Tara
Cross-Battle
(USA) |
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 Tara cuts one of her deadly angles at the 94 World's in Brazil against the Czech Republic. Despiter her awesome playing, the USA couldn't make it past Russia in the quarterfinals and then played beneath their level to end up in 6th place. In 1995 Tara was elected the FIVB's player of the year. I didn’t really see her in Barcelona, because unfortunately Peruvian television didn’t show much of the women’s volleyball competition. I read in the post-Olympic edition of Volleyball Magazine that she performed very well, but that for Terry Lyskevich both Cross-Battle (she added her husband’s surname I assume) and Sanders were a trade-off: Cross was a better passer than Sanders, but not a better hitter. However, it took Tara only two years to become one of the top hitters in the world, proving herself at the 94 Worlds but even better yet, at the 95 Grand Prix where the USA beat all of the best teams on the planet. This feat propelled Tara to her highest individual level, and soon she had become the go-to hitter and emotional team leader. Teee Williams was too inconsistent. When she was on she hit like the best Cuban. When she was off she was SO off that Lyskevich had to replace her with Elaine Youngs, or rookie Kristin Folkl. But Tara was always consistent, never letting her team down, and playing to the max on every point. I suppose religion had a lot to do with her improvement. I saw a brief report on TV about Tara Cross-Battle and her 96 Olympic expectations. She and her husband were both looking forward to Tara’s success in Atlanta. For guidance and good luck, she wrote the number of certain biblical scriptures on her volleyball shoes. Her faith had certainly given her confidence to become the FIVB’s Player of the Year (in 95 or 96, I’m not sure). For Atlanta, Tara Cross-Battle was ready to shine. |
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| Just prior
to the 96 Olympics, the USA had invited China to play a series
of matches at home. The USA lost all of them, and immediately
the whole team was concerned that in only one year they had lost
their confidence. China, which was being coached at the time by
the fabulous Lang
Ping, was in the USA’s Olympic Pool, so there
was even more of a worry after the friendly sweep that the USA
might not come out at the top of their pool. When Atlanta came,
Tara was playing amazing volleyball. She could cut balls down
the line so sharply, that the block was helpless against her
attacks. She also hit slides, shoots to the middle, and back row
attacks, just to name some of the arrows in her quiver. She was
by far the most effective USAmerican player. Though Tammy
Liley was technically the most complete, she
wasn't as effective a scorer as Tara Cross-Battle.
Unfortunately, fate played its cards in a rather odd way. The USA finished second in its pool, which was still to be out of Cuba’s path assuming that the powerful Caribbeans would finish first in their pool--why wouldn't they? They're CUBA! But who would’ve even imagined that Cuba would lose to both Russia and Brazil, thereby placing them in 3rd place? No one! So the quarterfinal was most unexpected: the USA versus Cuba, the team they absolutely did not want to play until the semifinals. And their worst fears came true, when Cuba pummeled the USA out of medal contention, with a score of 3-0, including 15-1 in the first game! Tara’s valiant efforts weren’t enough to save the USA from a 7th place finish, another unexpected result for the USA’s 96 disappointing Olympic experience. |
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 Another one of Tara's line shots, this time against Japan's Ohbayashi at the '94 World's. |
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| While the
new USA National Team has been touring around the world,
participating in tournaments against all of the world's best
teams, Tara has been creating a fabulous image for her in Brazil.
She plays with Danielle Scott for Leite Moça, one of the
best teams in Brazil’s Superliga. And her contributions
have been outstanding. Though Scott’s individual improvement has
been much more noticeable, Tara still remains one of the planet’s
deadliest attackers. Whether or not she will join Scott in Sydney
2000 is yet to be seen. She’s participated in two Olympic games
already, and I read somewhere that she would return to the team
only if she could really be a factor in obtaining a medal. As it
seems, the young US team is still far from medal contention, so
maybe she won’t be seen in Australia. Still, if she wanted to
she could help some of the most promising up-and-coming players
like Sarah Noriega or Demetria Sance attain her high level and
thus, continue the legacy of Tara Cross-Battle.
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