Kelly Wing

Barry Faulkner

Kelly Wing fell in love with volleyball because it required her to

think on her feet. But it’s what she does when she leaves her feet

that captures the attention of those who witness the UC Irvine junior

outside hitter in action.

“Everybody who watches us play; she’s the first person they talk

about,” UCI Coach Charlie Brande said. “She’s extremely talented,

athletically, and she has a great desire to win.”

Wing’s athleticism, including exceptional leaping ability and the

strength and aggressiveness necessary to pound the ball through

blockers and past back-row defenders, helped her lead the Big West

Conference in kills and establish a school single-season kill record

with 584 last season.

This year, she is 23rd in the nation in kills per game (5.07) and

leads the Anteaters with 385 kills, 164 more than the runner-up. She

is also first among Anteaters with 31 service aces and ranks third on

the team with 192 digs and fourth with 59 blocks.

The 5-foot-11 Wing’s efforts have helped UCI to a 15-4 start, 6-1

in the Big West. The Anteaters moved into sole possession of first

place in the Big West with a five-game win at Long Beach State

Saturday. Wing blasted 35 kills against the 49ers.

Wing’s reputation as a hitter has prompted defenses to devote

extra blockers to try to limit the damage she does with her right

arm.

And while Wing’s hitting percentage (.241) has suffered this

season under the intense spotlight of opposing defenses, her ability

to contribute in other ways has helped the ‘Eaters earn some votes in

the national polls for the first time since 1988.

“She’s all over the court,” Brande said. “Before, she was a great

offensive threat, but, last year, we still had Chanda McLeod, so

[Wing] got a lot more kills. This year, she’s the outside hitter for

us, so teams are sending the student body up to block her. Her

hitting stats aren’t what they were last year, but she helps us by

covering the court, digging out of the back row, hitting out of the

back row, and blocking. She has really come a long way in her

understanding of the game and she’s only scratching the surface.

She’s still relatively new to the game.”

The Daily Pilot College Athlete of the Month was anything but a

blue-chip recruit out of Murrieta Valley High. But her involvement

with the Saddleback Valley Volleyball Club, where she was coached by

Dale Flickinger, a longtime friend of Brande, helped put her on the

NCAA Division I radar -- barely.

“We played against Dale’s team quite a bit and I didn’t notice her

much,” said Brande, who also coaches at the Orange County Volleyball

Club. “But Dale kept telling me and [associate head coach Laura

Alford] that she was going to be a major player. We recruited her a

lot on his word. When she came to us as an outside hitter, her

ball-control skills were not very good.”

It wasn’t until the final game of the final match of Wing’s

freshman year that Brande knew he had a potential star.

“We had to play four matches on the road in five days, after

having to cancel an earlier trip due to 9/11,” Brande said. “In the

first match Friday at Idaho, she sprained her ankle in the fourth

game and couldn’t play the next two matches. Before the fourth match

on Tuesday, she just said ‘I’m playing,’ even though the ankle was

still very swollen and we were 3-21 at the time. The match goes on

and we take a 15-14 lead in the fifth game. There’s a timeout and she

hobbles over to the bench, looks at me and says ‘Give me the ball.’

We set her and she put the ball away. I became a very big fan of hers

right then.”

Brande calls Wing a throwback, because of her physical style of

play -- “She has never seen a set, she didn’t want to take a big

swing at,” he said -- and her insistence on deflecting the least bit

of individual attention.

“She never wants to talk about herself,” Brande said. “With Kelly,

it’s all about how well the team does and whatever it says on the

scoreboard. She’s a joy to coach.”

Wing, as self-deprecating as they come, said she has worked hard

to improve her all-around game. But she virtually defies attempts to

delve into the specifics of her individual prowess.

“Stats are good, because they show you where you need to improve,”

she said.

Wing, however, is more forthcoming about this year’s strong start

and the team’s willingness to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament it

was denied after last year’s 19-11 campaign.

“It’s nice to see us actually building a program,” she said.