Middle Blocker Harger Remains Vocal in His Support of Volleyball

A brave new world was offered to Chris Harger.

Harger, then at Long Beach Poly High School, was a 6-foot-8, 200-pound rail of a junior whose interests mirrored those of many other guys at the school. Playing anything except football and basketball bordered on sacrilege.

“Those are the only sports at Poly,” Harger said.

So when Poly volleyball Coach Orlando Larracuente floated the idea of trying something else, Harger spiked it.

“I thought volleyball was a women’s sport,” Harger said.

He has since become more enlightened but no less opinionated.

Harger is chatty, and sometimes overzealous . . . and that’s just on the telephone. On the volleyball court his mood can range from intense to vicious. While it isn’t unusual for an athlete to dish a little dirt at opponents, it is a little brash from a player whose team hasn’t exactly had a lot to brag about.

Irvine won 19 matches in Harger’s first three seasons, which wasn’t out of character. The Anteaters tied a school record for victories in 1995 with nine.

They did get off to a 4-0 start last season and were ranked eighth in the nation. But Irvine faded and finished 8-16. Still, Harger persisted in verbally pummeling opponents.

“I had to be cocky,” said Harger, a senior middle blocker. “We can’t take . . . from anyone. I’m not out to make friends, I’m out to win games. I have to let people know that they may beat us, but we are not a pushover.

“I think I may talk a little too much. A lot of guys in the league thought I was a punk.”

Charlie Brande, Irvine’s first-year coach, didn’t quite know what to make of Harger at first.

“You learn that he is a fabulous young man and is very sensitive,” Brande said. “Of course, at times, Chris can be a little gruff and he doesn’t always have much tact.”

Brande has tried to harness that energy, with some success. In its season opener Saturday, Irvine was tied with California, 11-11, in the fifth game with Harger serving.

“I looked at Chris and said, ‘Now’s the time,’ ” Brande said. “Sometimes you have to tone him down. Sometimes you have to tone him up.”

Harger put the Anteaters ahead and, a few moments later, finished the match with a kill.

“He gave that look afterward, kind of saying, ‘Yeah, we won it,’ ” Brande said. “When he steps it up like that, the other guys follow.”

That load should be easy for Harger to shoulder. He is a 6-10, 240-pound senior with tremendous leaping ability and a bellyful of confidence--combinations that have opened new vistas in his life.

After the season, he plans to play in the World University Games. He will also look at playing in Europe and intends, or at least hopes, to play for Team USA in the 2000 Olympics.

An ambitious agenda.

“I might even play basketball in Europe,” Harger said. “I hear they pay better than the volleyball teams.

“There are a lot of roads I can take. I have some decisions to make.”

His last big choice proved to be a good one.

At Poly, Harger was a center in basketball and a tight end in football, but mostly he sat on the bench. Still, his athletic skills caught Larracuente’s eye. Harger resisted at first, fearing verbal reprisals from football and basketball teammates. Then he saw the advantages in the idea.

He became a star for the Jackrabbits, who dominated the Moore League. Of course, as a league, it wasn’t exactly the center of the volleyball solar system. It was more like Pluto. And he did get hazed by his football and basketball teammates.

But Harger has an answer for them now.

“Volleyball got me out of Long Beach,” Harger said. “I love Long Beach, but I feel you’re not going anywhere if you stay there.”

*

A month ago, Anteater guard Lamarr Parker had a specific goal for the men’s basketball team.

“I think if we made the [Big West Conference] tournament, that would shock everyone,” Parker said. “No one expects us to get there.”

An admirable goal, a month ago. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is not eligible for the tournament, meaning the Anteaters need to beat only one team to be one of the four teams from the conference’s Western Division in the playoffs.

But the reality of the situation has been made clear to the Anteaters.

Irvine has not only lost all nine games, they have been routed in all but two. The Anteaters have not scored more than 59 points since their season opener. They are shooting 39.6% from the field, 57.9% from the free-throw line and are being outscored by an average of 30 points per game.

Even Parker, the team’s floor leader, seems to have some doubts. He talked about the difficulty of maintaining a positive outlook after the Anteaters finished nonconference play Saturday with a 77-44 loss to San Francisco.

“Maybe our schedule [Utah, Nevada Las Vegas, USC] has made us tougher,” Parker said. “But I don’t know if anything good has come from our nonconference games.”

Things may not get any better. The Anteaters open conference play Thursday against 9-1 Pacific.

*

Irvine has had three freshmen in the starting lineup the last two games, with center Andrew Carlson replacing Wendell Robinson.

Coach Rod Baker said it is more a promotion for Carlson than a demotion for Robinson, who is the team’s second-leading scorer. Carlson is averaging five points and four rebounds.

Forward Brian Johnson and guard Juma Jackson, two other freshmen, have been starters since the season began.

“It won’t be a problem when they are sophomores,” Baker said. “It could be a big year for them.”

Wait till next year?

“We’re not any way, shape or form looking at that,” Baker said. “Right now, Andrew has shown that he is the player who should be on the floor.”

Dan Augulis, a senior center who started 22 games last season, had surgery on his knee Friday and is out for the season. He had played in only one game this season.

*

Another freshman: Megan Stafford is averaging 12.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists for the women’s basketball team. She is making 44% of her three-pointers, 83% of her free throws and has a team-high 18 steals.

What more can you ask from a freshman point guard?

“I would like her to be a little more vocal on the court,” Coach Colleen Matsuhara said.

Picky.