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Iris Saw Her 49er Path Clearly
by Frank Burlison, Long Beach Press-Telegram
October 18, 2006
LONG BEACH - For two seasons, Iris Murray was what every volleyball player
who is mostly on the sidelines during her team's matches is supposed to
be: a vibrant, vocal and supportive teammate.
But, all the while, did the Gahr High graduate ache to be on the court
with her Long Beach State teammates playing in front of a boisterous Walter
Pyramid crowd?
Take a guess.
"Sure, I wanted to get on the court more than I did," the now-junior
libero said, recalling freshman and sophomore seasons in which she played
in just a combined 33 games, coming in 19 of a possible 63 matches the
49ers played in that stretch.
But at no point did the 5-foot-5 seriously consider relocating.
"Long Beach," she quickly added recently after a practice, glancing
up and around the Walter Pyramid, "is where I always wanted to be."
Murray made that decision shortly after being introduced to the sport
at Gahr.
"My coach (Sonny Okamoto) brought me here for some matches when I
was a freshman," she said. "I was blown away."
Murray, who'll take a 4.19 digs per game average (seventh in the Big West
Conference) into the 49ers' 7 p.m. conference match at Cal State Fullerton
Friday evening, might be launching whacking softballs somewhere if she
hadn't decided to be a good pal as a 14-year-old high school freshman.
"A friend of mine from softball was going to try out for volleyball,
and didn't want to go alone," she said. "So, as a favor, I went
with her."
Welcome to "Love at first sight - volleyball style".
" I knew nothing about the sport," she conceded. "But from
Day 1, I was hooked."
Volleyball must have had quite the seductive wallop to steal her heart
away from softball.
Well, steal isn't exactly correct.
She continued to play softball, both for the Gladiators and on the summer
travel circuit, even as volleyball was securing its grip on her.
"Personally, I knew from the very first day that it (volleyball)
was what I wanted to do (on the college level)," Murray said. "But
I never made it public."
Sticking with softball enabled her to be a senior teammate to a precocious
freshman - her sister, Grace.
"That was something I really wanted to do," she said.
Grace also plays volleyball for the Gladiators, but is likely to play
softball in college.
And the middle child of Brian and Lilly Murray, Eddie, was a four-year
varsity baseball standout at Gahr and is now a sophomore member of UCLA's
team.
The kids caught the baseball bug early.
"Growing up, we went to a lot of Angels' games," Iris said.
"We'd probably go to about 10 a year. They'd be our family outings."
The family grew up just a block away from Artesia Park, which is located
near South and Pioneer Streets.
Come dinner time, Lily Murray had a pretty good idea where her three kids
might be.
"We would walk to the Artesia Park with a laundry basket full of
baseballs, softballs and Wiffle balls and throw batting practice to each
other," Iris said.
There will be a few more people watching Friday and (when the 49ers visit
UC Riverside), though, when the balls - volleyballs launched at high rates
of velocity from the other side of the net - are fired Murray's way during
the 49ers' matches with the Titans and Highlanders.
Heather Laudato, Coach Brian Gimmillaro's starter at libero for three
years and a first-team All-Big West selection last season as a senior,
believes Murray is having a splendid season.
"There were times when she worried about not playing more,"
Laudato said. "But I told her that if she just kept doing the same
things (in practice), she would be fine. I knew how good she was and that's
why I felt I could never let up because she might take time away from
me."
Gimmillaro thinks the lessons that Murray while watching (and practicing
with) Laudato and two other seniors from last season, defensive specialists
Sara Kroneberger and Taylor Peyton, have been put to good use this season.
Murray, an all-tournament selection when the 49ers played in the University
of Nebraska Invitational on the first weekend in September, agrees.
"That was a great group to be around," she said. "Taylor,
Sara and Heather not only showed me what I was supposed to do when I got
on the court; they also made me feel so comfortable around them."
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