by Keith Peters
When the Stanford women's volleyball team takes the court Thursday for its NCAA Final Four semifinal match against Nebraska, a very bright spotlight will be focused on Cardinal freshman Kerri Walsh. Walsh, after all, was last year's National High School Player of the Year and a good bet to be named this season's National Freshman of the Year in the collegiate ranks.
Walsh, along with senior Eileen Murfee, plus juniors Kristin Folkl Lisa Sharpley, have formed the nucleus around which Stanford has built its 29-2 season.
Another freshman in addition to the 6-foot-2 Walsh, however, has played a big role in the Cardinal's success. That would be back row specialist Jaimi Gregory.
While standing a shade shorter than Walsh at 5-8, Gregory was instrumental in helping No. 2 Stanford defeat No. 9 Washington State, 15-12, 15-13, 15-9 in the Pacific Regional championship match last Saturday in Maples Pavilion.
That victory earned Stanford, seeded No. 1 in the NCAA tournament, its third straight trip to the Final Four. A win over defending national champ Nebraska (30-3) in Cleveland, Ohio, sends the Cardinal into Saturday's finale against the winner between Florida (37-1) and Hawaii (34-2).
That Stanford has reached this point is no surprise. Nor has been the play of Gregory.
"I expected her to be able to do what she's done," said Stanford coach Don Shaw. "She'll get better and better. She's determined to show people that she can what they don't expect she can do."
No one should expect any less than the best from Gregory, whose career mirrored that of Walsh's. Both were Mizuno first-team All-Americans as prep seniors. Both played on the U.S. Junior National Team that traveled to Slovakia during the summer of 1995. Both were MVPs in the National Junior Olympics--Walsh in '95 and Gregory in '96.
The only difference between the two is size and where they touch the ball on each play.
Walsh is like a wide receiver in football, responsible for scoring points. Gregory is like a defensive back, stopping other teams trying to score. If she doesn't get her hand on a spike attempt and make a successful pass to Sharpley, the ball never can be delivered to Walsh, Folkl or Murfee. Against WSU, Walsh had 22 kills, Folkl had 21 and Murfee 12.
Gregory's defensive play against Washington State didn't go unnoticed by WSU coach Cindy Fredrick.
"Jaimi Gregory was absolutely amazing to watch on defense," Fredrick said.
Gregory, who is as modest as she is talented, just shrugs off the praise.
"I don't do anything out of the ordinary," she said. "I just do my job. I'm just happy to be able to contribute."
And contribute she does, says Shaw.
"She brings up the defensive intensity," he said. "I think she really has an affect on everybody . . . she has more range than a lot of players. She can dive for balls, like a man, which increases her range."
Against WSU, Gregory flung herself after a ball on one occasion, getting a touch to keep it in play. She landed hard on the floor, knocking her breathless for a moment. The crowd of 2,615 in Maples roared their approval of Gregory's hustle.
"I knew she'd be a crowd favorite," said Shaw, who played on the same U.S. National Team (1978-79) as Jaimi's father, Gerald.
"I'm just happy to be playing volleyball," Gregory said. "It's my most favorite thing in the world."
Gregory hopes to make her experience in the sport an even better one this weekend by helping Stanford win the national title.
"We talk about it all the time," she said of winning NCAAs. "But we're got to work to win it."
A task Jaimi Gregory certainly is up to.
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