Adversity’s worst nightmare

Wednesday, November 19, 1997

Adversity’s worst nightmare

Despite a dehabilitating injury, Tanisha Larkin establishes
herself as

one of the Bruins’ most stellar volleyball starsBy Jennifer
Kollenborn

Daily Bruin Staff

When Tanisha Larkin was a sophomore at UCLA, the Bruin doctors
must have known her name by heart, because the rehabilitation ward
was where she was for at least one hour every day.

The year before, she had demonstrated the athletic talent that
took her to a starting position on the Bruin volleyball squad,
starring at the outside hitter slot along with Kara Milling. She
also lived like a typical UCLA freshman, spending free time
shopping and talking on the phone with friends.

Then one day, she found herself in a hospital waiting room with
nerve blockage in her shoulder, and nobody could guarantee that she
could play out her dream on the volleyball court. She couldn’t move
her arm without pain. For the next 12 months, while her teammates
were running through drills at practice, she was mostly running off
to rehabilitate her arm just to get it back to normal. Things that
used to be as simple as hitting the ball over the net and passing
took much more concentration now because her arm was sensitive.

Larkin worked through exercises every day so she could join her
teammates on the court the following year. At the same time, she
watched her team (16-2 in the Pac 10, 32-4 overall) finish in
second place after losing to Stanford, 1-3, in the NCAA finals.

Larkin maintained her spot on the squad even though her
effectiveness was hampered by her weak shoulder in 1995.

While the injury may have stagnated Larkin physically, it didn’t
crush her mentally. In her endeavor to be part of the Bruin
starting lineup, she succeeded.

The growing realization that her athletic career and life were
in a holding pattern pushed Larkin to work that much harder.

"I remember when I had to go to rehabilitation for at least one
hour and a half every day, and then in practice, I would have to
work that much harder to make sure that I was consistent as a
hitter and I had to develop my passing and defensive skills better
because of my hitting," said Larkin, who ranks second on the team
in kills, with a 3.66 average, and second in digs, averaging 3.06
per game ­ fourth in the Pacific 10 conference.

Her energy restored, she opened her junior season (1996) in the
starting outside-hitter slot, and was the only Bruin to stay
healthy and start in every match of the season.

Larkin led the Bruins in digs with 344 total and a 2.99 average,
and finished sixth among the Pac-10 leaders. She led the team in
attack attempts with 1,091 swings in the season, and beat the
Pac-10 kills record with 231 kills in 18 matches.

But she did not stop there. She recorded double figures in digs
in 17 matches, including 16 double-doubles. And she did all this
the year after recovering from surgery.

Head coach Andy Banachowski has been impressed with Larkin’s
hang time and unsurpassable leaping ability over the years.

"Tanisha has made herself into a real strong college player
through her hard work and her determination," Banachowski said.
"She went through some struggles ­ she had to have surgery on
her shoulder, which caused us to have to red-shirt her for a year,
and she’s played with much pain and knee swelling, but she never
complains ­ she just goes out there and works hard every
day.

"Those are the types of players with that attitude that I like
to have in the program. Her shoulder is fine now. It certainly
hammered her growth ­ she wasn’t able to get stronger in that
shoulder for awhile ­ but, now she is strong; she can hit the
ball with zip, which she was having problems with before the
surgery."

These days, though, she is focusing on her volleyball career,
which is far from over: Larkin plans to play beach volleyball after
her glory days at UCLA are over.

JAMIE SCANLON-JACOBS/Daily Bruin

Tanisha Larkin, a starter on the women’s volleyball squad, never
ceases to amaze her teammates and fans when it comes to talent,
courage and perseverance.