One tough Anteater

As an athletic, 6-foot eighth grader, dominating on the volleyball court was a simple process for Lauren Kellerman.

Swing hard. Record kill. Exchange congratulatory high fives with teammates. Repeat.

Little changed at Escondido High, where she unleashed her powerfully quick arm swing on less-accomplished foes, twice earning Player of the Year laurels in her league and also gaining first-team All-CIF San Diego Section recognition.

But when she joined the women’s volleyball program at UC Irvine before the fall of 2005, Kellerman suddenly found herself an undersized underdog with a lot to learn.

“When I came here, I was told I was short,” said Kellerman, a junior outside hitter who for the second straight season is leading the Anteaters in kills. “There are outside hitters who are 6-2 or 6-3 and I’m barely 6-0.”

Kellerman, however, wasn’t about to be intimidated. She had, after all, grown up with three older brothers, who pulled no punches when it came to competition.

“We were always outside playing basketball or some other sport,” Kellerman, 20, said of siblings Marcus, Brian and Brad, all now in their 30s and all married with children. “They definitely made me tough.”

Whether her brothers showed no mercy or extended kid gloves, Kellerman said, usually depended on the score.

Toughness, along with the aforementioned athletic gifts, have helped Kellerman more than hold her own as a collegian.

Entering the Anteaters’ Big West Conference opener against UC Riverside, tonight at 7 at Crawford Court, Kellerman has 162 kills and leads UCI outside hitters with a .259 hitting percentage. Her 17 service aces are tied for the team lead, she is third on the squad in digs (87) and fourth in total blocks (27).

She has helped UCI to a 10-3 start, including two wins in three matches at the Arizona Invitational, where she had 45 combined kills and, along with UCI sophomore setter Taryn Robertson, was named to the all-tournament team.

As a sophomore, Kellerman’s 480 kills ranked second in the Big West and she earned first-team all-conference laurels.

“There are so many times late in a match that I’ll look at my setter and tell her to ‘Give it to Kellerman,’ because I know she’ll put it away,” UCI Coach Charlie Brande said. “She has a great snapping, quick-twitch arm swing and she wants the ball, too.”

Kellerman said whacking kills has always been the most fun thing about volleyball, which won out over other sports as soon as she relented to the urging of a middle school coach anxious to utilize her height.

“I was as tall in the eighth grade as I am now,” she recalled. “I played basketball, water polo and I swam, but there was something about volleyball.”

There is, of course, more to the game than pounding sets to the floor, and Kellerman has worked hard to develop her all-around game.

“Definitely hitting is what I loved most about volleyball,” Kellerman said. “Being aggressive, it just seemed to come naturally to me. My philosophy in high school was to always swing as hard as I could.”

That doesn’t always fly at the collegiate level, where middle blockers often reach 6-6 and even the most dominant hitters, still struggle to hit in the .300 range.

“She has had to learn shot-making and she has become good at it,” said Brande, who has always encouraged her to become a more consistent server, blocker and passer, as well. “She has improved her defense tremendously and her ball control is much better,” Brande said. “But she’s still inconsistent. One night, she’ll have 16 digs and the next she’ll have two.”

Kellerman acknowledges there is still progress to be made.

“My first two years of high school, I didn’t play the back row,” she said. “But I’ve come to embrace [passing]. Defense is something I have to work extra hard on.”

Kellerman’s brothers, along with her parents, are frequently in the stands at UCI matches and her eight nieces and nephews round out what is likely the biggest individual rooting section among Anteaters.

Kellerman said her family remains close, giving her the chance to frequently renew competitive rivalries with her brothers. But now, the playing field has changed.

“I’m as tall as my oldest brother,” Kellerman boasted. “My Dad likes to joke that I can now beat my brothers up.”

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at [email protected].