Ohio State Women’s Volleyball Feature Story – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/1/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 1, 2001
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%^$By D. C. Koehl, Ohio State Athletics Communications%^$
%^$An incoming freshman, Stacey Gordon has been in her college classes a little over a week and is like hundreds other students learning the ropes of college life. But on most days in the afternoon, she shows up in St. John Arena to enjoy herself as a member of the Ohio State women’s volleyball squad. That enjoyment has earned for Gordon, Big Ten Player of the Week honors for matches last week against Cincinnati, Illinois and Indiana as Ohio State went to 10-0 overall and 2-0 in the conference. She is the first freshman to be so honored since late in the 1998 season.%^$
%^$”Right now I think it is overwhelming,” Gordon said. “Since I have been here for two months just playing volleyball, it is kind of good to start getting into classes and meeting new people to have sort of a balance. But at the same time, I am looking forward to seeing the girls every day and just playing.”%^$
%^$Gordon, a 5-11 outside hitter from Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, is experiencing life on a big college campus.%^$
%^$”It is overwhelming, in part, just seeing all the people,” Gordon said. “I am not quite used to that. It is what I expected for the first week. Not a lot of people are talking. You are just getting to know people and just experiencing your classes.”%^$
%^$Gordon’s experiences as a college freshman will grow over the years. Her experiences with volleyball already include play on the international level. That will prove to be a plus in her college play.%^$
%^$”The level of competition has prepared me for when we go overseas and play 6-foot-4 girls,” Gordon said. “There was a lot of intensity and some good volleyball there, but I think it is a lot faster down here. Everybody on the team is willing to give 100 percent and we are at the same level of competition. Everybody asks me what the difference is in Canada and the U.S. It has always been that the level of competition has been so much higher in the U.S., I think from the broad choice of people who play the game.”%^$
%^$A member of the Canadian Junior National Team, Gordon has had the opportunity to be with the Canadian Senior National Team.%^$
%^$”I played in a match with them last September and trained with them for two weeks,” Gordon said. “I played with the girls and pretty good teams and played against them.”%^$
%^$On playing with the National Team in the future Gordon said, “Right now I want to focus on this (Ohio State). In the future, I know there are a lot of years ahead of me and I am looking forward to it.”%^$
%^$Being one of a long line of Canadian players who have played at Ohio State, Gordon senses the greatness that she could achieve with the Buckeyes.%^$
%^$”(Head coach) Jim (Stone) had told be about Gabby (Gabriele Jobst),” Gordon said. “She played on Team Canada and had been an All-American. It is kind of a good thing to look forward to. Just to know that it is possible, that Canadians can come to the States and achieve as much as they want to here, but play volleyball back at home.”%^$
%^$Gordon’s choice of Ohio State gives her the opportunity to make herself a better volleyball player and get a good education.%^$
%^$”I wanted to travel and come to a good program with a good reputation for the school,” Gordon said. “I wanted to play where everyone would be on the same page (level) of volleyball. We would be playing a lot of teams with good athletes with high reputations and just good volleyball players. It gives me a chance to play against them and beat them.”%^$
%^$Gordon uses the words competitive, aggressive and motivated to describe her play.%^$
%^$”It is a love of volleyball and the desire just to compete,” Gordon said. “I don’t just go out there and just play, I like to compete hard and do as much as I can and give 110 percent. That is where I think the aggressiveness comes out of me.”%^$
%^$Gordon looks to improve her consistency as a passer and blocker.%^$
%^$”There is always need for improvement in terms of passing and blocking,” Gordon said. “I guess that is my area of focus right now. Just for now I know that the main priority is to pass, because everything begins off the pass. The defense can make or break a team basically off the block. I have to be more aggressive in the block just because girls are going to pound it down and I have to do something to stop it.”%^$
%^$As an outside hitter, Gordon is looking to put the ball down every time she receives a set. OSU’s fast-paced offense, under Coach Stone, is giving her the opportunities.%^$
%^$”He is letting me have more of a choice of what I hit,” Gordon said. “Sometimes I can call my sets just in terms of seeing where the block is and it gives myself a little more freedom. That way, I can adjust and just hit the standard outside ball. I can take different angles and that is going to make me a better player. When I go up against a big block, I have to be able to hit around them. To do that, I need the different sets. Where our offense is right now, he is letting us do that.”%^$
%^$One member of the women’s volleyball team provides Gordon with a touch of home and an individual who she can learn from. That student-athlete is senior outside hitter Anne Botica (Windsor, Ontario).%^$
%^$”She is a senior, obviously,” Gordon said. “She has been here. She knows the ropes. She knows the feeling going into the Big Ten Conference and the people that she has had to go against. Just watching her in practice, seeing the things she does, I kind of look up to that. That is what I have to do. I know that when she is talking, it really couldn’t hurt to listen to her, watch her and follow in her footsteps a little bit.”%^$
%^$Gordon, a starter in every match this season, likes what she sees with her team.%^$
%^$”We have definitely improved in terms of chemistry and in terms of the aura on the court,” Gordon said. “Obviously we are not at where we want to be right now. We have a lot of goals we want to do and to accomplish them, we have to improve in every aspect. In terms of chemistry, it is there, just skill wise and just putting it together. I think it needs a little work, but right now, I feel comfortable on the court. That is obviously very important. In terms of doing all the other stuff, I think it will come on its own. Everybody just has to work as hard as everybody else wants to.”
