Last season when the Penn State women's volleyball team traveled to Purdue, head coach Russ Rose went on another one of his rants about how much he admired a player from another team.
The players rolled their eyes and shook their heads, so Rose said "How many of you think I am over the top with her? Don't be embarrassed; if you really feel that way raise your hands."
Four or five players raised their hands. Rose replied sharply, "That shows how stupid you are. Last night, on the floor you are sitting on right now she had 39 kills. As a team last night at Indiana last we had 35 kills. You understand what I am telling you kids, she single-handedly had more kills than we had as a team!"
The player about whom Rose was talking so passionately was Ohio State's superhuman outside hitter Stacey Gordon. The 5-foot-11 native of Oshawa, Ontario, is a one-woman wrecking machine on offense. Less than half way through her senior season, she already broke the career mark for kills in Big Ten history with 2,384, which currently put her seventh on the all-time NCAA career kill list.
She broke the record on her 27th kill Saturday against Michigan. Her career 5.99 kills per game average ranks third in the NCAA all-time and she stretched her streak of recording double digit kills to 92 matches.
"Sometimes," Gordon said, when asked if she's ever amazed by her stats. "My parents won't ever let me forget about them. They are so proud, especially my father. He seems to know everything about them.
"I love offense," Gordon said. "Not to say I don't like defense; I like that, too. But I am an offensive player. I give all the credit to my teammates and especially my setters."
She's also a freak of nature, in a good way. When asked about her, people usually start with the same response, "Yeah, she's really good." She is not good by luck -- Gordon is also one of the hardest workers in the sport. Rose said he admires her for that and said he also likes her competitiveness, comparing her to former Nittany Lions All-American Cara Smith. Just the mention of Gordon's name to Penn State freshman outside hitter Kate Price garnered this response: "She's a stud."
"She's a fabulous player and athlete," Michigan coach Mark Rosen said. "She's a good challenge for all of us and for our conference overall."
Gordon wasn't widely know by volleyball fans in America when she graduated from Eastdale Collegiate High School, but made an immediate impact on the Buckeyes and the volleyball world her freshman season. She recorded 513 kills and 330 digs, was named Big Ten freshman of the year, and earned a spot on the American Volleyball Coaches Association's All-America second team.
Gordon's effort led the Buckeyes to a second-place finish in the Big Ten, their best finish in six years, and a 27-4 record. Her sophomore campaign was no different. Improving on her stats in every area, Gordon had 222 more kills and 82 more digs. This avoidance of the sophomore jinx helped her earn the honor of Ohio State's Female Athlete of the Year in 2002.
"She's such a stabilizing force for our team," Ohio State coach Jim Stone said. "She's been through it all. Her freshman year we were pretty good, and last year we were pretty bad. And through it all she has always played the same."
That junior season was a dreadful one for Gordon, even though she still put up some ridiculous individual stats. The Buckeyes finished an abysmal 11-17 overall, 5-15 in the Big Ten. After so much hope and promise after her first two seasons, Gordon had a reality check in the 2003 season.
"Every year has been a little different," Gordon, the only three-time women's volleyball All-American said. "There have been a lot of challenges especially over the past two years. I have just continued to work hard and it is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do in my life. I wanted to come out and make a statement this season."
Has she ever made a statement in 2004. Her team is currently 18-0 and undefeated in conference play. She almost single-handedly beat then-No. 1 Minnesota, recording 36 kills and only eight errors in 76 attempts in the four-game upset.
Gordon has also put up national-player-of-the-year-type numbers: more than seven kills per game and a hitting percentage of almost .400. Even opposing coaches, Rose and Rosen said "she's arguably the best player in the country."
She reached the 2,000-kill plateau, which is like the 3,000 hit club in baseball, against North Carolina in a tournament held in Philadelphia on Sept. 4. This was just another milestone to add to the record book as written by Stacey Gordon.
With a career bordering on legendary, Gordon said she sees two primary distinctions in her time at Ohio State.
"I have grown as and woman and a volleyball player," she said.
