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By Eric Russell
Staff Reporter
The University of Maine volleyball team’s outside hitter knows a thing or two about winning.
As UMaine approaches its first conference tournament and first winning season in the three years since volleyball returned to Orono, it’s no surprise that senior Leah Voss is in the middle of it all.
UMaine is the third volleyball program Voss has helped make a winner in a career spanning back to her high school days in Pennsylvania. The America East All-Conference selection in 2000 leads a young team that is peaking at the best possible time.
“This is a great team; we’ve been working so hard all year,” Voss said. “This is what you dream about as a kid, being in these situations.”
Since she began playing in eighth grade, Voss has always had to carry a heavy load. She started playing because of her height, but watching the 6-foot-1-inch Voss play, one notices that she is more than a tall player. Her skills and fundamentals are easily detected, even to those who don’t know the game.
Voss went to high school in Gettysburg, Pa., and in her four years there she helped turn a mediocre program into a league champion. Individually, she earned Mid Penn Division I Most Valuable Player honors in 1997.
When the time came to choose a college, Voss had plenty of schools knocking on the door. But she found that the decision was not an easy one.
“I was recruited pretty heavy my senior year, and I had some options, but in the end none of them really fit,” Voss said.
She chose to stay close to home and attend Baltimore County Community College in Catonsville, Md., in 1997/98. In her first season there, her team won only six games. But as a sophomore, that total jumped to 20.
After being nationally ranked in the NJCAA in kills and digs and named a Region XX All-American, Voss still hadn’t found what she was looking for.
So she did the unthinkable. She took time away from volleyball and eventually from school.
“I went to Towson University for a semester and didn’t play volleyball,” Voss said. “I wanted to get my academics back on track, but I hated it there. I left Towson and lived at home for a semester and by that time I was ready for a change. So I decided to look at schools in the northeast.”
Was it a coincidence that she chose a UMaine program that was only one year old at the time and in need of a proven winner? Probably. Is it a coincidence that the same Black Bear program is headed for postseason play just two years later? Definitely not.
“I knew that she understood about building a strong program and working hard, because she had done it before,” head coach Sue Medley said of Voss.
Voss led the America East in the top offensive and defensive categories, kills and digs, on her way to All-Conference honors in her first season as a Black Bear. Still, the team wasn’t overly successful in 2000, finishing just 12-18 overall and 5-11 in conference play, six games out of the last playoff spot. But like before, Voss helped lay the groundwork for future success.
Her numbers are still high, but the win total is the number that counts and the Black Bears have two more victories than last year, with two regular season games remaining.
“Individual numbers are nice, and awards are nice, but you play this game to win,” Voss said.
But it’s virtually impossible to overlook Voss’ numbers in two seasons at UMaine. She has reached double digits in kills in all but three matches she has played, she again leads the America East in digs (3.24/game) and is fifth in kills (4.10/game). But her hitting percentage (.268), block totals (0.34/game) and service aces (38) are up from 2000.
“She has worked really hard to develop into a much more well-rounded player, and that has really helped us,” Medley said.
Not that she needed any more accolades, but on Monday, Voss was named America East Player of the Week after guiding the Black Bears to three wins last week. She will be playing in her final home matches this weekend before UMaine heads to the conference tournament, where she will no doubt be right in the middle of the action.
