By all accounts, Heather Meyers is one of the nicest, most cheerful people you’ll ever meet. Her teammates describe her as “bubbly,” “a lot of fun” and a girl with a “contagious smile.”
So why are these same teammates — and opponents throughout the Pac-10 Conference — intimidated by the women’s volleyball star?
Meyers has a weapon that few players in the conference possess — her serve. It’s so powerful that teammates worry about getting struck by it.
“You kind of hope she doesn’t hit you in the back of the head,” said Alaina Bergsma, who also Meyers’ roommate.
Those at a safe distance, Oregon volleyball fans, sure enjoy watching Meyers in action. The McArthur Court faithfuls have a ritual they perform whenever Meyers steps to the service line.
Imitating a bomb about to explode, the fans make a hissing noise leading up to Meyers’ toss. The explosion often results in a service ace, or at least an easy point for the Ducks.
That fanfare and hoopla serves as another reminder as to why Meyers ended up at Oregon. A star at Great Oak High School in Temecula, Calif., Meyers narrowed her college choices to Loyola Marymount and Oregon. The Ducks’ enthusiastic fan support was a big reason why she’s here.
“I just loved how (Eugene) was a sports community and it was a big school, little town, so a lot of people knew everybody,” Meyers said. “Very dedicated fans, which is always fun.”
But even coming from Southern California, where volleyball is a big deal, Meyers initially had her doubts about whether she would measure up to Pac-10 competition.
“When I was a freshman, for the first couple of weeks I was really scared,” Meyers said. “I thought I didn’t know if I could keep up with these girls.”
Meyers more than kept up — she made an immediate impact. Meyers picked up All Pac-10 Freshman honors and tallied an impressive .347 hitting percentage.
“I was actually doing a lot better than I thought (I would),” Meyers said. “I hung in there, and my first couple of games I started feeling confidence like, ‘Wow, I could do this.’”
She did even better her sophomore year.
Meyers was fourth on the Ducks in kills and third in service aces, and her postseason performance merited a spot on the NCAA All-Region Tournament Team.
But Meyers’ junior season didn’t go so well. Impressed with the versatility she displayed in her sophomore year, Oregon coach Jim Moore asked Meyers to adopt a new role in the Oregon offense that required her to spend more time on the left side. Meyers struggled with the position switch.
“I had never done that outside of high school, so I think I definitely was nervous and I was trying to work on a lot of things and I had a lot of thoughts running through my head at the beginning,” Meyers said.
Halfway through the season, Moore moved Meyers back to her original position on the right side — and she thrived.
“My hitting percentage started going up higher,” Meyers said. “Being on the right side is definitely more comfortable for me and I think that’s where I struggled last year, being on the outside.”
That set the stage for what has been a stellar senior season. A recent hot streak has catapulted Meyers to No. 1 in the nation in service aces per set with .75 per frame. She leads Oregon in points, is second in kills and third in hitting percentage among rotation players.
But getting it done in matches has only been part of Meyers’ focus this year. When stars Neticia Enesi, Nevena Djordjevic and Sonja Newcombe exhausted their eligibility last season, Meyers knew she would need to emerge as a leader. She doesn’t do so with passionate pre-game speeches to her teammates or a rah-rah attitude — Meyers leads by example.
“Before the season I had a lot of discussions with the coaches about leadership and I just realized that my role in leadership will come from just setting an example on the court,” she said.
That doesn’t mean Meyers is ready to be the team’s elder sage.
“Everyone says I’m a senior but I never feel like I’m a senior on this team,” Meyers said. “We have so many young girls, but I feel like I’m young with them and that’s why it’s scary that I’m about to graduate.”
But for the Ducks to have a successful year, Meyers will have to play like one.
“We have a very young team so I hope we still make it into the NCAA tournament and make it far in the tournament,” Meyers said.
Meyers is on track to graduate this spring with a degree in sociology. She wouldn’t mind returning to Southern California next year, but hopes to continue her volleyball career.
“I (would like to) play overseas in Puerto Rico or Europe, somewhere,” Meyers said. “Playing overseas would be a great experience at least for a couple of years.”
In the meantime, Meyers will do her best to leave a lasting legacy in Eugene.
“I’ve coached six National Team players,” said Moore, “(and) she’s way up there.”
And that serve?
“I believe, and I’ve thought about this a lot,” Moore said. “That Heather may be in the top five jump servers in college history.”
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