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STANFORD - At this moment Lindsey Yamasaki is
a volleyball player who is not yet a basketball player.
But she lives with a basketball player and
next door to two others. And when they talk about their team she
listens both with an insider's perspective and an outsider's
distance.
"I never know whether to say "Our
team is playing really well,' or "Your team is playing really
well,' " Yamasaki said.
As Stanford's volleyball team (26-2) embarks
on the start of the NCAA Tournament with a first-round game Thursday
night against Florida Atlantic (17-12), Yamasaki will come off the
bench as an outside hitter - a freshman outside hitter.
A few weeks from now, once the second-ranked
Cardinal progress as far as they can toward another national title,
Yamasaki will be a sophomore shooting guard for the Stanford
basketball team. It is the busiest time of year for holiday shoppers
and two-sport athletes.
"I know everything that comes into play
with playing two sports and this is what I want," Yamasaki
said.
But despite her superior athletic talent, it
has not been easy. Yamasaki has had her share of struggles in
volleyball and faces the loss of her starting spot on the basketball
team largely because the season has started without her. It remains
to be seen whether her decisions will yield personal satisfaction or
sacrifice.
On the volleyball court, Yamasaki had two of
her best games in the Cardinal's biggest games of the season. She
had 10 kills and eight digs against then-No. 3 Pacific in
mid-October and 10 kills and 10 digs in a pivotal Pac-10 match
against UCLA on Nov. 5.
"She's been worth the wait," said
Stanford volleyball coach Don Shaw.
But there are days that Yamasaki has wondered.
Because of her recovery from knee surgery in
the spring, it wasn't until Stanford's fourth game of the season
that Yamasaki saw game action. She played against Cal and
"played terrible" by her own
account.
"I wondered if I was wasting my
time," Yamasaki said.
"But it made me re-evaluate and I
realized that I chose to play volleyball for a reason and I know I
am benefiting from it."
Shaw is satisfied with the results he's
gotten.
"She's a good player, but a little
rusty," Shaw said.
"She's playing well, but she's had her
ups and downs like any freshman."
Yamasaki, the Oregon state player of the year
in basketball and volleyball, came to Stanford knowing she wanted to
play two sports in the mold of former two-sport star Kristin Folkl,
also a volleyball and basketball standout.
But she agreed to play only basketball last
season not only to acclimate to college life but because she
understood her pivotal role on Stanford's young basketball team as
the starting shooting guard.
This year, by virtue of her choice to play
volleyball and the stance of her basketball coach, Tara VanDerveer,
her role may be much different.
"I think it's going to be
interesting," VanDerveer said. "Everyone says, it's like
Kristin, but Lindsey plays a whole different position. Kristin was a
post, Lindsey is a guard. I don't think it's anything like
Kristin."
VanDerveer's team is an altered state this
season. The young team of 1998 - Yamasaki was its leading scorer and
a selection on the Pac-10's All-Freshman team - has improved greatly
since last season and is off to a strong 2-1 start with a
re-emergence in the national rankings. VanDerveer said she feels
like her lineup is solid right now as it is.
And despite Yamasaki's success last season,
she will not automatically enter the starting lineup. Neither did
Folkl, it should be noted, and she was one of the most gifted
athletes in the nation.
"I look at Lindsey as a pure bonus,"
VanDerveer said.
"Kristin went in and shot 70 percent for
us. If Lindsey can do that, great. But it will be a lot different
than last year. Last year, she had time to make a lot of mistakes.
That won't be her time anymore."
Yamasaki and VanDerveer have had this
discussion. Not that it makes hearing your coach say you will lose
your starting spot and a lot of your playing time any easier to
digest.
"I understand as much as I can without
actually being out there," Yamasaki said. "I don't think I
will fully understand until I get out there. Kristin was really laid
back about the whole thing when it was her. I don't know if I can be
that way about it. I want to get out there and play."
Yamasaki may not be done making choices. She
wants to play basketball after college. There are not the same
opportunities in volleyball.
"I might only do (two sports) for one
year. I might do it for four," Yamasaki said. "I don't
know. I need to do what's right for me. I don't know what that is
yet." <
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