Summer! Summer!
A celebration of the season? Lyrics from an old Beach Boys
tune?
Summerrrrrrrr!
The tall blonde freshman looks straight ahead. Summer Ross hears her teammates’
cheers, but offers little more than a shy grin. Or is it a sly grin?
“Summer is hilarious,” says senior Bianca Rowland. “She just cracks us up.”
Ross is, by all accounts, a free spirit. At one practice,
the fingernails on her right hand were painted hot pink, those on the left were
aqua. She wears #99, in defiance of volleyball tradition.
 |
| Summer Ross [Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann] |
Yet, even with world-class volleyball credentials—she won
two junior world beach championships, with two different partners—she rarely
speaks above a whisper, and only occasionally makes eye contact. At practice,
she is modest and deferential.
But she can play. And when she gets a block or a dig or a
kill, her teammates love to chant her name.
Summerross!
Throughout the preseason, Ross has played the right side of
the offense, a favored spot for coach Jim
McLaughlin. In addition to attacking, right side hitters must block against
the opponent’s best hitter, and often chase tips or errant passes.
“Summer is getting better,” McLaughlin says. “She doesn’t
make a lot of errors, and errors can kill you in volleyball.”
Unlike her friend and fellow freshman, the heralded Krista Vansant, Ross doesn’t always
pound the ball when she’s set. Instead, like the elite beach player she is,
Ross sees the whole court, and looks for holes in the block or gaps in the back
row defense.
“Summer is rarely hurt on a tough swing,” says McLaughlin,
referring to improvised attacks when the preferred play breaks down. “But, hey,
she also knows how to wheel and deal. Sometimes it’s a roll shot, but she can
also go for a knockout.”
Usually only elite hitters play both the front row and back
row in the Pac-12; this season McLaughlin has all three of his hitters—Ross,
Vansant and junior Kylin Muñoz—playing
all the way around. Ross has responded with 39 digs, and is tied with Muñoz with
10 service aces, most on the team.
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| Kelcey Dunaway high-fives Summer Ross after a Ross block [Volleyblog Seattle photo by Leslie Hamann] |
And maybe what endears her most to her teammates: Ross has
the rare ability to push the re-set button after every play. Good shot or bad,
stuff block or tool, she simply turns and gets ready for the next ball.
Although autumn begins next week, it might be hard to tell
in the Washington gym. For the next couple of months, it should remain …
Summerrrr!
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