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Ivana Rich can’t hold back laughter when she talks about those first weeks of her freshman year. It’s clear she didn’t exactly set the world on fire. Blow up a few drills, yes. Set the world aflame, no. “When I first got here I felt like I was in way over my head, because everybody was so good,” the Rams’ senior said. “They used to call me the Drill Killer. Every drill, as soon as I got in there, I’d mess up the whole drill and they’d have to stop it. I was bad. I was very bad.” A 5-11 middle blocker, Rich was lightly recruited out of Cumberland High School and was admittedly raw as a freshman in 2006. At that point, she’d only been playing volleyball for two years and chose to walk on at VCU, rather than accept offers from a handful of Division III schools and historically black colleges. Despite her bumpy start, Rich pressed onward. “I don’t get discouraged easily because I’m always eager to learn,” Rich said. “And Coach (Finley) would always encourage me to just keep working hard, and that’s what I did.” Eventually, those thousands of footwork repetitions, the umpteen hours in and weight room and yes, countless drills, began paying off. Last season, Rich - now on full scholarship - was named to the Colonial Athletic Association’s First Team. In 2005, James Finley was in his first season at the helm of the VCU Volleyball team, a program in dire straits. The previous year, the Rams finished 6-21. They hadn’t been remotely competitive in years. These days, VCU often has recruits commit years in advance. That wasn’t the case in 2005, when Finley discovered Rich. Finley and his staff had to be creative in order to find talent. “That first year we were looking for so many players, and we heard about this really athletic kid from Cumberland,” Finley said. “We went and watched her and saw that she had a lot of mechanical issues and was really raw. But we felt that even though she had a lot of bad habits, they weren’t well ingrained, because she hadn’t played that long. We really liked her athleticism, and she was an extremely hard worker. With that kind of attitude, we thought she was someone who could really blossom into a good player. “ Rich had always been athletic. She was raised in an athletic family. Her stepfather, Alfonso Belle, is the varsity football coach at Cumberland High School, while her two brothers, Diamond, 22, and Jule, 17, are both accomplished athletes. Diamond played football at Shenandoah University, while Jule is one of the top high school discus throwers in the state of Virginia.
Once on campus, Rich dedicated herself to the game, and although there were plenty of forgettable moments, she proved to be a quick study. “It was about six weeks to two months into her first semester that we really noticed that as she was getting her footwork corrected, that she was really jumping high,” Finley said. “Her vertical leap increased probably four or five inches in those first few months. “ Rich played sparingly as a freshman, but Finley liked her potential. The coach planned on redshirting Rich to give her another year to develop, but never got the opportunity. VCU didn’t have a very deep roster in 2006, and when starting middle blocker Renata Salvatori hurt her ankle prior to the CAA Tournament, Rich got the call. In her first career start, a quarterfinal match-up with Towson, Rich had eight blocks and five kills. The following day, she added six blocks and six kills in a semifinal win over James Madison. In all, Rich recorded 16 blocks in three CAA Tournament matches. Prior to the tournament, she had accumulated exactly one block all season. “I was nervous at first, but I told myself that I could do it,” Rich said. “The fact that I could actually get in the game and play as fast as they were playing, and once I got a few blocks, that really boosted my confidence. “ The following year, Rich slid into a starting role on a young team and led VCU in blocks. Last season, she continued her remarkable ascent when she averaged 1.07 blocks, fourth in the CAA. She also hit a team-best .292 on the way to her first all-conference award. “I was surprised. I was thinking I might get third team or honorable mention,” Rich said. “I was more happy for coach (Finley) than anything, that he could see me get the award. He pretty much built me. I feel like I’m coach’s player. He brought me here, he trained me. “ Finley, meanwhile, believes Rich’s superior work ethic is what allowed her to become successful. “When she first got here, she didn’t have the pressure that she was going to play, and so she just worked,” Finley said. “A lot of kids, if they know they’re not going to play, they’ll work okay, but they won’t really push themselves. She really pushed herself as if she was going to be on the court the very next day.” Rich, whose mother, Michelle Belle, is the superintendent of schools in Franklin City, pushed herself in the classroom too. In May, Rich graduated with her bachelor’s degree in criminal justice. She is enrolled in graduate school and plans to pursue medicine. In the meantime, she will enter the 2009 season as the centerpiece and leader of a VCU team that was 19-13 a year ago and finished second in the CAA. “I feel like I’ve been trained well by watching our past leaders,” Rich said. “I think I’m ready. I feel like I have the tools to be a leader. I think my teammates really depend on me, and they can depend on me.” With any hope, Rich’s teammates can also depend on her to make it all the way through those drills now. Questions or comments? E-mail us at aroundthehorns@yahoo.com or look us up on Facebook. |
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STRIKING IT RICH
Ivana grew up playing basketball and softball. She scored more than 1,800 points in her Cumberland basketball career, but as a junior, she quit cheerleading to try volleyball. By the end of the year, she was hooked. In addition, after growing up in a town so small it had no stoplights, Rich longed for city life. When Finley offered her a chance to walk on at VCU, she jumped at the opportunity. All rights reserved.
