 |
GOING FOR GOLD: Nnamani may
play in the Summer Games.
gonzalesphoto.com |
Women’s volleyball coach
John Dunning surmises that if you look at any blockbuster
team, the couple of years before its breakthrough were
letdowns—those hard seasons provide the motivation
needed to make it to the top. At least, he hopes so.
The Cardinal finished its year with a 3-1 loss to Washington
in the NCAA regional semifinal and a 25-7 record. It
was a disappointing ending for a program that has been
on top of its game for most of the last two decades.
Stanford began the season ranked fourth in the country.
But from the start it seemed that nothing would be easy.
Team members were already coping with the death last
spring of their strength coach, Greg Johnson, in a car
accident. Johnson, Dunning says, was well liked by players
and had brought the team’s physical ability up
a notch.
Next, injuries sidelined key players. Junior outside
hitter Ogonna Nnamani pulled a muscle in her abdomen
in early October and wasn’t completely up to speed
until the beginning of November. Freshman outside hitter
Kristin Richards missed 20 practices because of an Achilles
tendon injury.
Add to those challenges the toughest schedule in the
country—20 games against ranked teams and four
games against top-three schools—and the squad
stumbled where it had usually sailed. The Cardinal lost
at Cal for the first time in 21 years. “It’s
just one of those things that didn’t turn out
the way we wanted it,” Dunning says.
There were highs, of course, especially the performance
of Nnamani. She broke Stanford’s single-season
kill record with 627, besting the previous mark of 621
held by Logan Tom, ’03. In January, she began
practicing with the national team in hopes of making
the Olympic squad.
Next fall, the team will return 10 players, “all
of whom are saying to themselves that [last season]
isn’t good enough,” Dunning says. The coach
also expects big things from four incoming freshmen.
Cincinnati native Bryn Kehoe, for example, was the national
high school player of the year, and Candice Wiggins,
from Poway, Calif., is said to be so talented that she
could eventually play in the Olympics in either basketball
or volleyball.
Next season also will come with a twist: playing in
Burnham Pavilion while Maples is renovated. “Our
opponents won’t like it,” Dunning predicts.
“There are lots of people right on top of the
court.” He hopes that brings his players the wins
they are looking for.
|
