it just right.”
That drive helped Brenner excel. At Jesuit High School, she was a four-year letter-winner in volleyball, basketball and softball. Her athletic accomplishments could fill the pages of a short novel.
Brenner was part of two state championship track teams and a state championship basketball team. She was named Oregon’s volleyball player of the year for two consecutive seasons. Her senior year, Brenner was an Under Armour All-American volleyball player, a nominee for the McDonald’s All-American Game and a first-team all-league selection for shot put and javelin.@@http://www.avca.org/membership/avca-events/hs-all-america-match/@@
All that recognition didn’t include Brenner’s self-proclaimed best sport: softball.
“It always just seemed weird to me that everybody else would be struggling with hitting,” Brenner says. “I just found it really easy.”
That’s the story of Brenner’s athletic career.
A highly sought recruit
Brenner received offers and attention from numerous schools to play several sports. She decided to focus on volleyball in college because of the speed and excitement of the game.
“I just fell in love with how fast everything was moving and how competitive it was,” Brenner says.
Brenner was recruited by and received offers from USC, UCLA, Washington, Oregon and Oregon State, among others. She narrowed down her list to UCLA and Oregon before choosing the Ducks.
“I really liked the coaches here and the girls,” Brenner says. “I’ll be spending most of my time with them, so I definitely needed the kind of group of girls I would enjoy being with so much.”
Not ‘motor ineducable’
When asked to describe the strengths of his star freshman, Oregon coach Jim Moore pauses for a moment and then launches into a long-winded answer.
“The interesting thing about her is that she is a phenomenal athlete,” Moore says. “But her athletic ability is not her quickness, speed … an athlete is quick, fast, strong, good throwing motion, good hand-eye coordination. She has unbelievable hand-eye coordination, is obviously strong and is relatively quick, but she doesn’t have a great jump, she has a good arm swing, but that’s not what it is.”@@interesting@@
“It,” as Moore will later explain, is Brenner’s uncanny ability to absorb coaching and immediately implement it into her game.
“I’ve coached many people who are motor ineducable,” Moore says.  “You can’t translate words into a motor skill, and she’s able to do that probably as easy as anybody.”
That talent, her mother explains, is a primary reason for Brenner’s stunning athletic success and versatility.
“I think she’s very good at watching something and being able to do it,” Jennifer Brenner says. “I think she can listen to a coach and try it.”
It’s no surprise then that Brenner has fared well in her first foray in college athletics.
“She’s done a lot of things,” Moore says. “She passes great, which is what we thought she’d do, and her blocking has gotten tremendously better, so I’m really thrilled with that.”
Teammates suspect her role and efficiency will increase in time.
“Probably as she grows older and as she starts becoming an upperclassman, she’ll take more of a role in passing,” Gross says. “Because she’s a really great passer, and she’ll be expected to put the ball down more.”
Although she has committed to focus solely on volleyball this season, Brenner may try other sports later. She has communicated with coaches from Oregon’s track, softball and basketball teams and has pondered the thought of playing multiple sports.
But for now, Brenner’s focus lies entirely with the No. 16 Oregon volleyball team, which will visit another pair of top-10 opponents (UCLA and USC) this weekend.@@http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/w-volley/spec-rel/101111aac.html@@
“The volleyball program here has taken off,” Brenner says. “I can’t wait to see how good we can get.