No Two Ways About It Hard-Driving Hilbert Puts Idaho Volleyball Program On Solid Footing

Idaho women’s volleyball coach Tom Hilbert doesn’t have time to sit in his office and think about his seven-year, 121-61 career record with the Vandals or the fact that he is a three-time Big Sky coach of the year.

He doesn’t have time to think about the fact that his three previous teams have won the Big Sky Championship and have made three straight appearances in the NCAA Tournament.

And he certainly doesn’t have the time to think about the fact that from 1989-1994, Idaho has been the winningest volleyball team in the Pacific Northwest.

No way. All Hilbert can think about these days are ways to improve his program. Not only does he put forth the challenge to individual players to “get better all the time,” he has put that challenge to himself, as a coach.

Anyone that has ever seen the 36-year-old coach on the sideline knows Hilbert wants maximum effort from his players. Hilbert may be to women’s college volleyball Bob Knight is to men’s college basketball.

Though he has never thrown a chair across a court, the way Knight once did while arguing with an official, Hilbert did remove the glasses from the face of an over-exuberant Northern Arizona fan who had leaned over Hilbert’s shoulder and shouted in his ear last year.

By Hilbert’s own admission, he is intense.

His Kibbie Dome office is stocked with awards for past players and teams. But these days, he is looking further down the road than ever before.

“As good as we were last year, we would have struggled to have been in the top four in the Big West last season,” Hilbert conceded.

In 1996, the Vandals will be in the Big West, as that league expands to 12 teams.

“Things will get harder and more challenging,” Hilbert added.

The face of college women’s volleyball is changing, too. As the sport’s popularity has mushroomed in recent years, so has the pressure to win.

“Recruiting is getting harder,” Hilbert said. “It’s not getting any easier because our program is getting any better.”

Where coaches once had the summer months to catch a breather, the competition to get the best players has now cut into that.

“Ninety-percent of the recruiting we do today is between July 1 and mid-August,” Hilbert said. “Summer recruiting has become very, very aggressive. Right now, you’ve got to know every junior in your area, because if you approach them going into their senior years, you will have missed them. This is all new.”

What will also be all new for Hilbert this season is that, with the exception of just one season during in his tenure, he will seemingly have more freshmen than an English 101 class.

After seven years, and with this year’s team including six freshmen (three of whom will redshirt), Hilbert understands that ruling with an iron fist isn’t always the best way to go. His team’s youth has forced him to limit his intensity level at times.

“This is the youngest team I’ve had since ‘91,” he said. “In the past, I’ve been much harder and more abrasive. I was thinking that I needed to push people to get them to understand what I wanted them to achieve.

“I made a lot of mistakes early, but the one thing that saved me was the fact that the players believed in what I was trying to get them to do. I’m still intense; I just pick and choose my times more selectively.”

Idaho junior setter Lynne Hyland said it took time to understand Hilbert’s intensity. Once she realized what he was about, her game flourished.

“When he gets extremely mad, he’s usually over it in 2 seconds,” Hyland said. “You’ve got to understand that it’s nothing against you when he’s mad.”

Patience will be a must for the ‘95 Vandals. Though the Big Sky coaches favor Idaho to win another conference crown, the Vandals lost Mindy Rice, Leah Smith, Lisa Stoltz, and Brittany Van Haverbeke from last season.

This year, seniors Tzvetelina Yanchulova, Sarah Toomey and juniors Hyland, Robin Dalton and Louisa Kawulok will assume leadership roles.

Though a lot of talent was lost, those coming back have the skill and knowledge to bring home another Big Sky title.

Yanchulova, an outside hitter, finished last season with 608 kills. Her 5.20 kills-per-game average was sixth-best in the nation. She should become the eighth player in Vandals history to register 1,000 career kills. She is just 170 away from that mark.

“In terms of her knowledge of the game, Lina is by far the greatest player I have had,” Hilbert said. “She’s not the greatest athlete I’ve had, but she understands the game like few I’ve ever seen.”

Hyland, the team’s quarterback, ended up with 1,729 assists last year. No other team in the Big Sky had that many kills last year. Her 14.5 assists-per-game average was third-best in NCAA history.

Toomey, who transferred from the University of Connecticut after her freshman year, was a key to Idaho’s outstanding defense last year. She was the Big East’s freshman of the year at UConn.

In the process of making Idaho one of the best volleyball teams in the region, Hilbert has also become involved in the public relations and marketing aspects of the game.

“The status of volleyball at Idaho is a lot higher than it is at other programs around the country,” he said. “I’ve always been a promoter of this game because I think this game is a real marketable sport.”

Hilbert repeatedly solicits the involvement of his players in booster functions and various community speaking engagements.

“Volleyball at Idaho is treated very well,” he said. “We get out in the community to promote our events.”

It is somewhat ironic that, as man who loves the women’s game so much, it may be Hilbert’s gender that has kept his name from serious consideration for big-time college coaching jobs around the country.

In recent years, athletic departments around the country have sought female coaches for women’s teams, above male coaches.

Hilbert admitted he has felt a certain amount of frustration behind that, but also acknowledges that it is an issue of fairness and access for women coaches.

After all, there are still a great many more men coaching women’s teams than women coaching men’s teams.

“Nationwide, I have never been looked at for the big-time jobs,” Hilbert said. “And that maybe has something to do with my gender. But I think that’s only fair. In the ‘70s, more men got women’s coaching positions. We’ve got to reverse that trend.

“Still, it’s somewhat frustrating. I know I’d hate to be a young male trying to get in to coach women’s volleyball.”

And as long as he will coach, Hilbert insists he will fight what he calls an “innate sexism” that exists in this country regarding the way women’s athletics is viewed by the predominantly male sports media and sports public.

“I won’t say the name, but a very prominent professional male athlete once told me, ‘Face it, Tom: Women’s athletics will never gain the same support and attention as men’s athletics.”’

Hilbert said there is a reason that is the case.

“Women athletes don’t get the same support because they don’t get the same coverage,” he claimed. “It’s a cultural bias. I must say that I am encouraged by companies like Nike and Reebok who have actively promoted strong images of athletic women.

“It will take some time for a level playing field to come about, but things have changed tremendously since I first started coaching. I have seen more and more good athletic administrators who have progressive attitudes towards these issues.”

In the meantime, Hilbert will continue to try to keep the Big Sky volleyball scene as uneven as he possibly can.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL CAPSULES Idaho Vandals 1994 Record: 31-3 Coach: Tom Hilbert Years head coach: 7th, all at Idaho Career record: 121-61 Key returners: Tzvetelina Yanchulova, 6-0, Sr, OH; Lynne Hyland, 5-9, Jr, S; Sarah Toomey, 5-4, Sr, S/DS. Key newcomers: Lani Kim, 5-11, Fr, S; Jessica Moore, 6-0, Fr, MB/OH; Kelly Holzer, 5-10, Fr, OH. Outlook: Last year, Hilbert was saying he wasn’t sure how his team would fair after losing all-leaguers Nancy Wicks, Dee Porter and Jessica Puckett. This year’s team may be young, but Hilbert is entrusting more leadership to Yanchulova, Toomey and Hyland to get the younger players ready for life at the Big Sky level. Of all the teams in the Pacific Northwest, from 1989-1994, Idaho has the best overall winning percentage (.642), most wins (121), is tied with Washington State for the most NCAA tournament appearances (3), most conference victories (57) and the most NCAA tournament wins (2).

Washington State 1994 Record: 16-12 Coach: Cindy Fredrick Years head coach: 10th, 7th at WSU Career record: 195-153 Key returners: Sarah Silvernail, 6-1, Jr, MB; Keren Oigman, 5-10, So, MH; Elis Arias, 5-9, So, OH. Key newcomers: Jennifer Stinson, 6-1, Fr, OH; Kim Kleven, 5-5, Fr, S. Outlook: Fredrick has already dubbed this year’s team the “Baby Bombers.” With 12 of 14 players on the roster either freshmen or sophomores, the key for this team is to avoid early season blitzes from more experienced competition. With no seniors on the team and only one of the two juniors having earned a letter, the six sophomore letterwinners will have to come out of the gates hard in order to send the Cougars to their fifth consecutive year of postseason play. Picked to finish seventh in the Pac-10 coaches poll.

Eastern Washington 1994 Record: 11-18 Coach: Pam Parks Years head coach: 14th, 13th at EWU Career record: 216-218 Key returners: Kellie Glaus, 6-0, Sr, MB; Tiffany Schwinn, 5-9, Jr, S; Jaime Dotson, 5-8, Jr, S; Julie Carlson, 6-0, Jr, MB. Key newcomers: Lora Botha, 6-0, So (Transfer), MB; Andrea Schell, 5-8, Fr, DS; Leslie Derrig, 6-2, Fr, MB. Outlook: The Eagles may have been picked to finish eighth in the Big Sky coaches poll, but Parks doesn’t have any reason to believe that will be the case this year. Glaus, Schwinn, Dotson, Julie Carlson (no relation to teammate Katrina Carlson) and sophomore Lynn Robinson return from last year’s starting lineup. Improving team defense was a primary goal at off-season spring practices. Parks thinks the team made tremendous strides in that area. In April, EWU posted tournament victories against Montana and Washington.

Gonzaga 1994 Record: 17-12 Coach: Sean Madden Years head coach: 8th, all at GU Career record: 125-121 Key returners: Nora Grasham, 6-2, So, MB; Christine Kubista, 5-11, Jr, OH; Hedy Safranski, 5-8, Sr, OH; Wendy Wilson 6-0, Sr, MB. Key newcomers: Michelle Messinger, 5-9, Fr (Redshirt), OH/S; Nicole Lamoure, 6-0, Fr, S. Outlook: The Bulldogs finished third in the West Coast Conference and return four starters from that team. What the Bulldogs need to do is establish consistent play from start to finish. Last year, GU won five of its first seven, lost the next five, and won three of its next six before finishing furiously to win nine of its last 11.

Whitworth 1994 Record: 10-19 Coach: Hiram Naipo Years head coach:1st Career record: 0-0 Key returners: Brenda Clinesmith, 5-3, So, DS; Mandy Decious, 5-7, So, OH; Kim Steinbruecker, 6-1, Sr, MH; Renee Williams, 5-9, Jr, OH. Key newcomers: Katie Jo Borgman, 5-11, Fr, MH; Kristi Nepil, 5-7, Fr, S; Raechel Densley, 5-10, Fr, OH. Outlook: Whitworth is truly the land of opportunity. This is the first head-coaching job for Naipo, who did some coaching with club volleyball teams at the University of Washington from 1971-74 and some United States Volleyball Association teams from 1975-77. The Pirates need to find some consistency at the starting positions. Injuries and inconsistent performances last season resulted in 10 different Pirates seeing time as starters.

CC Spokane 1994 Record: 47-8 Coach: Irene Matlock Years head coach: 9th at CCS Career Record: 400-105 Key newcomers: CCS has yet to send a roster or schedule as requested. Outlook: It seems as if Matlock could bring in a cast of Walt Disney characters and make them competitive. With her at the helm, the Sasquatch can usually be found near the top of the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges standings. Last year, Matlock was named the nation’s Junior and Community College coach of the year. She earned her 400th career collegiate win when Spokane defeated Umpqua in straight sets in the NWAACC championship.