Thursday, September 10, 1998
By Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin
Transfer Heather Bown has given the Wahine instant
size, experience and respectability in the middle.
Bown
coming into
her own
She has made an immediate
By Cindy Luis
impact with the Wahine
Star-BulletinCONSIDER the iceberg.
Big and solid, it can cause a lot of damage. Yet you only see a fraction of it.
Consider Heather Bown.
Big and solid, she can cause a lot of damage. And because she's only in her fifth year of organized volleyball, she has displayed just a fraction of her potential.
The 6-foot-3 junior blocker has given the University of Hawaii women's volleyball team instant size, experience and respectability in the middle. Three matches into her Wahine career, Bown already has an all-tournament plaque and a Western Athletic Conference Player of the Week certificate.
"It's been pretty fun so far," said Bown, who transferred from UC Santa Barbara after two seasons. "The coaching is good. The girls are fun to play with. And last weekend, you couldn't ask for better competition. Couldn't ask for more than what the teams gave.
"This is what I was expecting college volleyball to be."
The 13th-ranked Wahine are 2-1 heading into tonight's Aston's Imua Volleyball Challenge match with Bradley. Bown, who took up volleyball her junior year in high school, has played a big role in the Wahine's early success.
She leads the team in kills (55) and hitting percentage (.522) and is tied for first in blocks (12). Hawaii coach Dave Shoji couldn't be happier.
"I think we got a heck of a find," Shoji said. "We're really fortunate to have her. She's been such a positive player in the practice gym. She wants to learn, asks lots of questions and is really coachable.
"She's become a leader out there. She wants no less than the best for herself and her teammates."
Bown wasn't getting that at UC Santa Barbara. Despite the Gauchos' success -- regional finalists the past two years -- Bown wanted more.
When she asked Kathy Gregory for her release, the UCSB coach began helping Bown look for another program. Bown narrowed the choices to Southern California, Penn State and Hawaii.
In high school, Bown played with Wahine sophomore Jessica Sudduth. Sudduth, Wahine junior Heidi Ilustre and Bown had also played for Magnum Volleyball Club, then run by current Hawaii assistant coach Charlie Wade.
"Since I knew Charlie, Jessie and Heidi, I didn't feel like I'd have to transition much and be like a new freshman," Bown said. "I felt real comfortable here.
"I really liked Penn State, too, but growing up in Southern California all my life, the East Coast was so different. The weather here is similar to California, the people are similar. It was an easy transition."
Bown has fit right in.
"It's awesome having her here," said Sudduth, Bown's warm-up partner. "She's establishing herself as a great player. She's got a good work ethic, works hard, is a very positive person.
"She's made herself into a very good player. She's amazingly strong and quick, and she'll find ways to score. She fits right in and the team loves her. I'm pumped she's out here."
Bown was a swimmer when she discovered volleyball as a junior at Esperanza High in Yorba Linda, Calif. Realizing she had a better chance at a scholarship in volleyball than in swimming, she concentrated on volleyball.
"I got a little better and it was a gift when Santa Barbara gave me a full ride," Bown said. "I'm thankful for that, but I wasn't getting what I wanted there. I wanted to go to a school where I'd be appreciated as an athlete.
"At Santa Barbara, athletics was not a big deal. Here, it's huge."
She's finding out just how big. Bown already is being recognized on campus and in town.
"It's a little strange to have strangers come up and say, 'Nice match,' but it's nice," Bown said.
Bown's goal is to make the U.S. national team. Shoji said it's almost a given.
"Physically, there's no doubt that she has national team potential," Shoji said. "I think that after she's done here, she goes straight to the national team.
"I don't know her numbers (in the weight room), but she can hit a ball with a velocity that we've never had in the program. And she's got power behind it, not just velocity. You have to be really strong to block it back. She runs the slide well, is mobile at the net and can pretty much go antenna to antenna."
If there's a weakness, it's her back-row skills.
"I'm thankful that Dave is giving me the chance to play six rotations," Bown said. "He is showing confidence in me, which gives me confidence. At Santa Barbara, Kathy was always subbing me for Tanya Yamashita (a defensive specialist and younger sister of former Wahine Nalani Yamashita).
"I need to learn so much more. I'm such a baby compared to the rest of the girls on the team who have been playing twice as long. The reason I left Santa Barbara is because I wanted to grow."
Bown's favorite movie is "Titanic." Not that she empathizes with the iceberg, but "there is more under the water than on top," she said. "I'm a little like that. More than you expect."
The Bown file
Year: Junior (transfer)
1998 UH Wahine Volleyball Schedule
http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu
