As Sonja Newcombe walked off the court after an exciting four-set win, the crowd erupted in cheers.
For her part, Newcombe had registered 38 kills and enforced her will from the start. Though it was just a regular season match, the win-starved crowd was reacting as if the team had just won a national championship.
But this wasn’t at McArthur Court. It wasn’t in the state of Oregon. Hell, it wasn’t even in the continental United States.
Newcombe’s performance on that day came as a member of the Ponce Lions, a professional team in Puerto Rico. The former Oregon star spent four months on the island, playing plenty of volleyball while also savoring an experience that she will not soon forget.
Of course, before any of this started, Newcombe had a small problem to deal with. Her plane was about to land thousands of miles from home, and she didn’t even know who was picking her up from the airport.
The issue seemed to sum up the foreignness of the experience in a nutshell. Here Newcombe was, a Southern California native with little Spanish background, halfway across the country on an island where she knew exactly … no one.
And yet, it had seemed like a sound decision from the very point that Oregon’s season had come to an end back in December of 2009. The financial manager of the Ponce Lions had contacted Oregon head coach Jim Moore, and in turn Newcombe, about the senior possibly playing abroad.
“It was something that Jim and I and basically the whole coaching staff had talked about since I was a junior,” Newcombe said. “That it was probably going to be a possibility for me to play professionally after college, and it’s common for a lot of volleyball players to go play in Puerto Rico right after they graduate college because it’s such a short season.”
Newcombe discussed the issue at length with Moore, who did his best to guide her without imposing his own personal opinions. Complicating matters was the fact that Newcombe still had four classes to go before graduating. If she left for Puerto Rico in January, she would have to finish classes over the summer.
“I would try to get her to see the pros and cons of both things,” Moore said. “And let her make the decision.”
In the end, the decision was to take the plunge and head to the Caribbean. Still, Newcombe was careful.
“I made sure before I left that I could come back in the summer to finish my courses,” Newcombe said. “Because that’s really important to me.”
Bags packed, Newcombe finally headed off to Ponce, Puerto Rico on Jan. 15. Despite her worries, she did eventually find her escort and at long last arrived in what would be her home for the next four months.
To make things a bit more comfortable, she would be living with two other Americans, one from Texas A&M and the other from UCLA. Given that Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, Ponce also housed many familiar establishments.
“Since it’s a U.S. territory, it used American money, and there were things like Wal-Mart and Wendy’s,” Newcombe said. “We basically did all of our shopping, groceries and otherwise at Wal-Mart.”
Of course, not everything came easily. The language barrier made things particularly difficult, both on and off the court. And as Newcombe quickly discovered, the Puerto Rican approach to matches is vastly different than Oregon’s.
“I think the biggest difference is how they prepare for matches,” Newcombe said. “We didn’t do pregame meals, you just drove yourself to the match, and you just had to be ready to go.”
If the change in pregame activities affected Newcombe, it didn’t show much in her play. At season’s end, she ranked second in the league in both points and kills, while also making two all-star teams and the all-offensive team. The team itself went 8-14, a vast improvement over its 1-21 record last year. In all, Newcombe was proud of her accomplishments but disappointed that the team failed to make the playoffs.
“We improved a lot, but I was disappointed that we didn’t make the playoffs,” Newcombe said. “But personally I played very well … I felt really good about that but would have liked if the team could have done a little bit better.”
Moore’s assessment was far more positive.
“She proved how good she really is,” Moore said. “Being second in the league in points and in kills is pretty special … to go in as a first-year pro and do that is pretty amazing.”
Now, after returning to Eugene last month, Newcombe is relieved to be back in familiar territory. She will continue to hone her game over the summer, while also finishing up her class work and finalizing plans for her wedding in September.
Newcombe has already talked to senior-to-be Heather Meyers about her experience, and she wholeheartedly recommends it to anyone looking for new challenges.
Meanwhile, this week she will head to the U.S. Open National Volleyball Championships in Phoenix, Ariz. Perhaps there, at least, she’ll know who is picking her up from the airport.
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