Volleyball's 25: Jen Sanchez
Sunday, August 10, 2008 | Volleyball
By: Sean Cartell
UF Communications
Editor's Note: This is the seventh of a 25-part daily series on GatorZone.com honoring the great players in Florida volleyball history (in no particular rank or order) leading up to the start of the 25th season since Gator volleyball was reinstated as a varsity sport prior to the 1984 campaign.
If the game of volleyball could be considered an art, then former Florida volleyball player Jen Sanchez (1996-99) would be the person holding the paint brush.
The setter on a volleyball team is often considered one of the most important parts of the offense, and Sanchez saw that expectation as an opportunity to take the lead in coloring the Gators' offensive attack in bright shades and hues.
In an Aug. 22, 1999 article by Dave Reardon of the Gainesville Sun, it said that “Sanchez's teammates say she should be an actress.” If that was the case, then Sanchez was certainly excited about taking Florida to the Big Stage as she helped the Gators to three NCAA Final Four appearances and four Southeastern Conference titles during her playing days.
Sanchez joined the Gators from San Antonio, Texas, where she helped her Texas Juniors team win the club division of the 1996 United States Junior Olympic Nationals, earning Most Valuable Player honors. She was the 1995 San Antonio Express-News Player of the Year and a two-time Mizuno High School first-team All-America selection. Sanchez also played softball in high school and, to no one's surprise, excelled in the creative arts.
Sanchez, who was a graphic design major during her time at Florida, received Outstanding Achievement Awards in computer science, drafting and two and three dimensional design. She was a four-year honor roll selection.
Sanchez hadn't always been a setter. She began her volleyball career as a middle blocker before tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in her knee. She was moved to the setter position before her junior season at Providence High School. Great news for Sanchez – the position gave her a better opportunity for creativity and expression.
“It was refreshing because I got to learn a whole new position,” Sanchez said in an Oct. 23, 1996 article in the Florida Alligator. “I like to be in a position that puts me in control.”
Sanchez headed East to Gainesville to play for the Gators, choosing Florida over Texas, Duke and Cal. She would be in a back-up role her first few years behind Nikki Shade, who would go on to be a two-time All-SEC selection.
“Jennifer Sanchez was one of the top setting prospects to come out of the recruiting class last year,” Wise said in the outlook section of the team's 1996 media guide. “She's not as quick as Nikki, but she has a great touch on the ball and a good understanding of the game. We hope to use Jen like we used Nikki a year ago. She can provide lifts off the bench when we need it and can give Nikki a rest.”
Sanchez saw time as a back-up setter her first year and also played the defensive specialist position. She had an opportunity her freshman year that she was not expecting, as she was inserted into the lineup on a road trip to Mississippi after Shade injured her foot in the team's match with Rice a week earlier. Sanchez earned a start against Mississippi State and performed well.
“It was a big night for me and I was excited to say the least,” Sanchez told Paul Jenkins of the Gainesville Sun in an Oct. 2, 1996 article. “I wasn't really nervous and, after the first serve, all the jitters were gone. The team really made it easy on me and working with a group of girls like this is really a pleasure.”
Wise was impressed with Sanchez's ability to step in and fill Shade's role during the starting setter's injury.
“Jennifer had done a great job in our match against Rice the previous weekend when she started games two and three,” Wise told Jenkins. “She has a great game-sense and that comes from playing from such an early age. She made good choices and set some very killable balls.
“The experience Sanchez has now will allow us to use her as a strategical part of a close match,” Wise continued. “We can use her to change the momentum of a long match or just to give Nikki a breather in a long match.”
Sanchez's stint of filling in for Shade also had its excitement. She admitted in a Gainesville Sun article that one of her favorite parts of starting her first match was hearing her name broadcast to the crowd by the public address announcer.
“The crowd really gets you excited,” Sanchez told J.L. Kirby of the Florida Alligator. “That's not something you can get anywhere else.”
And while her play on the court was important to Florida's success, it was something else – her smile – that meant the most to her teammates.
An article by the Alligator's J.L. Kirby, entitled “Freshman setter has UF smiling,” stated “The first thing you notice when you see Sanchez's play is that she's always smiling, from the opening introductions to the last point, even at practices.”
“She has one continuous smile,” Wise told Kirby. “She's the only player I know that could smile through conditioning. She is more experienced and talented than any other setter we've had coming in as a freshman.”
Florida kept rolling that season and was named the nation's No. 1 team on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 1996 – a first in the history of the program. The Gators went on to finish their SEC slate with a perfect 14-0 record, which Florida capped off with a four-game victory against Arkansas to claim the SEC Tournament title in Columbia, S.C.
That season Florida defeated Michigan State to advance to the NCAA Final Four, riding a 37-match win streak. It marked the Gators' third trip to the Final Four in five years. Sanchez played in 25 matches that season, averaging 3.78 assists per game.
Her sophomore season of 1997, Sanchez played back-up behind the fourth-year Shade. She started five matches in place of Shade as the Gators made their second consecutive NCAA Final Four appearance. But by the time the 1998 season rolled around, Sanchez was ready to be the leader at her position.
“Jen has great hands,” Wise said in the outlook section of the team's 1998 media guide. “She has the ability to put up a lot of killable sets. If we can get Jen the ball, then our hitters will get a ton of great looks.”
It was not only Sanchez's leadership skills, but her fun-loving personality that Wise credited for making her setter an inspiration for the team.
“As fun as athletics is, there are some tough times – the travel, how hard it is missing classes, the late-night studying,” Wise told Israel Gutierrez of the Alligator in a Sept. 17, 1998 article. “But when you have people like Jen Sanchez who enjoy every moment, it really makes it fun for a coach.
“She takes such pleasure in the little things that it's almost like being around children in terms of her energy and enthusiasm. It's like having a party and inviting a really fun person. That's what we have in Jen Sanchez.”
Wise was also quick to credit Sanchez's decision-making and court awareness in her first year as a starter.
“She's making good choices right now,” Wise told Doris Yon of the Gainesville Sun on Sept. 27, 1998. “She's showed in the matches against Alabama and Hawaii she can get a kill. She's one of our better servers. She brings a lot to the floor.”
The confidence had returned for Sanchez who, despite her seemingly always positive attitude, began doubting herself in the back-up role.
“You go from somewhere where you never leave the court to where you hardly see the court,” Sanchez told Yon. That was really hard at first because you start doubting yourself. You lose some confidence.”
Florida earned the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament that season and easily breezed past Chattanooga, Ohio State and Southern Cal before defeating Hawaii in what can still be considered one of the most exciting matches ever played in the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. The Gators, down 0-2 at intermission, rallied to advance to its third consecutive NCAA Final Four.
That season, Sanchez earned second-team All-America honors and was an All-SEC first-team selection. She recorded the most assists of any UF setter in a single season (1,745) and moved up to fifth all time in school history with 2,183 career dishes. She finished the year 16th nationally and second in the league with 13.74 assists per game.
Sanchez, who trained with the U.S. World University Games team prior to her senior season, entered the 1999 campaign as one of the team's main leaders. This was never more evidenced than her appearance on the cover of the team's media guide that season, along with fellow senior Jenny Manz.
“Jen Sanchez has as good of hands, in terms of delivery, as any setter in the nation,” Wise said in the outlook section of the team's 1999 media guide. “That is her strength. And now, as a senior, she makes good choices. Our job is to get her the ball and allow her to be that setter.”
Sanchez helped the Gators thrive during her senior season, not wanting her career to end. Not wanting the curtain to go down on a stellar career.
“We're just enjoying every moment,” she told Reardon in a Nov. 4, 1999 article in the Gainesville Sun. “It's going by fast – a little too fast for me.”
Florida rolled to a 32-2 record, closing out the home season with a five-game win against Illinois in the NCAA second round. Fittingly, Sanchez had the match-clinching kill.
“We all just turned it up at the end,” Sanchez told the Sun's Yon after the team's win against Illinois. “I think we all just raised our level at the end and decided as a team to step it up.”
Sanchez finished her senior year as an All-SEC selection, who was consistently ranked among the nation's top 15 in assists per game throughout the season. She finished her career third all-time in assists with 3,759, compiling a 65-6 record in her final two seasons. Sanchez finished with eight double-doubles and 15 errorless performances her final year.
“UF has a reputation for playing hard but having fun,” Sanchez told the Alligator. “I wanted to fit into that reputation. If you play hard and have fun, winning will take care of itself.”
| From The Vault |
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| Jen Sanchez' 1999 Player Profile Questionnaire |
| Favorite sports figure: David Robinson |
| Song that best describes you: The Hokey Pokey |
| Best vacation: Anytime I go to another country; I love the whole concept of traveling. Experiencing other cultures and trying to learn new languages is fun. The food, the people, the land, the buildings … It's like a whole new world that has plenty to teach me. |
| Career Goals: To be successful. |
| Best volleyball moment: Beating Hawaii in five games in front of our home crowd at the 1998 Regional Finals after being down 0-2. Wow! What a comeback. From the sixth point in game five, we knew it was over for them. |
| Best advice ever given to you: I have always remembered these two things: 1.) Get involved because your time here on Earth is way too short. 2.) You always have a choice; whether it be in the little everyday things like which t-shirt to wear, or the big things. |
| Why you picked your uniform number: Because I was 18 years old at the time, not to mention that JJ (Jeni Jones) had the number (5) I wanted! |
| Pre-game rituals: Drawing the Gator head on the locker room chalkboard “chomping up” our opponent. |
| Best Halloween costume: I was a yellow crayon in '96. |
END OF REPORT
