Gates helps team stay up top

LINCOLN - The hard work for Amanda Gates paid off last season.

The Columbus High graduate did whatever it took to get playing time for the Nebraska volleyball team. She worked hard in practice, lifted all summer, etc., which helped her earn playing time for the Huskers.

Gates appeared in 23 matches last season and made the most of her time. She put down 57 kills and 53 blocks and earned playing time in the National Championship game, recording three blocks in Nebraska's 3-1 win over Stanford.

Nebraska coach John Cook said Gates may be one of the hardest workers in the program.

“She's the ultimate team player that any coach would love to have in their program,” Cook said. “She will probably be the captain of this team next year. She's comes in here every day and gives everything she has.”

Gates will battle Kori Cooper and freshman Brooke Delano for the starting middle blocker job. She would like to be a starter, but if not she wants to take advantage of every opportunity she gets when called upon.

“I think my goals are the same,” Gates said. “As a player, I want to contribute as well as everyone else. Taking my role and stepping in whenever I can. Hopefully, be a starter. Whatever it takes, I'm, hopefully, going to put it out there every chance that I get. But our team is totally ready to put it out there.”

Gates is well respected by her Nebraska volleyball teammates. They, as well as strength coach Laura Pilakowski, named her lifter of the year.

Outside of volleyball, she is a 4.0 student while majoring in communication studies. Gates also takes an active leadership role in the Huskers' community outreach program and her work in coordinating events in Lincoln was a major factor in the team winning the Life Skills Team Award for the first time last season.

Cook said her accomplishments are tributes to how hard Gates works.

“(Being named lifter of the year by her teammates) shows how hard she worked this summer,” Cook said. “How that will transfer onto the court is that she's faster, jumps higher and more physical. We really haven't done a whole lot to see that yet in the practices but she is the hardest worker we have on the team. You look at what she's done so far in her career - what more can you ask for?

“Amanda is a perfectionist. She wants to do everything right.”

Against Stanford in the National Championship match, Cook put Gates in the third game with the match tied at a game apiece with the Cardinal holding a 27-25 lead. She recorded two key blocks in a 5-1 run to help the Huskers take a 30-28 victory as they grabbed a 2-1 lead on the Cardinal.

“One of the things we kept telling her is that you're going to have opportunities, and to be ready to make the most. Amanda did just that,” Cook said. “You have to have players in your program that will do whatever role you ask them and be ready when it's your turn. When I put her in against Stanford last year, it just shows her and our team how much confidence we have with her.”

Gates hopes to have the opportunity to help the Huskers, who are the NCAA Division I preseason No. 1, win their fourth national volleyball championship. The Huskers are looking to bring back a strong team. Christina Houghtelling, the 2005 National Player of the Year, is back after taking a medical redshirt last season due to a right shoulder injury. The 2006 National Player of the Year also is back in Sarah Paven. Nebraska also returns three other All-Americans - Jordan Larson, Tracy Stalls and Rachel Halloway.

The mission to repeat for Nebraska, which is picked to win its 10th Big 12 conference title, starts off with the AVCA Showcase with Tennessee at 6 p.m. at the Qwest Center Omaha Aug. 24.

Gates said she would love the season to end just like it did last season, with another national championship. She said the feeling on the Qwest Center floor after Larson delivered the final kill was something she will never forget.

“I don't think words can completely describe the moment after winning the national championship,” Gates said. “I do know one thing that nobody will ever take that away from you. It's something that will live with you forever. I can't even explain how great of a feeling it is to win a national championship with my teammates.”