Tammy
Liley and Paula Weishoff
(USA) |
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| After I
had put Tammy Liley on my list of all-time favourite players, I realised
that I hadn't put Paula Weishoff. Comparatively, Paula had a better medal
record than Tammy, and they were both very complete players, but my
impression of Paula in the '84 Olympic final wasn't enough to put her in a
top-20 list. Besides, I grew up watching Tammy Webb start off as a rookie
in Seoul '88, change her name to Liley, improve vastly at the '90 World's,
knock Peru out of the Olympics at the '91 World Cup, medal in Barcelona,
win the '95 Grand Prix, disappoint herself in Atlanta, and then marvel the
fans in the Brazilian Superliga, where she did a splendid job in
one of the top ranked teams. Still, I have to admit that Paula Weishoff's
performance in Barcelona was incredible (even if the MVP award seemed a
bit iffy), so yes, I think she deserves to be put on the top-20 list.
Besides, if I put Caren
Kemner on the list as well, then definitely Paula Weishoff
deserves her own page. (New task for the future.)
Back to Tammy. If you read my article on Brazilian player Márcia Fu, I mention a so-called "Duck theory", which is a way of comparing people who do a bit of everything well (but nothing really well) to a duck, an animal that can swim, walk, and fly but doesn't excel in any of the three skills. Likewise, some people in the volleyball world don't really notice opposite hitters unless they're lashing lefties, probably because that position is the least known of the three. Surely playing middle is physically the most demanding of the five positions (middle, outside, opposite, setter, and libero). Playing outside is the one that garners the most fame. Setters run the whole team with their mind, and liberos impress with only one skill (though a very entertaining one). But what about opposite hitters (especially right-handed ones)? In order to be a good opposite hitter you have to be able to:
So with all these tasks at hand, why would people think that the opposite hitter position is the least demanding one? A player who cannot perform any of the four abovementioned skills is not apt to fill that position. This is why I think that this position is deserving of only the most complete, all-around players. |
 Liley hitting in against China in a tour in '92. [Photo: Scott Weersing? VB Monthly] |
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 Paula celebrating in Barcelona. [Photo: Bruce Hazelton, VB Monthly] |
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| To which I say: Tammy Liley and Paula Weishoff were two such players. And the list goes on, as other world-renowned opposites have made names of themselves by being the most all-around players in their teams: the Cuban setters (to begin with), Lilia Izquierdo, Marlenys Costa, and Taymaris Agüero; the USA's Caren Kemner in Atlanta; Brazil's Márcia Fu; Svetlana Korytova of the USSR; Yelena Batukhtina and Lyubov Chachkova-Sokolova of Russia; Gina Torrealva and Sonia Heredia of Peru; Monica Beu of the German Democratic Republic; Park Soo-Jeong of Korea; Wu Dan and Qiu Aihua of China; and the list goes on and on. |  Paula hitting away from Asako Tajiimi's block in Barcelona. [Photo: Volleyball Magazine] |
| Playing this position is easier for lefties—Peru's Cecilia Tait, Brazil's Léila Barros, China's Cui Yongmei, and Japan's Motoko Ohbayashi—so righties get an added bonus for recognition. |
| Back to Tammy. I saw her play all three front row positions before finally being put at opposite by coach Terry Liskevych. Smart choice. With her there, he had a trustworthy defender, a solid hitter, and a good blocker though he himself admitted that it wasn't her forté. Still, if he had to substitute somebody in, it was most probably Caren Kemner. These two players combined to give their team excellent ball control, and later on, experience. So with the years, my impression of Tammy was one of maturity and all-around athleticism. Too bad the USA imploded in Atlanta, but that wasn't necessarily a fault of hers or any specific player. It must have been nerves maybe, from having to play in front of the home crowd. One thing is to play in Shanghai and win the Grand Prix were nobody knows you and you have nothing to lose, and another thing is playing in front of thousands of your countrypeople and trying hard not to disappoint them (by not losing). Liskevych will always be criticised for one thing, though. After subbing Kemner in for Liley (to add a bit more spunk and fire to the team; Liley was more of a quiet leader), and right when the team was pumped up and about to take the fourth set against China or the second one against Cuba, he subbed the red hot Kemner out. This move perplexes volleyball historians to this day. Who knows what would've happened if Kemner had stayed in. |
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| In any
event, this page is about Liley, not about Kemner. But then again, it should
also be about Weishoff, because everything I said about opposite hitters
applies to the talented Paula Weishoff as well. In Barcelona, she hit those
slides like there was no tomorrow, but like Liley, she wasn't as fiery a
player as Kemner. Still, in Atlanta at least, Liley was the team captain,
and she also hit back slides very well, I must add. So, who is this page
really about? Opposites, I guess... because like it or not, they do tend to
attract (one's eye) heavily.
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