It's The Memories That Count
December 02, 2002 | Women's Volleyball
Dec. 2, 2002
They stand behind the service line, as their names are called for the starting line-up. They run to shake hands under the net, wishing each other a good game, secretly wanting their game to be better than their opponents...
The match turns out to be a long drawn out fight, and the players find themselves digging deep as they enter the last points of the fifth game. The opponent places the ball into play with a deep serve to the left corner of the court, where the team passes the ball to the net; it is set up to the outside hitter. It is tipped at the net by the block, only to be dug again, and set to the other team's weak side. It is again dug, but this time it is passed over, where again the team sets up for another kill. The pass is perfect; a girl calls for a slide, and begins her approach. It's set to her. She chases the ball down, jumps, and slams it in front of the ten-foot line. She stops to breathe a moment, only to remember that to the score was once tied, and now they would have to win by two.
It might seem that this is just another scenario for the stats table, but rather it is the beginnings of a memory, one of many that college volleyball players will store away and weigh against others as the best of all time. For some past Texas Tech volleyball players, this is the fifth game in the NCAA tournament; where they took a then ranked No. 3 Florida team to five games, and lost by a narrow margin in the end. Nevertheless, it is the memories that one stores away that are keepsakes of a life left behind. For four past players; Janelle Jones, Kristen Oberzan, Jill Stowe, and Courtney Thames, the memories that they had to share of their times at Tech were more than memories, but building stones for their lives outside of the doors of the arena.
For Janelle Jones, she stepped off the volleyball court of Tech, and into the halls of the graduate school. After finishing her eligibility as a player for the Tech volleyball team in 2000, she began achieving her masters, and will graduate next month with a degree in marriage and family therapy through correspondence. When talking to Jones about volleyball, she explains her work ethic to achieve anything she puts her mind to as an effect of experiencing volleyball at Texas Tech, "It taught me that even when you feel like you don't belong, and can't keep up, you have to just have to stick with it and work hard." Her days at Tech saw many great memories, "My favorite would have to be when I was a senior, and we were waiting to see where we (team) would get to go for the NCAA tournament, and we found out we got to go to Hawaii," said Jones. For Jones, achieving a masters degree from Texas Tech would not have been possible without her experiences from the court, and the sidelines, "playing under Nelson (Head Coach Jeff Nelson), I got so much better that I ever imagined that I could be. I went from not even being able to participate in the drills because I couldn't keep up, to feeling like I could walk on to the court and compete with anyone." While at Tech Jones achieved awards for her work on the court as well as the classroom as she was named to the Big 12 All-Academic Team all three years she was eligible at Tech, as well as ranking fifth on Tech's season hitting percentage in 2000. But it seems that once again Jones will walk away from the doors of Tech as a graduate, only this time to enter the world of business. She will build on what she has learned from the classroom, but more importantly, from the memories created by the hard wooden floors of the volleyball court.
In the same way, Kristen (Holmes) Oberzan will never forget her days in the starting line up of the Texas Tech volleyball, where not only her memories were formed, but also her education of life would begin, "Yes playing for Tech really helped me to make decisions. Traveling and our busy schedule helped me budget my time, which helps now with two children and a busy volleyball schedule." Oberzan now is the proud mother of two boys Declan (20-months) and Corban (2-months), and is married to Todd Oberzan, to whom she attributes her success of being able to raise her two kids and coach a club volleyball team. When asked about her fondest memories she could only remember, " The traveling. It gave me a chance to meet my teammates off the court, and on the road something memorable always happened." Oberzan still finds time between raising her kids, coaching a Jr. National Team, and being a Youth Division Head Coach to play on a women's AA team during the year. As her life still centers on volleyball, Oberzan finds herself leaning on her experiences gained from her time under Nelson, " Coaching now, I find myself always referring back to what Jeff (Nelson) did with us. He always challenged us both on and off the court. He was tough on us but I always knew that it was because he knew our potential." Before leaving her days at Tech, she moved up to rank 14th all-time in career digs, and ninth all-time in career assists. But she too at her graduation in 1998 left Tech with nothing but memories, turning them into not only the backbone of her career, but the backbone of her family life as well.
Jill (Burness) Stowe's graduation from Tech in 1996 marked a milestone of two years of achievement that had lasting memories of a near upset win over a then ranked No. 4 Florida team in 1995, and an upset win over a then fifth-ranked Nebraska team at home in 1996. Though these are the memories that still bump around in her mind, it is her words about the team that help to show why Stowe's life will forever be indented by her experiences at Tech, " The qualities that I gained from working with a team, celebrating together, dealing with adversity, helping encourage a teammate who may be down, and accepting leadership roles represent qualities which will help me succeed not only in my current job, but also in life." After graduating from Tech she married Keith Stowe in December of 2000, and soon followed her marriage with PhD in Economics from Texas A&M in May of 2002. She then moved to North Carolina to take an academic job at Duke University where she and her husband share their home with K.C. (Kitty Cat, their cat), and still find time in their schedules to meet a couple of friends out on the courts for some outdoor volleyball. Though Stowe only had two years at Tech before leaving its walk-ways, she remarks that, "Those two years at Tech were definitely two incredible years, and I'm so thankful to them (Coaches: Jeff Nelson, Nancy Todd, and Mike Lessinger), my teammates, and the university for a wonderful experience." Her two years at Tech were commemorated by the retiring of her #16 jersey in 1998, which only added to the list of accomplishments that she received while at Tech that included: All-Region and All-Conference athletic awards; GTE-CoSIDA Volleyball Academic All-American of the Year, an award given to the top student-athlete in the nation. Stowe comments that she still wishes she was playing, but who could blame her, to re-live some of the best years of one's life would be anyone's wish.
Courtney (Thames) Ries decided to return to her roots after leaving Tech, as she has returned back home to her alma mater where she has just finished her fourth season of coaching volleyball at the Trinity Christian Academy in Addison. While at Tech, Ries felt that her, "favorite part of Tech was building lasting friendships with teammates who came from across the country." Ries now lives in Plano with her husband James Reis, whom she married in 1998, and their two chocolate labs (Bailey and Java). She will soon have another addition to the family, as both she and her husband James are expecting their first child in March. Yet after graduating from Tech in 1996 Ries felt that her experience from the court taught her that, " You never can have too much knowledge of the game; each situation in practice will at some point prepare you for what will come to during the matches. If you have had the experience you will be better able to handle it without hesitation, and in volleyball there is no concept of hesitation, just anticipation." While returning back home, Ries feels that her coaching style is, "Much like Jeff's (Nelson). Jeff was a very intense coach who prepared us for most situations." Her presence did not go unnoticed while at Tech, as she was named to the All-Millennium Team, as well as ranked second all-time in career matches played, a stat that attests to the fact that she was pivotal in leading Tech to the NCAA tournament two out of the three years she played. So while still continuing to apply what she has learned from Tech, Ries has done nothing else but use her experiences, better yet her memories to build a successful career and life, all from the simple ball and net of a volleyball game.