GILLIS FULFILLS DESTINY WITH NORTHRIDGE VOLLEYBALL.Byline: Rizza Yap / Daily News Staff Writer Call it destiny. Years before Saugus High graduate Amy Gillis started playing volleyball volleyball, outdoor or indoor ball and net game played on a level court. An upright net, 3 ft (or 1 m) high, the top of which stands 8 ft (2.43 m) from the ground for men, 7 ft 4 1/8 in (2. for Cal State Northridge, her roots to the school and the sport already were planted. By her parents. It was 1972, and Larry Gillis - fresh out of the military - enrolled as a civil engineering major at Northridge. He decided to take a volleyball class for recreation. On the now-extinct sand volleyball courts at Northridge, Larry Gillis met Pam Clemence. ``We were the only two who weren't afraid to get dirty,'' he said with a chuckle chuck·le intr.v. chuck·led, chuck·ling, chuck·les 1. To laugh quietly or to oneself. 2. To cluck or chuck, as a hen. n. A quiet laugh of mild amusement or satisfaction. . ``We kept running into each other on the court, so we figured there must be something there. ``We've been playing ever since.'' Today, the couple - now as Mr. and Mrs. Gillis - competes in an adult co-ed league and their three children are involved with the sport. Rachel, their youngest, is starting to attend volleyball camps. Their son Matt almost pursued the sport in college until he decided to tackle football instead. And Amy, the oldest at 21, is a starting outside hitter for the defending Big Sky-champion Matadors. Last season, Amy averaged 4.07 digs and 0.29 aces per game, the best on the squad. She broke the Northridge single-match record for digs with 44 in the Big Sky Tournament final against Sacramento State. She also set conference records with the most digs in a match (44) and in a tournament (60 in two matches), earning her Big Sky All-Tournament honors. Quite impressive for an athlete who joined the team as a freshman walk-on who ``couldn't hit the ball to save her life,'' said Northridge assistant coach Kathleen O'Laughlin, a senior on the squad when Gillis came in. ``She didn't have the size or the jumping ability, but we wanted her because she had such a good attitude,'' O'Laughlin said. ``Everyone respected her because of her attitude. She was so coachable, 100 percent a sponge, a great student of the game.'' Soaking up information from head coach Dr. Lian Lu paid off for Gillis this year. Literally. Now one of three seniors on the team, she is receiving a full athletic scholarship An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university awarded to an individual based predominantly on their ability to play in a sport. They are common in the United States, but in many countries they are rare or non-existent. for the first time. ``I knew I wouldn't be a star by my sophomore year, (but) I knew I could get better,'' said Gillis, a liberal studies major. ``I don't like to give up on things too fast. I had a good coach, and it took time to learn his style. I'm constantly learning, trying to perfect his techniques.'' To Gillis, the scholarship is a much appreciated vote of confidence and a chance to concentrate on academics and athletics without the extra pressures of working part time to help pay for school. ``Now that I'm on a full ride, this is basically my job,'' she said. But does it feel like a job? ``No,'' she answered immediately. ``It's too much fun.'' As a child, Gillis tried out every sport from soccer to softball softball, variant of baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Invented (1888) in Chicago as an indoor game, it was at various times called indoor baseball, mush ball, playground ball, kitten ball, and, because it was also played by women, ladies' . She rode horses, she roller skated and she tried gymnastics gymnastics, exercises for the balanced development of the body (see also aerobics), or the competitive sport derived from these exercises. Although the ancient Greeks (who invented the building called a gymnasium . She even took dance classes. At Saugus High School Saugus High School may refer to:
On top of playing three sports as a teen-ager, Gillis also managed to juggle two in the same season for three years. During high school soccer season she played club volleyball, then played in AYSO AYSO American Youth Soccer Organization AYSO All Your Saturdays Occupied AYSO Alabama Youth Soccer Organization AYSO Albuquerque Youth Soccer Organization (Albuquerque, New Mexico) while competing in high school volleyball. Before she started driving, Gillis' schedule was enough for her father to tease tease (tez) to pull apart gently with fine needles to permit microscopic examination. tease v. her and say: ``This is getting ridiculous. All we do is provide chauffeur service for you.'' Gillis eventually focused on volleyball when she determined that it was the sport that offered the best chances for a scholarship. And, there is that cosmic cos·mic also cos·mi·cal adj. 1. Of or relating to the universe, especially as distinct from Earth. 2. Infinitely or inconceivably extended; vast: bound. ``It's something that I've grown up around,'' she said. ``I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. what I'd do without volleyball.'' CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO It's fitting Amy Gillis plays volleyball for CSUN CSUN California State University Northridge . Her parents met in a volleyball class as students there. David Sprague/Daily News |
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