Farm Report

SPORTS: VOLLEYBALL The Ace from Salt Lake

CONCENTRATED TALENT: Tom was the nation's No. 1 high school recruit. Jared Eborn/Deseret News THE SKY-HIGH EXPECTATIONS for Logan Tom started long before she set foot on Stanford's campus. The incoming freshman has been featured on ESPN and in Sports Illustrated. She was the only high school player on the 1999 U.S. National Volleyball Team, made up mostly of college graduates. Tom has even been compared to Karch Kiraly, the 38-year-old three-time gold medalist widely regarded as the best American volleyball player ever. "You have great athletes and then you have extraordinary ones with extraordinary ability," says Bob Gambradella, director for junior athlete development on the U.S. team. Tom "has talent we haven't seen since Kiraly." A 6-foot-1 outside hitter who led Salt Lake City's Highland High School to two state championships, Tom holds the Utah state records for career kills and service aces. She's also a top student who maintained a 4.0 grade-point average in courses like ap physics, French and calculus. Despite her outsized talents, Tom seems to have little pretension. "There are expectations?" she gasps in a phone interview from a training camp. When asked how her friends would describe her, she passes the phone to Cara Smith, a junior national team member from Indiana."With her name and all the hype, you would think she would be different or cocky," says Smith. "She's so humble. She's just normal." Tom joins a Stanford team that includes Kerri Walsh, who like Tom was the Gatorade Circle of Champions National High School Volleyball Player of the Year when she graduated. Both could play on the 2000 Olympic team. "She'll get a lot of attention, but again, this is a team game," says Stanford coach Don Shaw. "She's just another important piece of the puzzle for us."