Their Game Plan Is a Championship : Given Choice, Volleyball Club Team Decided to Work for National Title

At the start of each practice, members of the San Diego Volleyball Club’s 18-and-under team “corner up.”

At one end of the court, half the players stand along the baseline, half along the sideline. There they listen attentively as Coach John Cook outlines the practice plan.

Cook is an intense man with penetrating eyes and a square jaw. He takes a no-nonsense approach to his job.

“His practices are serious,” said Alicia Turner, an outside hitter from University of San Diego High School. “There’s no joking around, though it isn’t to the point where we don’t have fun. He lets us have a good time, but he still wants us to do things properly.”

That they do, perhaps better than any junior team in the country.

When the U.S. Volleyball Assn. Junior National Championships begin Monday in Fort Collins, Colo., San Diego will be seeded first in the girls’ 18-and-under competition.

“I think we’re one of the teams to beat,” Cook said. “With a little luck, we can win the whole thing.”

Other contenders, Cook said, are Cal Juniors from Orange County, the Orange County Volleyball Club and Sports Performance of Chicago. More than 2,500 girls and boys in three age groups will compete in the tournament, which ends next Saturday.

San Diego defeated Cal Juniors and Orange County on June 5 to win the Southern California regional title. It lost to Sports Performance last week at the Sports Mart International Challenge in South Bend, Ind., but was playing without its powerful outside hitter, Carolyn Taeatafa, who was attending her high school graduation.

“There are teams that have a little more talent than we have, but we’ve found a way to win,” Cook said.

Two main reasons San Diego has become a national power are Taeatafa and setter Cheri Boyer.

Taeatafa, from Sweetwater High School, is an exceptionally strong, 5-foot 9-inch hitter with a solid all-around game.

Boyer, from Poway, is tall for a setter at 6-1. Along with running the offense, she puts up a big block on the right side and is an effective hitter when necessary.

But unlike clubs that rely on a couple of stars, San Diego has talent in reserve.

“We’re really well-balanced,” Cook said. “That’s why I think we have an advantage at junior nationals. We have depth. If we get in trouble, I have kids who can come in.”

The depth paid off a couple of months ago when Lynn Patrick of Serra High School left the team to concentrate on high jumping. Despite losing a player many coaches believe has U.S. national team potential, San Diego never missed a beat. Amy Boyer, Cheri’s sister, and Angel Leath combined to replace Patrick at the right-side position opposite the setter.

Cook platoons Turner, Jennifer Torns and Blair Noonan opposite Taeatafa on the left side. The two middle blocking positions go to any combination of Heidi West, Andrea Radmilovich, Tina Thompson and Lisa Hamson. Tristan Sherrod and Suzy Schutz are the defensive specialists.

Taeatafa, Cheri Boyer, Hamson, Radmilovich, Torns and Thompson have received Division I college scholarships for next season. Taeatafa and Boyer are bound for Hawaii, last year’s NCAA champion. Hamson is headed to Idaho State, Radmilovich to Fresno State, Torns to William & Mary and Thompson to Houston.

All of the players who will be high school seniors this fall--Turner, West, Leath and Noonan--are considered excellent Division I prospects.

“Everyone on the team wants to work hard, and everyone has goals to play in college,” Cheri Boyer said.

This is the second consecutive year San Diego has entered the junior national tournament ranked No. 1. Last year in Albuquerque, N.M., it finished a disappointing fifth.

“We had quite a few injuries and some altitude sickness,” Cheri Boyer said.

With a strong nucleus returning from the 1987 team, and a solid group of players moving up, Cook knew last fall he again had the makings of another contender.

“John set us down at the beginning of the season and asked us what our goals were,” Turner recalled. “Did we want to have a good time and win as much as we can? Or did we want to win junior nationals? We all agreed we wanted to win junior nationals. That’s the way our practices have been focused. I think he would have given us the chance--if we wanted--to slack back. But since we made the decision, our practices are based on that.”

The team practices about 10 hours weekly, usually at Francis Parker High School, where Cook is a teacher and volleyball coach.

The 18-and-under team is one of 13 girls’ and five boys’ age-group teams fielded by the two-year-old San Diego Volleyball Club. Players range in age from 10 to 18.

Dick Templeman, an independent insurance agent, and Cook were involved with separate clubs that folded a couple of years ago. They decided to join forces. Templeman handles the administrative end, Cook oversees the girls’ teams and Dave Olbright works with the boys.

Templeman said there are about 175 members, each paying $100 to $125 a month in dues to cover costs for uniforms, transportation, tournament entry fees and coaching salaries.

If financial need can be demonstrated, the club will help players raise money or give them a break on the dues, Templeman said.

“We don’t want kids out of the club because they can’t afford it,” he said.

Despite the success of the top girls’ team and increasing membership, Templeman said this could be the last year of the club’s existence.

Last week, Cook accepted an assistant coaching position at the University of Nebraska, leaving Templeman unsure of the future.

“I’m debating,” he said. “My instinct is that I’ll continue, but it might be altered, with fewer teams. It isn’t going to be easy to replace a coach of John’s caliber.”

“I’m not leaving because I’m unhappy,” said Cook, who grew up in Chula Vista. “I’ve enjoyed it. It’s a really worthwhile program.”

Cook, who is married to a former San Diego State setter, Wendy Wheat, said he hopes eventually to become a college head coach.

But those plans, as well as decisions on the future of the San Diego club, will have to wait a week. The only thoughts now are on winning the national title.

Said Cheri Boyer: “We know everyone wants to beat us. They know they can, too, because they’ve beaten us before. But we’re a tough team. We have a lot of desire.”