Thursday, November 8, 2001
Gustin made IT started as a joke.
transition look easy
The Slovenian has made a
smooth move to outside hitter
and in learning English
By Grace Wen
gwen@starbulletin.comMaja Gustin and former Hawaii basketball player Ales Zivanovic were at a club in Slovenia during one of Zivanovic's visits home.
Zivanovic was asking Gustin if she wanted to play volleyball in Hawaii. The two even started imitating the song, "Living in Jamaica," only they changed the lyrics to "Living in Hawaii."
"I was like 'yeah, of course I want to play volleyball in Hawaii'," Gustin said. "We were just in a club having fun."
She didn't take the whole thing seriously until she received a phone call from assistant coach Charlie Wade three months later.
They were barely able to communicate during that first conversation because Gustin spoke little English, but Wade did manage to let her know that she needed to take the SAT and Test of English as a Foreign Language.
She didn't pass the first time and was wavering about whether she really wanted to come.
Gustin was coping with the loss of her father, who had died in the early 1990s during the Slovenian war for independence. She hadn't dealt with his death when it happened, preferring to devote her energy to finishing school at the High School of Economics.
When: Today, 7 p.m., San Jose State; tomorrow, Wahine volleyball
5 p.m., alumnae vs. alumnae; 7 p.m., Fresno State
Where: Stan Sheriff Center
TV: KFVE, Ch. 5
Radio: Live, 1420-AM
Internet: uhathletics.hawaii.edu
"I pushed away (the thought) that I didn't have a dad anymore," Gustin said. "Everything was coming back. It was a difficult time, and I just played volleyball at the time. I did other things for myself."
But Zivanovic kept encouraging her and Wade kept calling. She missed the SAT the second time when she got in a car accident during a snowstorm. She was driving from her home town of Maribor to Austria to take the test, which wasn't offered in Slovenia.
Finally, the third time proved to be the charm.
"Me and Charlie were really good friends on the phone," Gustin said. "We were talking on the phone all the time. He said, 'Maja you passed the test.' And for me that was the beginning of the new life. That changed everything completely.
"I really wanted to come to Hawaii. Thank God the SAT has a math, because English is so hard, but math was really easy for me. That's how I passed the test."
That three-year process was only the beginning of tests. She had to acclimate to a whole new culture and improve her English. Wahine senior Tanja Nikolic, her current roommate, helped ease the transition.
Gustin's adjustment on the volleyball court was a different story. She hit .370 and topped the Western Athletic Conference in hitting efficiency and blocks (1.60 per game) en route to finishing her rookie year as the WAC Co-Freshman of the year along with Kim Willoughby.
When Gustin went home last May, her focus was on playing middle. She practiced for a month with the Slovenian National team before resting her exhausted body.
The sophomore relaxed the rest of the summer and spent most of her time jogging in the forest near her house. She came back spiritually renewed and ready for another year. But she was unprepared for another change.
"I didn't expect to play left side," Gustin said. "I was preparing myself for middle, middle, middle. And then I came here and it was a shock because Lily didn't come. The other girl, Saleaumua didn't come. And then they said 'Maja, it's your turn'."
The 6-foot-3 hitter was UH's most physical option as a replacement. Hawaii coach Dave Shoji doesn't recall too many other times when the Wahine have had to convert middle blockers to outside hitters.
Gustin had to learn fast with Hawaii smaller in the middle and more reliant on outside hitting this year.
"I didn't have so much fun in the beginning," Gustin said. "And then a couple of games I was like, 'why am I here? OK, I switched positions. That's fine. People talk to me negative, not really positive. OK, what should I do?'
"It's just learning. Everything is learning. That's the challenge for me. What should I learn from that?"
Wade says that Gustin puts up strong numbers (3.79 kills, .287) as the team's No. 2 option. But it's little consolation because she thinks she can hit for a higher percentage and contribute more kills.
Shoji, however, doesn't have many complaints about the gentle giant.
"What Maja is giving us is an honest attack every time she swings," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "It's going to be hard. We just don't get cheated when she swings. From the first day she was here, we knew she was going to make a contribution."
Much of Gustin's life has been about adjusting and adapting. And next year, with Kahumoku expected back, she'll happily return to the middle.
"It's funny because people talk to me, oh 'we like you more in the middle than left' and I'm like 'it's volleyball,' " Gustin said. "The whole thing is I want to have fun. No matter if I'm serving or if I'm playing defense or if I'm blocking or swinging. I just want to have fun and enjoy myself on the court."
UH Athletics