Kevin Hansen
Barry Faulkner
Hanging with future leaders in their respective fields, and soaking
up wisdom from a faculty that includes 17 Nobel Prize winners, one
might find it surprising that the biggest lesson Kevin Hansen has
learned at Stanford University might have come this season on the
volleyball court.
“Throughout my athletic career, I’ve been blessed to have never
been on a losing team,” said the former Corona del Mar High standout
whose prep teams competed in five CIF Southern Section title contests
during his seven combined varsity volleyball (four) and basketball
seasons. CdM won two section volleyball crowns during his tenure.
That trend included his first two seasons with the Cardinal.
Stanford was 17-12 last year and 16-10 the year before, each time
earning a top-five national ranking and advancing to the Mountain
Pacific Sports Federation playoffs.
But while this season’s team is ranked No. 12, the Cardinal,
decimated by graduation last spring, enter Friday’s MPSF match at UC
Irvine struggling at 6-11.
“We had a fair amount of success the last two years, but this year
has been mentally challenging to go game after game, match after
match, without coming out on top,” the 6-foot-5 redshirt junior
setter said.
“It has been discouraging, but I’ve had to work on being a
positive leader for our team. My parents have been at every match and
when we get together afterward, they emphasize that this season is a
character builder for me. I’ve found that has really been true. My
whole life, I’ve never really been faced with that much adversity.
I’ve had huge blessings. I go to Stanford! But, in the real world,
not everything is going to go well for you and you’re going to have
to learn how to bounce back and not get down when that happens.”
Hansen, a three-year starter who ranks third on the school’s
all-time assists list with 3,323, said he has had to dig deep to find
consistent motivation to perform.
But his coach, Don Shaw, said Hansen’s unwillingness to accept
defeat has been a constant positive.
“His competitiveness really stands out,” Shaw said when asked to
assess Hansen’s strengths. “He is always so competitive and into it.
That really soaks in with the rest of his teammates.”
Those teammates include William Clayton, a redshirt sophomore out
of Newport Harbor High who recently became a starting outside hitter,
and Eric Jones, the Newport-Mesa Player of the Year last spring at
CdM who is redshirting this season.
Hansen, who will graduate with an economics degree in June, said
he has secured enrollment in a communications master’s program that
will enable him to compete in his final season of eligibility in
2005.
“If this was my last year, it would have been really hard to find
the motivation to get better and improve every day in practice,” said
Hansen, the 1999-00 Newport-Mesa Boys Athlete of the Year. “We have
some guys playing this year who have not had a lot of college
experience. It has been good to build relationships with them as we
look ahead to next season.”
Surrounded by new faces, Hansen has had to work even harder to
learn his hitters, as well as chase down passes that are far less
accurate than those delivered by former veteran lineups.
The absence of seasoned hitters has also prompted Hansen to be
more aggressive at the net, a role he has relished.
“The coaches have told me to be more of an offensive threat,”
Hansen said. “When I’m in the front row, I try to attack more, which
means dumping the ball [pushing it downward over the net instead of
setting a teammate] or hitting the ball.”
Hansen said a lack of proven hitters has placed an increased
premium on serving more aggressively. And he is also working to
improve on his blocking, an aspect of his game both he and Shaw
believe could use some polish.
But Hansen, who remains active in basketball by starring in
intramural competition for his fraternity team, said his overall
experience at Stanford has exceeded his expectations.
“It is just special to be on campus and be a part of the athletic
program,” Hansen said. “And to have been a starter for three seasons
has been surreal.”
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