Her Bad Break in Past, Liley Takes Her Place on Team : Volleyball: A standout at Ocean View High School, she has made her second Olympic team.

Tammy Liley was looking for any kind of break when she joined the U.S. national volleyball team in 1986.

But the one she got wasn’t exactly what she had in mind.

Two weeks into her tryout at the team’s San Diego training center, Liley’s right hand was in a cast.

She was in tears.

“We were running a play in practice and I broke my hand on Karolyn Kirby’s elbow,” Liley said. “I was out of the lineup for a long, long time.”

At the time, Liley was 21 and a junior at Arizona State. There was a sense of urgency to make the team. But, as she would soon learn, her best days were ahead of her.

On the advice of U.S. Coach Terry Liskevych, Liley, a former Ocean View High standout, stayed in San Diego and kept training with the team.

“All I could do is stuff with my legs,” Liley said. “I could lift and run, that’s about it. Then I developed Achilles tendinitis.

“That’s when I broke down. I called Mom and cried and cried and cried. There was nothing I could do.”

Liley returned to Tempe, Ariz., for her senior season at Arizona State.

She spent the summer in rehabilitation for her hand and the tendinitis, earning All-America honors from the National Strength and Conditioning Assn. for her work in the weight room.

The honors carried over to the court that fall. Liley, a 5-foot-11 middle blocker, was named to the All-American and All-Pac 10 teams.

Then Liley got another break--a chance to return to the national team.

She rejoined in 1987, and a year later was a reserve on the squad that finished seventh at the Seoul Olympics.

Though still somewhat of a newcomer to the international game, Liley played in all five of the team’s Olympic matches, usually as a back-row defensive specialist.

Four years later, she finds herself in a somewhat similar situation.

Now 27, Liley is one of five players on this year’s team with previous Olympic experience.

She stayed with the team after the 1988 Olympics, continuing her training in San Diego. She married Brad Liley in September 1989, dropping her maiden name of Webb.

The same year, she won a starting job with the national team. Considered one of the team’s most versatile players, she started as an outside hitter but has moved around to other positions in the past three years.

She recently returned to middle blocker, the position she played in college. Her ability to hit a quick set over the middle, as well as a need for depth at the position, convinced Liskevych to make the move.

Kim and Elaina Oden of Irvine already have nailed down the starting middle blocker spots, leaving Liley as a backup. Although her playing time has been cut, Liley doesn’t mind coming off the bench.

“I was a middle blocker all through college and (outside hitter) was a new position for me,” she said. “Now they want me strictly as a middle after Kim and Elaina.

“I like the middle a lot. It’s where I played the most. But my chances of playing were more when I could be put in for anyone.”

Liley thinks the U.S. team has a good shot at winning a medal this time. And if it doesn’t, she hasn’t ruled out playing in 1996.

Six years after leaving San Diego to put her athletic career back together, Liley has settled into a comfortable life style there.

She has a job with the AAA auto club that allows her to travel and train with the team, as well as spend time with husband Brad, an electrical engineer who is finishing his degree at San Diego State.

“Brad has been terrific,” she said. “He has always supported me.”

He has also been converted into a volleyball fan.

“He didn’t know much about volleyball when we first met (at Arizona State),” she said. “He grew up in Nebraska. They play football there.”