Huber waits for her chance

September 28, 1993
Originally published by The Daily Collegian (Fresno State)

Picture this: You come from a high school where you were a superstar--or at least well-known. Now you enter college, where everyone is a star and you have to adjust to sitting on the bench.

Annette Huber comes from a house with eight other siblings. When you’re in a situation like that, you just have to be a born competitor.

Huber, a backup setter for the volleyball team, displays competitive instinct and toughness that the FSU brass desperately craved. Late last summer, assistant coach Joey Vrazel saw Huber at a camp tournament and was instantly impressed.

"She struck me," Vrazel said. "I saw in her, a great worker, with great hands. She said she was going to BYU and would probably not play. I thought ’that’s a shame because she should play. So, I set about recruiting her."

"The coaching staff and the program is what made me choose Fresno State," Huber said. "As a team, we look really good and have a lot of potential. We are improving every day."

Huber, however, is in a tough spot. She’s backing up Brenda Gregersen at center. Gregersen was the WAC Freshman of the Year in 1992, pacing the ’Dogs to an 11-3 record in league play.

With Gregersen playing as well as ever at the setter spot, prospects may look dim for Huber to get much playing time in the next three seasons.

"I knew that coming in," Huber says. "I knew that this year, Brenda was going to be depended on. But I have someone to really push me to do better now. In that sense, I have somebody to learn from."

Vrazel says that Huber may not instantly make an impact, but she does where there is no bench--on the practice court.

"There are things Ann can bring to the team that can make the difference," she said. "She sees that she needs time. This year, she needs to develop and know the offense. It’s very hard for a setter to get in that rhythym right away. But she does plan on competing for that position very soon."

In any sport, players can count on their practices being much tougher than an actual game. It’s a fact that a team’s backups will fight the starters at least twice as hard as their opponents.

Vrazel played volleyball at Texas A&M and knows how rough it can be getting pushed by the practice squad.

"They want to show that they can play," Vrazel said. "And what Annette does in practice is invaluable to us. She’s leading the second team in practice. Also, nobody on this team thinks they’re a backup. Everybody is going to at least contribute, whether they start and play a lot or not."

Huber may be sitting on the bench right now, but she knows her time will come soon.

And it may already have. Gregersen, who missed the first nine matches last year due to a back injury, has had some nagging injuries this year as well, despite a great start. In the Alumni match, Huber got some playing time and played well despite the Bulldogs’ loss.

"I’m going to have limited playing time, but they (the coaches) work with me a lot," says Huber. "I get a lot of work during practice to show what I can do. So it’s not like I don’t get a shot."

Huber also gets plenty of reps before matches.

It is likely that Gregersen will return for three more years and Huber will be on the outside looking in. But she remains optimistic. "When I improve, I’ll get my chance," she says.

Vrazel adds, "She is a team oriented player, which all setters have to be. I think she’ll be a contributor. And she’s a competitor, she just goes out and plays."

"On this team, she is probably among those with the lease experience.

"But you’d never know it. The thing that stands out about her is that she always gives excellent effort."

It seems that Huber is following the golden rule of players waiting to crack the starting lineup: Be prepared, because you have to be ready to play even when it doesn’t look good. You don’t want to be caught in a situation where you get your shot and you don’t work hard enough to keep it.

"There’s no way I wouldn’t be ready," says Huber. "They work me too hard to let them down."

At Meridian High School in Idaho, Huber earned first-team All-Southern Idaho Conference and All-State honorable mention awards as a senior. She also earned the team’s Most Valuable Player award.

"It’s quicker (in Division I), but it’s an adjustment that I have to make," says Huber.