Post by hwy101 on Dec 6, 2004 4:04:18 GMT -5
archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=blai02&date=20041202&query=christal+morrison
from the Seattle Times:
Morrison makes UW volleyball national caliber
Freshman outside hitter Christal Morrison hadn't planned to attend UW but opted to stay in state and near her family in Puyallup.
Asked if deciding to attend Washington was a "win-win" situation for her and her school, Christal Morrison smiled and said, "No."
"It's a win-win-win-win-win situation."
She could have kept going, underlining each of the Huskies' 24 wins in a season that has seen the UW women's volleyball team lose only twice, be ranked No. 1 for more than a month, and be a favorite in the NCAA tournament.
If ever a school needed a player and a player needed a school.
Morrison was selected this week as the Pac-10 freshman of the year for women's volleyball. She is sensational, ranking second in the league in both points and kills.
But then, everyone knew she was going to be good.
The letters poured in. The attention never waned. She had her pick of schools.
"I thought about a top program, I thought about sunshine," she said. "I never thought about Washington."
Jim McLaughlin, the Washington coach, thought about little else.
Morrison was from Puyallup of all places, a nationally ranked player who even as a ninth-grader was in McLaughlin's thoughts.
He had remade the program at Kansas State when he got a call from Barbara Hedges, the former athletic director at Washington, who was trying to gauge his interest in the vacant job at UW.
McLaughlin was in New York, but the Internet was not far away. He began searching to see if the Northwest had any top young players.
Almost half of college volleyball's top women players come from California. McLaughlin had coached men at USC to an NCAA title and knew that. But he also knew if he could turn around a program in a basketball state like Kansas, he could do it at Washington.
Then he saw Christal Morrison's name.
"She was an elite kid," said McLaughlin. "By the time she was a senior she was the No. 3-ranked prospect in the country by all the recruiting services, although I thought she was No. 1."
He simply asked her to wait and watch, to see if Washington could produce a top program.
"Even the day I was driving to Washington for my visit, I didn't think there was much chance I would go there," said Morrison. "I'd made visits to USC, Pepperdine and Arizona.
"I really liked Arizona and thought I'd go there. But everything changed."
The Huskies had changed, of course. Right before her eyes, going from unranked a year ago to No. 9, upsetting Stanford in the sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament before losing to Minnesota in five games, that close to the final four.
When it came right down to it, with everything else equal, Morrison wanted to stay near her family and near her church. They show up — some 30 of them — for every game at Edmundson Pavilion. It's special for them, Morrison being the first person in her family to attend college.
It's special for her, too.
Morrison also wanted to be a part of building a program rather than just maintaining one.
Maybe it was too much adulation. Maybe McLaughlin just said the right things.
"Everyone told me how great I was," she said, "He told me that I was good, and that he could help make me great.
"He never promised me that I'd start. He just promised me an opportunity."
Morrison is 6 feet 2, a formidable figure near the net, stunning defenders with her slams.
"She can jump high and hit hard," said McLaughlin, "but she also is a very intelligent player.
"She wants to get better every play, every day. I've never heard her complain, and there isn't a ball she won't go after. She's the real deal."
The Huskies have a legitimate shot at a national title. McLaughlin has mixed in two terrific European players — Sanja Tomasevic and Danka Danivic, both from Serbia and Montenegro — with some down-home Northwest talent, Courtney Thompson from Kent, Egan Metcalf from Kenmore, Darla Myhre from Victoria, B.C., Candace Lee from Eugene, Ore., and Alesha Deesing from Salem, Ore.
Senior Kaitlin Leck from Carson City, Nev., provided front-line help when Tomasevic couldn't play for a month with an injury. Brie Hagerty, who transferred from Ohio State, has been another mainstay on a team that won 22 in a row.
Tomorrow night at Edmundson Pavilion, before their growing faithful, the Huskies will play in the first round of the NCAA tournament against Idaho. If they win two this weekend, they will be back to Hec Ed the week after for two more in the West Regional, then, if all goes well, to the NCAA final four in Long Beach, Calif.
To win national titles, you have to have national-caliber players.
"I want to see Christal Morrison become the best player in the country," said McLaughlin.
So does Morrison.
"I'm improving, I've never been happier," she said. "The girls on the team are like sisters, and I don't have a sister. My family can see me play; what could be better?"
Winning a national championship.
from the Seattle Times:
Morrison makes UW volleyball national caliber
Freshman outside hitter Christal Morrison hadn't planned to attend UW but opted to stay in state and near her family in Puyallup.
Asked if deciding to attend Washington was a "win-win" situation for her and her school, Christal Morrison smiled and said, "No."
"It's a win-win-win-win-win situation."
She could have kept going, underlining each of the Huskies' 24 wins in a season that has seen the UW women's volleyball team lose only twice, be ranked No. 1 for more than a month, and be a favorite in the NCAA tournament.
If ever a school needed a player and a player needed a school.
Morrison was selected this week as the Pac-10 freshman of the year for women's volleyball. She is sensational, ranking second in the league in both points and kills.
But then, everyone knew she was going to be good.
The letters poured in. The attention never waned. She had her pick of schools.
"I thought about a top program, I thought about sunshine," she said. "I never thought about Washington."
Jim McLaughlin, the Washington coach, thought about little else.
Morrison was from Puyallup of all places, a nationally ranked player who even as a ninth-grader was in McLaughlin's thoughts.
He had remade the program at Kansas State when he got a call from Barbara Hedges, the former athletic director at Washington, who was trying to gauge his interest in the vacant job at UW.
McLaughlin was in New York, but the Internet was not far away. He began searching to see if the Northwest had any top young players.
Almost half of college volleyball's top women players come from California. McLaughlin had coached men at USC to an NCAA title and knew that. But he also knew if he could turn around a program in a basketball state like Kansas, he could do it at Washington.
Then he saw Christal Morrison's name.
"She was an elite kid," said McLaughlin. "By the time she was a senior she was the No. 3-ranked prospect in the country by all the recruiting services, although I thought she was No. 1."
He simply asked her to wait and watch, to see if Washington could produce a top program.
"Even the day I was driving to Washington for my visit, I didn't think there was much chance I would go there," said Morrison. "I'd made visits to USC, Pepperdine and Arizona.
"I really liked Arizona and thought I'd go there. But everything changed."
The Huskies had changed, of course. Right before her eyes, going from unranked a year ago to No. 9, upsetting Stanford in the sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament before losing to Minnesota in five games, that close to the final four.
When it came right down to it, with everything else equal, Morrison wanted to stay near her family and near her church. They show up — some 30 of them — for every game at Edmundson Pavilion. It's special for them, Morrison being the first person in her family to attend college.
It's special for her, too.
Morrison also wanted to be a part of building a program rather than just maintaining one.
Maybe it was too much adulation. Maybe McLaughlin just said the right things.
"Everyone told me how great I was," she said, "He told me that I was good, and that he could help make me great.
"He never promised me that I'd start. He just promised me an opportunity."
Morrison is 6 feet 2, a formidable figure near the net, stunning defenders with her slams.
"She can jump high and hit hard," said McLaughlin, "but she also is a very intelligent player.
"She wants to get better every play, every day. I've never heard her complain, and there isn't a ball she won't go after. She's the real deal."
The Huskies have a legitimate shot at a national title. McLaughlin has mixed in two terrific European players — Sanja Tomasevic and Danka Danivic, both from Serbia and Montenegro — with some down-home Northwest talent, Courtney Thompson from Kent, Egan Metcalf from Kenmore, Darla Myhre from Victoria, B.C., Candace Lee from Eugene, Ore., and Alesha Deesing from Salem, Ore.
Senior Kaitlin Leck from Carson City, Nev., provided front-line help when Tomasevic couldn't play for a month with an injury. Brie Hagerty, who transferred from Ohio State, has been another mainstay on a team that won 22 in a row.
Tomorrow night at Edmundson Pavilion, before their growing faithful, the Huskies will play in the first round of the NCAA tournament against Idaho. If they win two this weekend, they will be back to Hec Ed the week after for two more in the West Regional, then, if all goes well, to the NCAA final four in Long Beach, Calif.
To win national titles, you have to have national-caliber players.
"I want to see Christal Morrison become the best player in the country," said McLaughlin.
So does Morrison.
"I'm improving, I've never been happier," she said. "The girls on the team are like sisters, and I don't have a sister. My family can see me play; what could be better?"
Winning a national championship.