Double Trouble : Touted First-Year Players Radcliffe, Blankinship Lead Loyola Volleyball

Suzanne Radcliffe and Kim Blankinship have played on the same volleyball team for five years--at Torrance High and the South Bay Volleyball Club--and now Loyola Marymount University is benefiting from their desire to remain together.

The freshmen outside hitters are two of the best athletes the program has had and, according to fourth-year Coach Steve Stratos, members of the best recruiting class in school history.

It also includes Kathleen Bunce, a 6-foot outside hitter who was the Southern Section Division I most valuable player at Capistrano Valley High, and Tate Medley, a 6-2 middle blocker from Mira Costa High.

Bunce, Radcliffe and Blankinship are starters. Radcliffe, a powerful left-hander, plays on the right side and Blankinship on the opposite end.

“Kim is the best physical athlete on our team,” Stratos said. “She’s only 5-foot-8 but she plays real big and has a 29-inch vertical jump. She also has that killer instinct in her and I don’t think you can teach that. She gives everything all the time.

“Suzanne is recognized by her teammates as the best player on this team right now. She does everything. You would never know that she’s a freshman. I think she’s easily the best freshman in the country.”

When Blankinship, the 1992 Division III player of the year, committed to Loyola last September, Stratos knew his chances of getting Radcliffe, a two-time All-Southern Section player, were good.

The 5-11 Radcliffe, who also does a lot of setting, committed to the Lions during the last week in October. She was highly recruited and had narrowed her choices to Cal State Long Beach, UCLA and Loyola.

“Once Kim committed, it made it a lot easier for me to decide where I wanted to play,” the 18-year-old Radcliffe said. “We really wanted to play together and it’s great that we’re doing it at a small school.”

Blankinship says she was excited when Radcliffe finally chose to attend Loyola. The athletes are not only longtime teammates, they are best friends and roommates. They even look like they could be sisters.

“I’m so happy she came here,” Blankinship said. “We’re so close, we know what each other is thinking. She’s a very steady player and one of the best blockers in the nation, to tell you the truth. She stuffs me all the time in practice.”

Radcliffe has been impressive so far. She had a match-high 17 kills in her college debut against eighth-ranked USC earlier this month, and a couple of days later she was named most valuable player of the UC Irvine Tournament, which the Lions won by defeating Oregon, Wichita State and Irvine.

During her first week in college, Radcliffe was named West Coast Conference player of the week. She averaged 5.08 kills and 2.85 digs per game and a .323 attack percentage during that time. Now she leads the Lions (9-3) with 127 kills and 22 aces.

“We knew she was going to be good,” Stratos said, “but not this good this fast. Suzanne is capable of one day becoming an All-American. She is our go-to person. She can hit very quick tempo sets or high and outside. She’s also a smart hitter and she knows how to hit around the block.”

Radcliffe says all the hoopla has caught her off guard. She’s just out to do her best in every game.

“I feel really confident right now, but I am kind of surprised. I didn’t expect it to be quite like this.”

Radcliffe and Blankinship were Pioneer League co-MVPs last season for leading Torrance High’s volleyball team to a 22-2 record and the semifinals of the Southern Section playoffs.

The season didn’t start off on a good note, however. The team’s longtime coach, Marie Andersson, quit abruptly because she was pregnant, and Pete Field, a controversial figure in volleyball circles, was hired to replace her.

About three weeks into the season, Field was replaced because his unorthodox methods clashed with players. So Radcliffe’s father, John Radcliffe, and Brian Chartier of the South Bay Volleyball Club took over the program.

“It was very hard playing for Pete,” said Blankinship, who was named to the all-tournament team last week at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. “I felt like I was in the Army. He’d make us line up and say, ‘Yes sir. No sir.’ ”

Radcliffe says it was an emotional time for the whole team, which made it difficult to stay focused on the court.

“With Pete it wasn’t a fun experience like volleyball had always been for us,” she said. “We were in shock about Marie quitting, then Pete. . . . It was hard.”

Radcliffe also played softball and participated in track at Torrance. Blankinship played soccer and also participated track. The 17-year-old Blankinship won the Southern Section high jump title (5 feet, 6 inches) as a junior and was a sweeper on the Tartars’ back-to-back Division 3-A championship soccer teams.

“Kim is very hard-driven and tough,” said Andersson, who coached Blankinship and Radcliffe at Torrance for three years. “She was also the strongest hitter in the league. She could hit the ball harder than most boys.”

Andersson, who competes on the women’s pro beach volleyball tour, says it’s not surprising that Radcliffe is blossoming so early in her collegiate career. The coach says that even as a high school freshman Radcliffe showed tremendous potential.

“She just has it. She’s just a natural volleyball player,” Andersson said. “She is going to be unstoppable. She is the dream player and I’d say she could probably be an Olympic player.”

In June, Radcliffe and Blankinship helped the South Bay Volleyball Club win the 18-and-under national title in front of thousands of fans at the Nike Volleyball Festival in Davis, Calif. Experience like that has helped them prepare for matches against top-notch NCAA schools.

“They both have great poise for freshmen,” said Cal State Northridge Coach John Price, whose team beat the Lions in five games a couple of weeks ago. “They’re impressive and they both hit the ball really well. They could play for us anytime.”

Blankinship and Radcliffe are the caliber of players that can help the Lions win the WCC title, as predicted by league coaches. While both athletes are excited about the prospect of doing that together, they also have planned for volleyball after college.

“My goal is to play on the pro beach volleyball tour,” Blankinship said. “With Suzanne, of course!”