Net Gain for Loyola : Team Prospers After Joli Eberhart Moves to Front Line

Loyola Marymount women’s volleyball Coach Steve Stratos wasn’t sold on the idea of Joli Eberhart becoming an outside hitter when he first recruited her.

After all, how many NCAA Division I programs have a 5-foot-8 player on the front line?

“We knew she was going to be a great back-row player, passer and digger and that she was very extroverted,” Stratos said. “The question was whether she could be a good front-row player.”

Only Eberhart had other ideas.

“When I was recruited here, I told them that’s what I wanted to play,” she said. “That’s always been my position but that was the question people were asking. Can I play outside hitter with my size?”

Once she started practicing for the Lions, it didn’t take long for Eberhart to give her the front-row job.

“In the first couple of days in practice, it was quite apparent that it was her position to lose,” Stratos said. “I didn’t think that when we started practicing, but it was very clear when we started playing that she was just a very intelligent player.”

Eberhart, 21, has made an even bigger impression since the season started in late August.

She leads the Lions in kills and digs and ranks 17th in the nation in digs. Eberhart has also been named West Coast Conference player of the week two times and has been chosen to the all-tournament team at all three tournaments Loyola has competed in this season.

“As my assistant coach put it one evening, she’s worth two scholarships,” Stratos said. “I wouldn’t say that she’s a surprise but she has just been outstanding at times. She’s been our most valuable player.”

It wasn’t as if Eberhart hadn’t been successful in the sport before she arrived at Loyola Marymount.

As a senior at Mater Dei High in Santa Ana, Eberhart earned All-Angelus League and second team All-Southern Section 5-A Division honors.

Despite her success in high school, Eberhart said it wasn’t until she attended Golden West College in Huntington Beach that her volleyball career started to blossom.

In addition to being selected most valuable player of the Orange Empire Conference two seasons in a row, she was chosen to the Junior College All-America team by Volleyball Monthly magazine last year. Eberhart was also named MVP of the state tournament and led her team to the state title as a sophomore.

It was only a few days after the state tournament that Eberhart made a verbal commitment to attend Loyola.

She had initially started receiving attention from colleges as a senior in high school but most of the schools were a little too far from home to suit her.

“I was right out of high school and a lot of those schools were back East and that’s the reason I went to Golden West,” Eberhart said.

Eberhart was also approached by Arizona State after her freshman season at Golden West. “I was recruited by Arizona State but it was after my freshman year and I didn’t feel like I was ready for that level yet,” she said.

After her success at Golden West, Eberhart had a few more college choices but opted to commit with the Lions early.

“St. Mary’s and a couple of others were interested but I wasn’t really interested in any of the others,” she said. “It was right after we won the state title. I wish I hadn’t committed so early but looking back it has worked out well.”

While Eberhart acknowledges she did not know a lot about the Loyola program before she arrived, there was another reason for choosing the Lions.

“My sister plays at Pepperdine and that’s one of the big reasons I went with Loyola Marymount,” she said. “They’re in the same conference, so I knew I’d get a chance to see her a lot.”

Her sister, Mary, is a sophomore back-row specialist for the Waves. They played against each other for the first time on Saturday, when Pepperdine won easily in three games.

She hopes the result is different when the teams meet in a rematch at 7 p.m. Saturday at Gersten Pavilion.

“I like my sister a lot,” Eberhart said. “But if we win, I’m sure I’ll do a little rubbing in. That’s just how things go.”

The Lions (13-9) haven’t defeated Pepperdine since 1986. The Waves are favored to win Saturday. But Eberhart said she is happy with the progress Loyola has made and sees a good future for the program.

“There are five new recruits here and the talent and the programs they came from are just incredible,” she said. “The coach also puts in so much time here. You can see how important (the program) is to him.”

But among the five players that the Lions have added this season, there is no doubt who has been the most valuable to Stratos.

“We brought in three state champions (from community colleges) and two other kids who were MVPs in their leagues (in high school), but she has really stood out,” Stratos said. “She’s just a winner.”

Stratos said he enjoys Eberhart’s attitude.

“We had a team meeting (last week) and one of the things we said was in the fourth and fifth games against Santa Clara she did not have particularly good games. So I pulled her out in favor of a freshman and she was screaming for her all the way. The team always comes first with her and that’s the kind of player I want in our program.”

Eberhart says she has had to make a few adjustments in her game since arriving at Loyola.

“You have to be a lot more disciplined,” she said. “You may come up against some big players in the JCs but the size is a lot different at this level because everyone on the front line is big. A lot of it is focus and being totally into the game at all times. That’s most important because if you’re not that way at this level, the game is going to beat you.”

From all appearances, Eberhart is not going to allow that to happen.

“Because my confidence is so high and I know my own ability, even if I do have a setback I think I can do well as long as I work hard at it,” she said. “I think a lot of it is mental and how bad you really want it.”

There is no question about Eberhart’s desire. She may not be the tallest front-line player in women’s volleyball, but so far this season she has been cutting her opponents down to size.