1995 PREP PREVIEW: GIRLS’ VOLLEYBALL : Mater Dei’s Gehlke Holds Up Her End of Family Tradition

When her high school, club and college playing days are done, Roberta Gehlke plans to return to the beach here, perhaps to the same spot adjacent to the city pier where she first learned how to play volleyball when she was 7.

Sometime early in the 21st Century, the Mater Dei senior envisions a professional volleyball career for herself. The weathered, sandy beach courts in her hometown will most likely serve as a training ground.

And if that doesn’t work out, Gehlke can stroll inland a few blocks, up Golden West Street, to the dusty stables, where she can horseback ride for days without a care in the world.

Both activities have crafted Gehlke’s development, but these days volleyball takes up most of her time. A 5-11 outside hitter, she’s one of five returning starters that Monarch Coach Pete West feels could be the most talented group ever assembled at the school. Most certainly, the Monarchs are expected to be among the county’s best.

Teamwork, an invaluable, yet often forgotten athletic pursuit, is Gehlke’s forte. The second team all-Southern Section selection in 1994 is expected to play a large part in just how well Mater Dei fares.

“Her all-around game makes her great,” West said. “She passes and digs as well as she hits. She is a very sound player.”

Roberta Gehlke grew up in the shadow of her sister, Becki, four years her senior. Becki wasn’t averse to letting her little sister know her place in the world.

“We fought a lot,” Roberta said. “We never got along. Now that we are apart, though, we get along great.”

While not an unusual occurrence in daughters-only families, the Roberta-Becki rivalry had a silver lining: Becki, an outside hitter at St. Mary’s College in Moraga, where she’s a senior, loved to play volleyball. As younger siblings often do, Roberta hung out with Becki at family horseback riding outings at the Orange County Fairgrounds and at the beach, playing volleyball.

“I did what I saw [Becki do],” Roberta said. “I was playing volleyball before I knew what I was doing.

“I followed in my sister’s footsteps. When she rode horses, that’s what I wanted to do. When she played volleyball, that’s what I wanted to do. To me, though, I loved volleyball. It was the most fun.”

Roberta had prowess as a hitter, but she prided herself on learning the other aspects of the game, as well. She quickly was recognized as a standout player on several youth teams.

Roberta’s idea of being a good player, though, was being a part of the team, not just being the team.

“I can be a leader,” she said. “But I’m also part of the team. Some leaders like to control the team. I look at it as if I’m just part of it, like a family. Everyone is the same and when it’s all put together, that’s how it works.”

That sacrificial temperament also has been a benefit.

“This sport fits her very well,” West said. “The kind of growth and maturity she has had has helped her in a huge way.”

Becki, 21, has watched her sister develop from afar, but she has kept tabs on Roberta nonetheless.

“She decided to play on club teams at an early age, even earlier than I did. She’s become a good hitter,” said Becki, who graduated from Mater Dei in 1992.

“Roberta has improved a lot. She has become more and more aggressive as a player.”

Charlie Brande, the veteran Orange County Volleyball Club coach for whom Roberta has played, goes even further, saying Gehlke “can pass and dig with anybody we’ve ever had.

“She’s just a tremendous athlete. She can play any position,” he said. “She makes a play and you look at it and say, ‘How does she do it?’ and she just does it over and over and over again.”

Brande credits quick hand-eye coordination as a key.

“She has as good ball control as I have ever seen,” he said.

At Mater Dei, Gehlke will be called on for all of her skills to help West, a Brande disciple, blend styles of play from highly trained players that have played on various club programs.

“Club and high school are two different levels,” Roberta said. “In high school everyone is coming from different clubs. They have to learn the Mater Dei way. Club is forgotten when you get here. We have to learn to play together.”

Like a family.

Girls’ Volleyball at a Glance

Top players: Dana Atkinson, Huntington Beach, Jr., outside hitter; Kelly Campbell, Corona del Mar, Sr., setter/outside hitter; Michelle Christ, Laguna Beach, Sr., opposite hitter; Meghan Coolbaugh, El Modena, Jr., middle blocker; Lydia Day, El Toro, Sr., middle blocker; Ashley Englander, Laguna Beach, Sr., swing hitter; Andy Filbeck, El Toro, Jr., setter; Nicole Gale, Huntington Beach, Sr., defensive specialist; Anna Geber, Mater Dei, Sr., outside hitter; Roberta Gehlke, Mater Dei, Sr., outside hitter; Jenny Hecker, Newport Harbor, Sr., setter; Julie Hecker, Newport Harbor, Sr., outside hitter; Kari Hogancamp, Edison, Sr., opposite; Laurie Layton, Mater Dei, Sr., setter; Whitney McAtee, San Clemente, Sr., setter; Kate Metzger, San Clemente, Jr., outside hitter; Jill Meyers, Huntington Beach, Sr., middle blocker; Amy Nihipali, Esperanza, Jr., middle blocker; Nicole Noya, Mater Dei, Sr., middle blocker; Ami Orr, Mater Dei, Sr., outside hitter; Michelle Sarkees, Santa Margarita, Sr., setter; Nicole Terry, El Modena, Sr., outside hitter; Melissa Wendt, Huntington Beach, Sr., outside hitter; Wendy Wilkins, San Clemente, Sr., outside hitter; Laura Woiemberghe, Cypress, Sr., setter; Michelle Woiemberghe, Cypress, Jr., outside hitter; Carrie Zeller, Laguna Beach, Sr., swing hitter.

League favorites: Academy: St. Margaret’s; Arrowhead: Southern California Christian; Century: Orange; Empire: Katella; Freeway: La Habra; Garden Grove: Pacifica; Golden West: Tustin; Olympic: Calvary Chapel; Orange: Valencia; Pacific Coast: Laguna Beach; Sea View: Newport Harbor; South Coast: Mater Dei; Sunset: Huntington Beach.

1994 final poll: 1. Newport Harbor, 2. Laguna Beach, 3. Edison, 4. Huntington Beach, 5. Calvary Chapel, 6. La Habra, 7. Sunny Hills, 8. Dana Hills, 9. Mater Dei, 10. Orange.

1995 preseason poll: 1. Huntington Beach, 2. Laguna Beach, 3. Mater Dei, 4. Newport Harbor, 5. Capistrano Valley, 6. Corona del Mar, 7. Esperanza, 8. San Clemente, 9. El Toro, 10. La Habra.

Key dates: Orange County Championships, Sept. 15-16; San Marcos tournament at UC Santa Barbara, Oct. 7; Santa Barbara tournament, Nov. 3-4; Southern Section finals, Nov. 18; State finals, Dec. 2.

Notes: Who’s Who--Jill Meyers of Huntington Beach is the niece of Ann Meyers; Bridgette Beschen of San Clemente is the brother of professional surfer Shane Beschen; Nicole Citro of San Clemente is the niece of volleyball great Karch Kiraly; Dusty Creager of Cypress is the daughter of Los Alamitos jockey John Creager; Allison Ciarelli and Keely Ziegler of Huntington Beach are the nieces of Oiler Coach Rocky Ciarelli; Lynsey Koopman of El Modena is the daughter of Vanguard Coach Andy Koopman.