Injured Potter digs back into volleyball

Tuesday, November 10, 1998

Injured Potter digs back into volleyball

FEATURE: Co-captain adjusts playing style to lead Bruins to
victory

By Nick Taylor

Daily Bruin Contributor

If you can learn from adversity, and grow, it makes you a better
person. Chaska Potter began her UCLA career with much promise.

She earned a starting role as a freshman outside hitter and
finished second on the team to superstar Jenny Johnson in digs per
game. She averaged nearly three kills per game, and her future
looked bright. Then, the injuries came. They stayed, and they would
not go away.

Nagging injuries the last two years limited Potter to playing
only 31 of UCLA’s 61 matches. This year, Potter played in only five
of the Bruins’ first 11 matches. Despite these challenges, Potter
feels that volleyball has given her so much that she has nothing to
regret.

Since she has played volleyball all her life, Potter feels that
volleyball has helped her cope with everyday problems on and off
the court. So now that her playing days are about to come to an
end, she looks back not with regret but with a feeling of
accomplishment.

"I try to look at the positives," said Potter. Instead of
languishing in despair, Potter kept working hard. Even if she could
not be on the court, Potter said she tried to find other ways to
help the team.

While the team was struggling, Potter continued to exude her
leadership, as team co-captain, on the practice court and in the
locker room. The physical limitations from her right shoulder,
however, had not fully healed and prevented her from making a
difference.

UCLA had a 3-8 record, and needed something to rejuvenate their
team. Potter responded.

"I went in and told (head coach) Andy (Banachowski) that I
wanted to do what I could to help," Potter said.

While Potter and the team’s coaches had talked in length about
Potter redshirting the year so that she could play a full season
next year, they were not sure what decision to make. Potter had
played in a few of UCLA’s early matches this year, and the time had
come to decide in Arizona.

The NCAA rules allow a player six matches to decide whether they
want to redshirt the year, and the match at Arizona would have been
Potter’s sixth. What resulted in Arizona was a turning point in the
Bruins’ season. While they did lose in five games, squandering two
match points in the fifth game, Potter established herself as an
integral part of the Bruins. Her presence on the floor helped guide
the Bruins.

"She is calm, which helps keep this group stay even keel," said
Banachowski. "We played so well with her out there, she just
realized how important her contribution was."

Potter’s seven kills and .538 hitting percentage, along with 10
digs and four block assists, perfectly complemented the Bruins
attack in that match. Overall, she contributes with superb passing
and makes UCLA’s defense better while she is on the court.

Potter felt that it was a good decision to play the rest of the
season. UCLA certainly has welcomed her presence on the court.
Since the Arizona match, UCLA has won eight of nine matches. Their
winning streak has vaulted them to third place (10-4) in the
conference.

Potter has also adjusted to a different position in the Bruin
rotation. While Potter had played outside hitter her first three
years, that position has now been filled by Ashley Bowles and
Kristee Porter. So Potter filled in for Tamika Johnson at the
opposite hitter position in UCLA’s lineup.

UCLA runs what Banachowski calls a wheel rotation. The wheel is
divided into six spheres, one for each player. Outside hitters
Bowles and Porter play diagonally apart from each other, giving the
Bruins hitters on each side, so that setter Erika Selsor looks to
set up one of these two. As a result, the opposite hitter position
(Potter) does not get many kill attempts, but Potter doesn’t seem
to mind.

"It’s hard (to only get five sets a game to attack)," Potter
said. "I feel I contribute in other ways. It’s still rewarding".
Potter now is second on the team behind Bowles with 2.47 digs per
game, and has improved her game much from her freshman year.

"Her passing has gotten better and better, and her defense is
better than ever," said Banachowski.

The numbers back up this claim. She had a career-high 25 digs
against UC Santa Barbara and has topped double figures in digs five
times. She has also reached nine digs in two other matches. He
described Potter’s passing and defense as always steady, and said
that her limitations on offense have forced her to learn to snap
her wrist when she is on offense.

Potter agrees.

"I’ve finally learned to snap my wrist when I hit," she said,
echoing what assistant coach Kim Jagd told her during practice.

"Basically," she said, "I have had to learn to play
smarter."

Before, when she could crank her shoulder and smack the ball,
she was not as worried about its placement. Now, because she relies
on placement and finesse, she has to outsmart her opponent.

As the season winds down, Potter is concentrating on making the
NCAA tournament. She thinks if they keep playing, "steady, cohesive
volleyball and continue winning our matches," they will make the
postseason.

After the season is over Potter hopes to concentrate on her
other passion: music. She is in a band, Chrysalis, and she plays
acoustic guitar. They practice two to three hours a week, and since
she is the new person, she wants to really devote her energy to the
group.

"I’m really ready to focus on music," Potter said with a smile,
and feels that it should take center stage after the season is
over.

While the Bruins would love to hear Potter sing and play her
acoustic, they would like to postpone her music career a little bit
longer. That is, by winning and advancing far into the NCAA
tournament, with Potter’s all-around skills leading the way. What a
fitting end that would be for her fine career.

PATIL ARMENIAN

Chaska Potter returned from a shoulder injury to make an
immediate impact on the Bruin’s run toward the NCAA Tournament.

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