Eureka senior outside hitter patrols the net and leads Northwestern A in kills

The Daily Inter Lake

EUREKA - Linda Roberts loves this story from when daughter Amy was a 5-year-old on her way to her first T-ball game.

"She was so excited for her first game," Linda Roberts said.

Amy and her dad, Jim, were walking to the field when the little girl grabbed Jim Roberts' hand and confided … " 'Dad, I've been waiting my whole life for this.'"

"She just loves to play ball," Linda laughed.

Twelve years later, Amy Roberts is still playing ball and she's done a pretty good job of it.

The Lincoln County High School senior was a first-team all-state selection in three sports last year - volleyball, basketball and softball - and she recently verbally committed to play for the University of Montana volleyball team.

That wrapped up a long courting period that included Pac-10 teams, such as Oregon State and Washington.

"(Having the decision made) is a huge stress relief," Amy Roberts said.

She picked Montana because she liked the coaches and she wanted to stay closer to home.

"I want to make a name for myself. I have dreams of playing Olympic volleyball - or at least trying out. That's a dream of mine," Roberts said.

"There's kids that can hit the ball … and there's kids that can hit the ball," said Eureka head volleyball coach Rhonda Hammond.

Roberts definitely falls into that second category.

"Pac-10 looked at her. They're the best of the best. She's undersized for Pac-10, but she's so athletic," Hammond said.

She's been racking up the kills for the Eureka volleyball team since she was a freshman.

This year, Eureka's first in Class A, she's helped the Lions to a very respectable 3-3 record and leads Northwestern A with 106 kills. She had 27 in a five-game loss Sept. 28 to two-time Class A state champion Whitefish.

"When I get a kill, I can't explain it … I love that feeling. I love being in tight games. I always want sets to come to me or the serve to come to me," Roberts said.

Which brings up another story, this one told by both Hammond and Roberts' mom.

It was during Western B divisional tournament last year - Eureka versus Loyola.

Loyola 6-foot-2 middle-hitter Amy DeGroot, now a freshman middle hitter for the University of San Diego, hit Roberts with a kill attempt.

"Amy gets up and just kind of grins," Hammond said. "She just got hammered and she just kind of grins."

That little smile was appreciation for good work, Linda said.

"Our Amy was in the position to dig it up, but she couldn't even react fast enough. There was nothing she could do because it was so quick," Linda agreed.

"Amy appreciates other people's athleticism. She's never jealous. She just happened to be part of that athleticism. It was an awesome play," her mother said.

Roberts was set on the next play.

"And boom!" Hammond laughed.

"She gets her hits in," Linda agreed. "She really appreciates well-fought volleyball and she'll do her part, too."

And she's been willing to work at it - camp at the beginning of summer, open gym twice a week and player-initiated sessions that lasted 60-90 minutes.

"You have to kick her out (of the gym). She just loves to play," Hammond said.

Roberts got her start in volleyball the old-fashioned way - watching family.

"Both my cousins played volleyball at Columbia Falls. I thought it looked like a fun thing to do," she said.

Linda wondered if Amy would like the sport. She'd been playing basketball, baseball and even football.

"But she has very good timing for the ball. She had an aptitude for it," Linda said.

"It helps to have one of the best coaches. I just loved the way Mrs. Hammond did everything," Roberts said.

"She's not my daughter. But because we've spent so many hours in a gym, she's like my daughter," Hammond said.

"Everything was about family. When we're on the court, we're a family, no matter what differences we have off the court."

But there aren't many differences, she hastens to add.

"We're all very, very good friends. We get along so well. We all care about each other," Roberts said.

"(Fellow senior April Paden) and I have been through a lot," she said. "She runs the back row, I run the front row."

Roberts also took time to compliment the play of Melanie Finch, KaeDee Shay and Briann Linnell.

And she refers to two teammates - Megan Hannay and Jonna Yost - as sisters.

"We're really close," she said.

This is Hannay's first year setting for her friend - she's taken over from graduated three-time all-state setter Ali Zauner.

"I didn't realize the shoes I had to fill were so big until I had to fill them," Hannay said.

"I made the step up to varsity. We had to get comfortable with each other," Hannay said of the gym sessions.

"Megan is turning into a really, really good setter. She's seeing things really well," Roberts said.

"(Roberts) made it less nerve-wracking for me. She's always there to support me and make me better," Hannay said.

The Roberts have made volleyball a family sport - Linda is an assistant coach and Jim helps film Eureka's games.

And the town of Eureka has embraced both volleyball and Amy.

"I like how everybody knows each other," Roberts said. "I'm in the grocery store and somebody comes up (to talk about volleyball) I don't know," she added.

"It's got that small-town feeling. I wouldn't live anywhere else."

That means a lot to her parents - who met and married in Eureka.

"This Eureka community - I mean everybody, they go and they see her. They're just so supportive. There's so many people who really care about her," Linda said.

Amy makes that easy - her GPA is 3.929. She's had one 'B' in her high school career

And she's humble.

"A lot of people helped me get where I am," she said. "My brother (Jay) is my biggest fan, my biggest role model. My brother has been there through everything."

Perhaps the best compliment came from the coach of the Oregon Ducks.

When Jim Moore called Hammond to tell her Oregon wouldn't be offering to Roberts, he said "my fear is she's going to end up in our conference and haunt us."