Wednesday, October 23, 1996
VOLLEYBALL:
Elisabeth Bachman displays talent beyond her 17 yearsBy Grace
Wen
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
After five minutes with Elisabeth Bachman, you begin to wonder
if this girl is for real.
Like most freshmen, she possesses that optimism, excitement, and
an ever-present grin that is so characteristic of freshmen. But
what separates her from your typical freshman is that she is the
starting middle blocker for the UCLA women’s volleyball team.
At 6 feet 3 inches tall, it goes without saying that she is one
of the tallest players in the Bruin lineup. But height doesn’t mean
anything unless you have skills and athleticism.
"She’s big and she’s got great athletic ability," UCLA Head
Coach Andy Banachowski said. "She was involved in a lot of other
sports that I thought would be a good carry-over to
volleyball."
Bachman began the season as one of the Bruins’ hottest hitters,
ranking third in the Pacific 10 in hitting percentage and eighth in
blocking average. In the last few weeks her numbers have dropped,
but the freshman "phenom" continues to impress, ranking seventh in
the Pac 10 in hitting percentage (.382), and leading UCLA in
blocking with 1.27 blocks per game.
With the numbers that she posts, it may amaze some that Bachman
is only 17 years old.
"She’s doing a great job as a freshman middle blocker, because
it’s one of the hardest positions," Senior middle blocker Kim Krull
said. "It’s hard to look at her and remember that she’s 17, that
she’s so young. Everyone’s going to make freshman mistakes but you
look at her and you think she’s so much older and then it’s hard to
step back and say ‘oh yeah, she’s a freshman.’"
"She’s always positive. She works really hard. It’s just weird
because freshmen don’t really have a big role in leading the team,
but she does a great job not being a hole on the team. She’s a good
team player and hard worker."
For Bachman being the youngest is nothing new. In high school,
Bachman played for the top team of the Northern Lights Volleyball
Club. Despite competing alongside girls two to three years older,
Bachman held her own just as she does now.
"I think the biggest attribute toward her is her work ethic,"
Doug Bergman, Bachman’s club coach said. "She was always younger
than everybody, however, she led by her performance. She’s always
very positive, always supporting the rest of the players and
encouraging them. A lot of people tend to get tired and they let
up. She never let up in practices."
"She’s extremely enthusiastic and has a bit of careless passion
to her game," UCLA assistant coach Kim Jagd said. "She just loves
to play the game and she does it with a smile on her face. It’s not
bitter competitiveness, it’s just sheer pleasure from playing
volleyball. She loves to play."
On top of all the positiveness, Bachman has a humbleness that is
somewhat surprising for a two-time high school All-American.
"I never dreamed that I’d be here right now, especially five
years ago when I started playing," Bachman said. "I was just doing
it for fun and I still play it for fun, (but) it kind of turned out
more than I expected."
Positive attitude, great work ethic, humble, is this girl for
real? Yes, and the frightening thing for the opponents is that
she’s going to be around for four more years.
JON FERREY/Daily Bruin
Middle blocker Elisabeth Bachman (#11) displays her talent
earlier this year against UCSB.