Suzie Stiling – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/18/2000 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 18, 2000
%^$By D. C. Koehl
%^$Ohio State Athletics Communications%^$
%^$Suzie Stiling is a member of the women’s volleyball team at The Ohio State University. But she is a student first.%^$
%^$”School is so important because business is my major,” Stiling said. “I have to devote a lot of time to my courses. I don’t find it difficult (to balance studies and athletics) because with Sports Performance (her club team) you had to have the discipline to go home and do your homework and then you do what you have to do. You don’t get home until 10 p.m. from practice and then you have to do your homework. College is the same thing. You get home from practice and you have to do your homework. You know unless it gets done, it’s not going to get done tomorrow because you have practice again.”%^$
%^$That work ethic carries over to the 17-1 women’s volleyball team. Stiling, a middle blocker, practices and plays hard like she studies.%^$
%^$”We worked hard in the offseason. We take our chances and step up when we need to step up. We didn’t do that last year. We just know what it takes this year.”%^$
%^$What it takes is a team playing together.%^$
%^$”It think it is team unity,” she said. “Everyone knows that we have to be there for everyone. If one person is having an off day, we all know that we have to step up and play bigger for them.”%^$
%^$Stiling has done that this season. She is averaging 3.22 kills per game and hitting .302. Last season her numbers were 2.35 kills and a .196 hitting percentage. She has also improved her blocking from last season from .90 per game to 1.02 to rank second on the team. In conference matches, Stiling ranks seventh in the Big Ten with a 1.37 blocks per game average.%^$
%^$”We are working so much harder on blocking,” Stiling said. “(Assistant coach) Kevin (McFadden) has taken us and drilled it into our heads that we need to be blocking and touching more balls. Everyone is thinking about it more and we just know so much more about blocking this year.”%^$
%^$Stiling needs to make an impact while in the front row. She is usually subbed out when she rotates to the back row.%^$
%^$”I would definitely want to stay in the back row and be more of a factor,” Stiling said. “Being out lets me see how our team is doing and what they need. When I go in I know I have to bring energy or I have to block this ball.”%^$
%^$Stiling was a latecomer to the game of volleyball beginning to play as a freshman in high school. She had played basketball previously. She made improvements by playing club ball for Sports Performance.%^$
%^$”Sports Performance gave me the skills I needed to play volleyball. It gave me the reps (repetitions) I didn’t have, that I lost by starting so late.”%^$
%^$Jim Stone Ohio State head coach knows that Stiling has become an important factor to his team.%^$
%^$”I think Suzie brings a tremendous amount of energy to our court, which we need,” Stone said. “She is a boisterous leader and plays very aggressively. She hits the ball hard and is an aggressive blocker. She is bringing a lot to our team right now in a positive way.%^$
%^$Stone said Stiling has made great strides since coming to Ohio State.%^$
%^$”Suzie has improved her blocking a lot,” he said. “She is a more consistent offensive player. She has always been able to do good things with good sets and now she is doing good things with less than good sets. She is a smarter attacker now.”%^$
%^$That was evident in home matches against Purdue and Illinois where she equaled her career-high of 16 kills against Purdue and had a career-high .615 hitting percentage against Illinois. She improved her career kill mark to 17 at Iowa last week.%^$
%^$”We have opened up our offense so much that I’m not being camped out on,” Stiling said. “Teams don’t put two blockers on me. They don’t know if they should go out on Anne (Botica) and Shelly (Draeger) or back with me. When Katie (Virtue) is front row and I am beside her and she sets me a slide or behind her then there is only one blocker. We practice that an awful lot and I should get a kill.”%^$
%^$Stiling’s effort is similar to that given by each player on the court. The Buckeyes have five players averaging three kills per game and five players averaging two digs per game. That balance makes Ohio State a difficult team to control.%^$
%^$”I think people are playing as hard as they know how to play,” Stone said. “We are playing as a group and not relying on any one person.”%^$
%^$That group is off to the best start for a season in the history of the program. Only time will tell just how good this team can be.
