Post by bigfan on Sept 22, 2005 10:21:26 GMT -5
Who knew what she was setting up for?
By Jonathan Horowitz
When Nena Siljegovic came to America, she had no intention of playing the setter position, where she is the starter for USC.
It's funny how things sometimes turn out.
Nena Siljegovic said she had no desire to be a setter, but now she's the starting setter on a team that has appeared in the last three NCAA Women's Volleyball Final Fours.
She told her high-school coach that she could play any position but setter, but this season her college coach has asked her to be the starter.
Siljegovic's journey to becoming USC's starting setter is a unique one.
"It kind of all went together as a puzzle," is how she describes it.
Siljegovic is originally from Belgrade, now the capital of Serbia and the former capital of Yugoslavia.
Her family defected to Austria while her native country was in the midst of a civil war in the late 1990s and then came to the United States in 2000.
When she enrolled at Royal High School in Simi Valley, Siljegovic did not know English well, but she knew volleyball.
Her father was an outside hitter on the former Yugoslavian National Team in the 1970s, and she had played in Belgrade.
"My high-school coach asked me what position I played," she said about meeting coach Travis Ferguson at Royal High School. "I said, 'I play all positions but setter,' and he understood that I play only a setter, somehow. So I ended up being a setter."
At first Siljegovic was not so receptive to the idea.
"I didn't want to be a setter, and I was frustrated," she said. "But I took it as a challenge, and I love challenges. So I trained very hard - double training every day with my high school coach. And I started liking it more and more."
In her first season as a setter on Royal's varsity squad, Siljegovic was named the Marmonte League MVP and helped lead the Highlanders to a league championship. Then the next year as a senior, Siljegovic again earned all-league honors, and she has been a setter ever since.
After graduating high school in 2002, she enrolled at Moorpark Junior College. In 2003, she led Moorpark to a 17-4 record and a No. 6 national ranking. She averaged 3.66 kills, 3.34 digs and 7.00 assists per game and was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association junior college National Player of the Year.
Kristie Yonemura, a member of USC's club women's volleyball team, remembers making the two-hour trip from campus to Moorpark in Ventura County to watch Siljegovic play.
Yonemura went to see her roommate, a member of the Pierce Junior College volleyball team, play Siljegovic's Moorpark and to check out Siljegovic.
"We heard she was awesome and that USC was recruiting her," Yonemura said. "Nena is just a phenomenal athlete. That's all you really need to know. She's an all-around player."
Siljegovic was given a scholarship to USC, and after serving as a backup to Women of Troy setters Alli Dillon and Kimi Freeburg last season, she earned the starting setter position this year.
"I've always thought she had the most potential, and she's quite physical," USC coach Mick Haley said. "She just needed to relax. The intensity of 'SC the first year was difficult for her. Then she relaxed in the spring and had a great spring. She trained really hard. She has the right mentality to do this."
This year the Women of Troy have adopted a new 5-1 strategy that utilizes only one setter in the rotation instead of the 6-2 offense, which rotates two setters and an extra hitter, that they utilized in their title runs.
So the person who played everything but setter is now the setter.
"It clicked what kind of technique USC wants from me," Siljegovic said.
The 5-foot-10 senior is currently fifth in the Pacific-10 Conference with 11.62 assists per game.
She has also helped USC's defense and is third on the team with 2.41 digs per game. In addition she is the Women of Troy's top server with five aces this season off her jump serve.
With 12 kills and seven blocks as well in USC's eight matches so far, Siljegovic is a versatile asset on a USC team that has been bothered by injuries this year.
Haley said he hopes he can eventually incorporate more hitters into the Women of Troy rotation to allow him the flexibility to run a 6-2 formation.
But right now, in a 5-1, USC's offense runs through Siljegovic.
"In a 5-1 right now, you have more responsibility and have to be a leader on the team," she said. "It's more pressure with a 5-1, but I like it - I love that pressure."
Looking back on how she arrived at this point, it is interesting how all the pieces to the puzzle have worked out for Siljegovic, who said she would like to play volleyball professionally after her graduation this year.
"I called (my high school coach) before I came to 'SC, and I'm like, 'Thank you so much for not understanding my English, and actually I got a scholarship for it for accidentally being a setter,'" Siljegovic said.
When putting together the pieces of a puzzle, it is sometimes difficult to tell what the final product will look like. Yet for Nena Siljegovic, the pieces have come together nicely.
By Jonathan Horowitz
When Nena Siljegovic came to America, she had no intention of playing the setter position, where she is the starter for USC.
It's funny how things sometimes turn out.
Nena Siljegovic said she had no desire to be a setter, but now she's the starting setter on a team that has appeared in the last three NCAA Women's Volleyball Final Fours.
She told her high-school coach that she could play any position but setter, but this season her college coach has asked her to be the starter.
Siljegovic's journey to becoming USC's starting setter is a unique one.
"It kind of all went together as a puzzle," is how she describes it.
Siljegovic is originally from Belgrade, now the capital of Serbia and the former capital of Yugoslavia.
Her family defected to Austria while her native country was in the midst of a civil war in the late 1990s and then came to the United States in 2000.
When she enrolled at Royal High School in Simi Valley, Siljegovic did not know English well, but she knew volleyball.
Her father was an outside hitter on the former Yugoslavian National Team in the 1970s, and she had played in Belgrade.
"My high-school coach asked me what position I played," she said about meeting coach Travis Ferguson at Royal High School. "I said, 'I play all positions but setter,' and he understood that I play only a setter, somehow. So I ended up being a setter."
At first Siljegovic was not so receptive to the idea.
"I didn't want to be a setter, and I was frustrated," she said. "But I took it as a challenge, and I love challenges. So I trained very hard - double training every day with my high school coach. And I started liking it more and more."
In her first season as a setter on Royal's varsity squad, Siljegovic was named the Marmonte League MVP and helped lead the Highlanders to a league championship. Then the next year as a senior, Siljegovic again earned all-league honors, and she has been a setter ever since.
After graduating high school in 2002, she enrolled at Moorpark Junior College. In 2003, she led Moorpark to a 17-4 record and a No. 6 national ranking. She averaged 3.66 kills, 3.34 digs and 7.00 assists per game and was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association junior college National Player of the Year.
Kristie Yonemura, a member of USC's club women's volleyball team, remembers making the two-hour trip from campus to Moorpark in Ventura County to watch Siljegovic play.
Yonemura went to see her roommate, a member of the Pierce Junior College volleyball team, play Siljegovic's Moorpark and to check out Siljegovic.
"We heard she was awesome and that USC was recruiting her," Yonemura said. "Nena is just a phenomenal athlete. That's all you really need to know. She's an all-around player."
Siljegovic was given a scholarship to USC, and after serving as a backup to Women of Troy setters Alli Dillon and Kimi Freeburg last season, she earned the starting setter position this year.
"I've always thought she had the most potential, and she's quite physical," USC coach Mick Haley said. "She just needed to relax. The intensity of 'SC the first year was difficult for her. Then she relaxed in the spring and had a great spring. She trained really hard. She has the right mentality to do this."
This year the Women of Troy have adopted a new 5-1 strategy that utilizes only one setter in the rotation instead of the 6-2 offense, which rotates two setters and an extra hitter, that they utilized in their title runs.
So the person who played everything but setter is now the setter.
"It clicked what kind of technique USC wants from me," Siljegovic said.
The 5-foot-10 senior is currently fifth in the Pacific-10 Conference with 11.62 assists per game.
She has also helped USC's defense and is third on the team with 2.41 digs per game. In addition she is the Women of Troy's top server with five aces this season off her jump serve.
With 12 kills and seven blocks as well in USC's eight matches so far, Siljegovic is a versatile asset on a USC team that has been bothered by injuries this year.
Haley said he hopes he can eventually incorporate more hitters into the Women of Troy rotation to allow him the flexibility to run a 6-2 formation.
But right now, in a 5-1, USC's offense runs through Siljegovic.
"In a 5-1 right now, you have more responsibility and have to be a leader on the team," she said. "It's more pressure with a 5-1, but I like it - I love that pressure."
Looking back on how she arrived at this point, it is interesting how all the pieces to the puzzle have worked out for Siljegovic, who said she would like to play volleyball professionally after her graduation this year.
"I called (my high school coach) before I came to 'SC, and I'm like, 'Thank you so much for not understanding my English, and actually I got a scholarship for it for accidentally being a setter,'" Siljegovic said.
When putting together the pieces of a puzzle, it is sometimes difficult to tell what the final product will look like. Yet for Nena Siljegovic, the pieces have come together nicely.
