Moorpark's glad Olinyk chose volleyball over golf
By Thomas Gase tgase@theacorn.com

Photos by JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers IDENTICAL TWINS- Olinyk poses with her personal mural on the top row of the bleachers in Moorpark High's gym.

Like most women, Rachel Olinyk knows the difference between good shoes and bad shoes.

Thankfully for the Moorpark High girls' volleyball team, the senior thought the golf shoes she received during her freshmen year were ugly. Instead, Olinyk laced on her sneakers and decided to try the sport of volleyball. Now she's making other teams look pitiful with her play at the net.

"I had been a track star all my life but I kind of wanted to try something else besides that my freshman year at Moorpark," Olinyk said. "I had a choice between golf and volleyball. I knew my mom had played volleyball in high school, and I was tall at 5foot-8 that year so I knew size would help me in volleyball. And besides, the golf shoes were just ugly."

Olinyk said she had briefly learned the sport in eighth grade, but when she showed up for her first day of tryouts at MHS, she was terrified. "I was scared out of my mind. I didn't understand much but I knew I wanted to be playing a team sport since track deals with the individual more. I knew I had an advantage with my height but I mostly liked the fact that volleyball was a challenge. I liked that the game itself was very complicated."

Rachel Olinyk

Two years later Olinyk proved to be a good enough volleyball player to make the varsity squad, and head coach Brendan Hanson immediately liked what he saw in Olinyk's play.

"She is a very explosive player at the net," Hanson said. "You could just tell early on that she had a lot of desire and wanted to win."

This year Olinyk has improved even more- she is currently averaging 1.7 kills a game with her 69 kills on the year.

Olinyk also registered 22 aces and 26 blocks early in the '07 season. She attributes the improvement to her decision to play club volleyball after her sophomore year.

"Coach Hanson basically told everyone that if you don't play club volleyball you aren't going to make it at the varsity level," Olinyk said. "I begged my parents to let me play and later that year I started playing.

"Club volleyball at that time was more intense for me. I learned a lot more about the game and it helped me when I joined varsity. I grew to be a lot stronger, as one of the first things coach Hanson asked me when I came back was if I had hit the weights."

"Every time she makes contact she hits the ball very hard," Hanson said. "But the thing I have really liked about her play this year is that she sees the court very well now. She is doing a great job of mixing in soft tips with her hard hits at the net."

Olinyk agreed with her coach. "I went to a camp at the University of California San Diego and they were telling me how most middle players are shorter than I am," Olinyk said. "I had to know where to place the ball once I got it in my hands. I couldn't just swing hard at it anymore."

This year Moorpark was one of the early season favorites to take the Marmonte League crown away from Thousand Oaks, however, the team has struggled of late. Although the team is 12-7 overall and 3-2 in league play, the team has lost four straight games, most recently a 3-0 loss to Westlake last Tuesday.

"Right now is one of the most frustrating parts of coaching for me," Hanson said. "We have just as much talent as any team in the league but I have to find out what is not clicking for us."

Olinyk is frustrated as well but remains confident that the Musketeers will turn things around.

"Just because we lost a couple games in a row doesn't mean other teams should now take us lightly," Olinyk said. "We have a lot of ability on this team and once we figure out what is wrong we are going to be tough to beat."

Moorpark played Thousand Oaks on Thursday night but as of the Moorpark Acorn's press time the score was unavailable.

The Musketeers' next game will be Tuesday at home against Newbury Park High. Game time is set for 6 p.m.