Bowling Green State University Athletics
'Gamby' Provides Leadership By Example For BGSU Volleyball
October 03, 2002 | Volleyball
Oct. 3, 2002
By ERIK CASSANO, Sentinel Sports Writer - To her coach, she'll always be "Gamby."
"She looked like a Gamby. She never looked like a Kristin," said Bowling Green volleyball coach Denise Van De Walle. "I've just called her Gamby since she started."
BG senior middle hitter Kristin Gamby can be called other things, too:
Everything I've accomplished, I've earned," Gamby said.
Gamby doesn't come from blue-blood volleyball pedigree. She was a raw athletic talent at Marion Elgin High School, playing volleyball and basketball when Van De Walle first saw video of her. Van De Walle was impressed by Gamby's sheer athletic ability, but realized she was going to need some work to play Division I volleyball. She was redshirted for her true freshman year in 1998.
"I brought her right in and redshirted her because the game was just going too fast for her," Van De Walle said. "I've only redshirted maybe three or four players, but I see the value in it. The chance to come in, not have to worry about playing games, and just train."
The redshirt year allowed Gamby to come up to speed and begin utilizing her 6-foot-1 height and jumping ability on the court.
She was used sparingly in her second year and came off the bench in 2000, when Van De Walle said she first saw Gamby turn the corner to becoming a cornerstone player, winning the team's most improved player award.
"Coming in, I didn't realize the potential I had," Gamby said. "But working with Coach, I began to realize my potential."
Gamby and Van De Walle have a very close relationship. They are friends as well as player and coach.
"Coach is such a good role model," Gamby said. "She treats us like a big family. If we have any problems on or off the court, her door is always open."
"I feel we have a good coach-player relationship," Van De Walle said. "She saw I care about her as a person as well as a player. Some players respond to that, and she did."
Gamby is in the potentially difficult situation of being the team's only senior. Van De Walle said she expects Gamby to lead and help keep morale up, but believes Gamby is more than up to the challenge.
"With her personality, I hope there's not extra pressure on her. She's very level-headed. I think it would be a welcome challenge," Van De Walle said.
Gamby likes to lead by example. She'll never be a bullhorn in the face of her teammates. It's just not her style.
"If you had to describe her, she's not an outgoing, gregarious, vocal person," Van De Walle said. "So it might be more of a challenge for her."
"Sometimes, (verbal leadership) has to be forced out of me," Gamby said. "But I will say stuff if I need to."
Over the previous season and a half, Gamby has staked her reputation as one of the premier offensive players in the conference, named honorable mention All-MAC with 407 kills, 92 blocks and a 3.84 kills per game average last year. But she isn't looked upon by herself or by her coach as a star player.
Van De Walle just wants her to be a steady performer. That is when she is at her best.
"When I think of Kristin Gamby, I don't think of a standout player, that kind of go-to player on the court," she said. "That's not her role. Her role is to perform well and not make errors. I think of her as a steady leader."
When Gamby graduates in May with an accounting degree, the void she leaves may be even larger off the court than on it. Nobody can stay in a program for five years, especially in a setting as small and closely-knit as a volleyball team, and not become a fixture.
"I want to be remembered as a hard worker, a smart volleyball player, a good person on and off the court, and a lot of fun," she said.
"We've had a very special relationship," said Van De Walle. "It's meant a lot to me these five years."
