Ohio State Women’s Volleyball Feature Story – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/23/2001 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 23, 2001
%^$Erin Baker has come a long way. The senior middle blocker from Elmhurst, Ill., has played in all 18 matches this season as a starter. In her three previous years with Ohio State, Baker played in a total of 16 matches. She has made the most of her senior season as the Buckeyes sport a 17-1 overall record, are 9-1 in the Big Ten and are ranked 10th nationally. She is one of the top percentage hitters in the Big Ten Conference and leads the Buckeyes with a .437 hitting percentage and a 1.02 blocks per game average. For Baker, this is what it is all about.%^$
%^$”I am just going out there and having a good time,” Baker said. “I just try to do my best for the team.”%^$
%^$Averaging two kills per game is just one part of what Baker has contributed to her team. Her play has made it easier for the outside hitters to score points for the Buckeyes.%^$
%^$”In my mind, if I go up and don’t get the set and my blocker stays with me and the outside hitter has only one blocker on her, I have done my job,” Baker said.%^$
%^$That effort has contributed to outside hitters Anne Botica, Stacey Gordon and Shelly Draeger providing a balanced offensive attack for Ohio State.%^$
%^$Baker has recorded 108 kills on the season and the good play of the outside hitters, in turn, contributes to her effectiveness.%^$
%^$”Katie (Virtue) is putting up good sets for me and making it really easy for me to score against one blocker,” Baker said. “The balance of our whole attack is what is helpful when we play because all of our hitters are good. It is difficult to stick with just one hitter.”%^$
%^$Bakers’ contributions are coming in the front row as she subs out to allow senior defensive specialist Nikki Cisco to play in the back row.%^$
%^$”Right now I am doing what I can do the best (for the team),” Baker said. “Nikki (Cisco) is coming in for me in the back row and she is doing a good job. I am just trying to focus on my hitting and blocking to help the team out. If that is what I can do, than that is what I am going to do.”%^$
%^$The team has had a successful season to date.%^$
%^$”I think we are very capable of winning the Big Ten championship and that is everyone’s goal on the team,” Baker said. “They (the team) are working to improve and reach that goal. If we play together and play like we are capable of playing, I think we will do very well.”%^$
%^$But whatever happens, Baker’s philosophy is that it will happen for a reason, good or bad.%^$
%^$”Even when bad things happen and you can’t necessarily see why they are happening, you are just thinking ‘why is this happening to me right now’,” Baker said. “There is always a reason for it. Maybe something better is going to come along after it. Something else is going to happen that is good. I think everything good happens for a reason also. You work hard enough for something (academics and athletics) it will eventually come.%^$
%^$Baker, a speech and hearing major, is considering graduate school or may choose to go home after graduation to teach. She learned sign language at an early age and that has helped shape her future.%^$
%^$”I took it (sign language) as a class when I was real young (seven or eight) because I was interested in it,” Baker said. “With my speech and hearing major and knowing two people with speech problems, this was a way I could help people.”%^$
%^$Baker would also like to have the opportunity to continue with her sport as a coach someday.%^$
%^$”I would like to be a speech teacher in an elementary school and then be able to coach at the junior high or high school level,” Baker said.%^$
%^$Whatever she decides to do, Baker has one major goal to fulfill.%^$
%^$”My goal in life is to graduate from college and I will do that in June,” Baker said.
