Kelley thrives amid pain

Kristin Kelley is triage tough. Blood and gore don’t bother her, so why should a minor ankle sprain, or a little shoulder tendinitis?

Her idea of a physical setback is a missing limb, or the kind of challenges facing premature newborn infants.

So it should surprise no one that the UC Irvine senior middle blocker plans to attend nursing school, in order to one day work in the neonatal intensive care unit, or the emergency room.

“I would love working with a baby they say isn’t going to make it, because I think I could make sure it was going to make it,” Kelley said. “And I would love to work in the ER and just have patients come in that are just, their legs are off, and figure out somehow, some way to put them back together. I just think that would be the best experience.”

Kelley, a charismatic 6-foot-3 standout, has made the most of her experience at UCI, since transferring from Washington State after starting for the Cougars as a freshman outside hitter. Originally made aware of the Anteaters by her older brother, Mark, who played the last two seasons for the men’s basketball team after transferring from Citrus College, Kelley began as an outside hitter at UCI. But she has spent the last two seasons as the starting middle for Coach Charlie Brande.

After leading the team with 125 total blocks last season, she entered Friday’s match at UC Santa Barbara with 140 this season, while posting 266 kills, third-most on the team.

Kelley’s play and leadership have helped the Anteaters post a 20-9 record, 10-4 in the Big West, after going 13-16, 7-7 a year ago. They are considered one of a dozen teams on the bubble, fighting for a handful of at-large berths into the 64-team NCAA Tournament.

“She’s tough in a lot of ways,” Brande said of Kelley, a former tomboy who grew up wearing hand-me-down clothes from her two older brothers, whom she followed to their athletic events. “She is so physically tough, nothing will stop her. She has played each year with injuries that would have taken other people out. She has played the very next day with ankle sprains.

“Even when someone else on our team gets hurt, she’s the one telling them to get up. You can tell she had two older brothers, because she’s exceptionally tough.”

Kelley said she relishes that reputation.

“I was never a princess, by any means,” Kelley said. “I was taught that you play through anything. Unless your arm is falling off, you play. There’s not an injury I won’t play through, no matter how bad it hurts. I will take some Advil, I will try not to think about it and I will tape it up and go. I just refuse to sit out with an injury.

“Charlie asked me during our Pacific match this year, ‘Do you need a sub?’ because my arm was hurting. I looked at him and said, ‘No, you’ve got to be kidding.’ That’s just me.”

Brande also recalled a preseason practice in which he suggested Kelley sit out a few drills to allow a newly sprained ankle to mend. What he got for his concern was a contemptuous glare from Kelley, who simply kept on competing.

She competed throughout her childhood, wearing the uniform of the season, whether it was basketball, softball, soccer or track and field. She even tried ballet, though she said she did not wear dresses until she was about 16.

She did not play volleyball until the seventh grade, but did not get serious about the sport, until her sophomore year at LaSalle High in Pasadena.

Her development was bolstered when Bill Ferguson, now the men’s coach at USC, invited her into the heralded Southern California Volleyball Club based in Redondo Beach and she began fixating on playing at a Pac-10 school.

But after choosing Washington State over Arizona State, a coaching change and the stark contrast between Pullman and Southern California, helped convince her to make a change.

As the only senior who plays significantly for the Anteaters, she has become a lightning rod for her teammates, Brande said.

“She’s a great blocker and attacker and she loves to win,” Brande said. “She has made a great improvement this year in her ability to grasp the positives and ignore the negatives. She used to ride the roller coaster. When things were good, she could carry you to the championship. But if things went bad, she could lead you right out the door. I was so proud of her [Nov. 10, when the ’Eaters bounced back from a surprising loss to visiting Cal State Fullerton on Nov. 7 to beat UC Santa Barbara at home], because she came out on senior night and never put her head down. She probably played the best match of her career.”

Kelley said she will postpone nursing school in order to play professionally overseas.

“My dad [who played collegiate basketball at Pacific] played basketball in the Philippines and Mark is over in Germany playing right now. I want to say I experienced that.”

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at barry.faulkner@latimes.com.