UC Irvine : Ali Wood: Making No More Excuses

As a child, Ali Wood had the kind of natural athleticism and competitiveness that could helped her excel in most any sport she wished to pursue.

Swimming, softball, basketball, volleyball, track and field, ballet . . . Wood, a senior at UC Irvine, easily found success, even with minimal effort.

But when she came to Irvine on a volleyball scholarship as a freshman three years ago, Wood found herself leading the team not in kills, digs or blocks, but in excuses.

“I had an excuse for anything and everything,” she said.

“All the basic stupid stuff. This hurts, that hurts, I forgot my socks, I forgot my uniform. . . . “

Wood admits her work ethic was even less impressive.

“I wasn’t in that good of shape,” she said. “I was lazy--the laziest person in the world. I was always last in running, last in sprints. Mike (Irvine coach Mike Puritz) would say, ‘Didn’t you do your conditioning this summer?’ ”

“Here all these girls were in shape. But I sat on the beach all summer drinking beer.”

Today, there is little evidence that Wood was once a work-ethic wimp. As the Anteaters’ team captain, Wood, a 6-foot outside hitter, leads the way both in practice and competition.

Wood, 21, holds the school record for most digs in a match (25), most kills in a match (30), most kills in a season (381) and most attack attempts in a season (1,000).

Currently, she leads Irvine (10-4 overall, 1-2 in the Big West Conference) in kills (199), attack attempts (512) and kills per game (4.2).

Still, Wood said she’s continually working harder to improve. After she graduates with an English degree in June, Wood hopes to play professional volleyball in Europe.

Had her work ethic not taken a turn for the better several years ago, Wood’s hope for a professional volleyball career would seem somewhat ridiculous. But turn it did, and now Wood smiles when she remembers how things were four years ago.

“I didn’t even know where UCI was,” said Wood, a graduate of Rolling Hills High School. “I thought it was out by Riverside or something.”

Once she found her way to Irvine, Wood had to find her place on the team. The 1986 Anteaters consisted of three sophomores and six freshmen, so leadership was not a substantial commodity.

Because there were few role models for her, Wood said she told herself that someday, she would be the leader of the Anteaters. But she knew she first would have to straighten herself out.

As a freshman, Wood was prone to forgetfulness. When she forgot her uniform on a road trip, Puritz introduced Wood to his “coach-on-one” drill, one that has the coach continually drilling a player with spike shots, all of which must be returned to him in a perfect set.

“It’s the most horrible thing ever,” Wood said. “It usually lasts two minutes, and that’s bad enough. But when I did it, it was 10 minutes. Our whole team sat there and cheered, and our men’s team watched from the balcony.”

And because Wood was not big on preseason conditioning, she became a regular on the Gordo squad, Puritz’s name for the group of players who prove, through a timed one-mile run, to be out of shape on the first day of practice. Those who make the Gordo squad are rewarded with extra running, drills and sprints through the first two weeks of practice.

“My freshman year, we had to run a mile in seven minutes,” Wood said. “I made it in 8:30 or 8:40 (actually 8:23). Through all the years, I never made it. I finally said this summer, I was going to make it. I wasn’t going to be on that Gordo squad.”

So when the first day of practice rolled around this summer, Wood, who spent the summer running, swimming and lifting weights, was ready.

She put on her portable stereo, cranked up the volume and got ready to run the mile.

Then Puritz told the players he changed the cutoff time to 6:45.

“The whole night before, I just kept saying to myself, ‘Am I going to make it? Am I going to make it?’ ” Wood said.

She did, crossing the finish line in exactly 6:45.

With that, Wood’s confidence in herself, and her new-found work habits, surged. Her attitude concerning athletics, she said, has taken a 180-degree turn since her freshman year.

“I wouldn’t say I’m a workhorse,” Wood said, “but I do everything I can to get better. I’m not lazy about things. I used to hit a ball then go walk to go shag it. Now I sprint to it. I want to do every drill. I want to do extra drills.

“It makes you feel so much better to know you’re working hard. You learn to quit making excuses and realize it’s all up to you.”

Irvine’s water polo team (10-1 and ranked second in the nation) will meet fifth-ranked Stanford on Friday at Palo Alto and top-ranked California on Saturday at Berkeley.

Irvine has lost its past 10 meetings with Cal. The Anteaters last defeated the Golden Bears in November 1985, a 12-11 overtime victory in the Big West Conference tournament at Long Beach.

Tom Warde leads Irvine with 33 goals, and senior goaltender Christ Duplanty has 83 saves.

Irvine’s Trevor Kronemann and Shige Kanroji were ranked as the nation’s best men’s doubles team, and the Anteater men’s tennis team was ranked ninth overall Monday in the Volvo Tennis/Collegiate Rankings for 1990.

Kronemann, a three-time All-American, was a National Collegiate Athletic Assn. runner-up in doubles last spring with Mike Briggs, who has since turned professional.

Kronemann is also ranked fourth in singles in the preseason poll.

“Trevor is undoubtedly going to be one of the best in the country next (season),” Irvine Coach Greg Patton said. “And Shige has a lot of responsibility. Last year, Shige and Trevor played together 10 times and had an 8-2 record. Two of their wins were over teams ranked in the top 15 in the country.”

As a team, Irvine finished fourth last year in the NCAA final. Patton looks at the No. 9 ranking as a source of inspiration.

“Rankings give us a lot of esteem and confidence, but something to work for, too,” he said. “It’s good, but in the same sense I want to use it as a carrot for the guys.” Stanford is ranked No. 1, followed by Georgia, UCLA, Louisiana State, South Carolina, Cal, Texas Christian, Miami of Florida, Irvine and Alabama.

The Irvine women’s cross-country team also received a top 10 national ranking--eighth--the highest ever for the Anteater women.

In 1987, Irvine was ranked 10th and finished eighth in the NCAA championships. This year, with senior Brigid Stirling, junior Buffy Rabbitt and a deep, talented group, Irvine appears to be the best team in the Western Regional.

And the future looks brighter as six of the top seven runners are underclassmen.

Saturday at the prestigious Stanford Invitational, Irvine will get its best test, especially since neither Rabbitt nor sophomore Roberta Moronez will compete. Both are participating in their sisters’ weddings.

Anteater Notes

Last weekend, Irvine’s golf team placed 166th in its season opener, the New Mexico State/Coca Cola Classic at Las Cruces, N.M. Junior Mark Wilson was Irvine’s leader, finishing 30th with a 224 total. . . . Senior Carrie Janisch became Irvine volleyball’s all-time career dig leader last week with 737. Janisch broke the former mark of 696 set by Ann Warmus. . . . Kevin Smith, with four goals and an assist, leads the Irvine men’s soccer team in points this season.