Volleyball tied them together as teammates at a small-town high school, and now Kristen Bitter, Lindsy Bartholomew and Natalie Hooper take the same court once again – two as teammates and another as an opponent.
Oregon’s volleyball team, including Bitter, faces rival Oregon State and newcomers Bartholomew and Hooper today – all graduates of Roseburg High. Both schools, Oregon (10-7 overall , 0-6 conference) and Oregon State (5-7, 1-5) are trying to recover from difficult starts to conference play.
The match is set for 7 p.m. in Corvallis.
Oregon State is Oregon’s first unranked opponent after playing five consecutive ranked teams, but Bitter said the Ducks expect a challenge, having lost eight out of the last 10 matches to Oregon State since 2000.
“They always get up for us, every year,” Bitter said.
Bitter is the oldest and most seasoned of the trio meeting tonight. Oregon State’s Hooper is a freshman, and sophomore Bartholomew joined the Beavers this season after a year at Linn-Benton Community College in Albany.
Both made it as walk-ons, which makes the match more meaningful, Bitter said.
“I’m so proud of both of them,” Bitter added. “I’m so happy to find out they’re on the team and doing well.”
Her stay at Linn-Benton was short, Bartholomew said, after breaking her collarbone and separating her left shoulder early in the year. Never fully healthy that season, and seeking a challenge, Bartholomew chose to make the jump to Oregon State and Division I volleyball.
Five-foot-4 Hooper entered her initial collegiate season after a decorated high school career. She was first-team All-Southern League as a junior and senior and guided Roseburg to a sixth-place finish in the state tournament last season.
Playing as a defensive specialist/libero, Hooper has emerged recently, earning more playing time and experiencing the Pacific-10 Conference for the first time. In two losses to both Los Angeles schools last weekend, Hooper played three games each against USC and UCLA, contributing eight digs against the Bruins.
“She’s a perfect person for that position,” Bartholomew said.
Hooper didn’t attend Oregon State’s first win against Arizona State in Tempe as the coaching staff contemplated whether or not to redshirt her.
She is glad they didn’t.
“It’s incredible,” Hooper said of playing in the Pac-10. “It’s the best feeling to know you’re playing at such a high level.”
Bitter came to Oregon from Roseburg, a small city of about 20,000 people. This wasn’t the large scale of a Portland or Seattle, but a smaller town where sports were the thing to do.
Bitter compares Roseburg’s atmosphere to “Varsity Blues,” the 1999 movie – starring James Van Der Beek and Jon Voight – about a small Texas town where football is life.
“You’re really encouraged to play as many sports as you can, and when it’s game night, everybody knows,” Bitter said.
Her sports were volleyball, basketball and track and field. Bitter’s athletic success wasn’t limited to one sport, but varied as she competed in long jump, high jump and triple jump in track and was part of the basketball team’s first outright Southern Conference title since 1987 in her senior year in 2003.
With her large frame and talent, Bitter was a heavily recruited volleyball player out of high school. The athlete had a lengthy list of suitors including Tennessee, Northwestern, Florida, Virginia Tech, Arizona, Cal-Poly San Luis Obispo, Oregon State, Portland State and Colorado State.
Whittling the list down to Arizona and Oregon, Bitter chose the Ducks in the fall of 2002 and joined a recruiting class including setter Heather Madison and Sarah Mason, who transferred to Hawaii.
“I loved everything about it from volleyball to school – the town,” Bitter said of the University.
Starting with her freshman season in the fall of 2003, Bitter had expectations that have remained high to this day. Even if Oregon doesn’t have the conference success she desires, knowing she’s a part of the turnaround is a good feeling.
“This is a new era of Oregon volleyball,” Bitter said. “This is not the same Oregon team that has been here the last two years when I was here.”
Bitter projects an intimidating presence, posting a Pac-10-leading 110 blocks in 2003 and leading
Oregon with 11 solo blocks, 62 block assists and 73 total blocks in 2004. This season, Bitter has 13 solo blocks, 39 block assists and 52 total blocks through 17 matches this season.
She had nine kills and a .316 hitting percentage last weekend against No. 17 USC.
“She needs to keep the ball well above the top of the net and she did that against a team that’s very big and a big block on that side of the net,” Moore said.
The only thing holding her back, Moore said, is her lack of experience. Club volleyball is routine for college players now, something Hooper and Bartholomew did, but the multi-sport Bitter didn’t. Bartholomew said club provides top-notch competition and opportunities for exposure to colleges.
The more she plays, the better she’ll be, Moore said.
“Physically, she’s incredibly gifted,” Moore added.
All having reached the pinnacle of college volleyball, this weekend reunites the trio – each separated by a grade, but tied together by high school volleyball in a football town.
“It makes me really proud to be from Roseburg,” Bitter said.
“I’m excited to see (Bitter) play and play against her,” Bartholemew said.

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