Breakthrough

In a candid discussion, Rachel Wacholder talks about her long journey to the top of the AVP women's division.

Rachel Wacholder can no longer stroll through a grocery store anonymously.

"I was in the grocery store a month ago and a guy had seen me on TV," said Wacholder. "He told me I was normal-sized. I guess I don't look like what people imagine I should look like. People are starting to know who I am. I'm not used to that."

But in professional sports, losing that anonymity usually means good things are occurring. And boy have good things been occurring for Wacholder this season.

In one of the swifter upward ascensions in recent AVP tour memory, Wacholder has gone from a player who had never been to an AVP final going into this season to a powerful force that has become a constant presence playing for the yellow check each weekend.

Wacholder and new partner Elaine Youngs not only made it to eight out of 12 women's finals during the AVP regular season, but they also put a dent in 2004 Olympic gold medalists Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh's burgeoning pocketbooks with title victories over the dynamic duo in Cincinnati, Huntington Beach and Boulder, Colo.

To put her meteoric rise into a more bottom-line perspective, coming into the season, the 30-year-old Wacholder, who started playing on the AVP tour in 1999, had cashed in $83,575 in domestic earnings from 1999 to 2004. This season alone, she has banked $118,175 on the AVP tour. With FIVB coin this season, that number balloons to $154,375.

And there's a little history involved with that cash. Wacholder, Youngs, May-Treanor and Walsh are the first four women to earn over $100,000 in a season in the history of the women's beach game in the United States.

"I'm more confident this year," said Wacholder, a Laguna Beach, Calif. native. "I believe we should be in every final. That's my state of mind. I belong there. I'm disappointed if I'm not in the final. And a lot of it has to do with playing in high pressure situations. The more you do it the easier it gets."

Walsh played a major role in Wacholder getting a taste of those high pressure situations last season. With May-Treanor sidelined prior to the Olympics with an abdominal injury, Walsh chose Wacholder as her partner for three FIVB events. The duo scored wins in France and Austria (Grand Slam event) and took third in their first tournament together in Norway.

"Kerri believed in me and that's what I needed," said Wacholder, who is half Canadian. "That first tournament was hard for me. I was out of shape and there was a lot of pressure. She made it so easy because she can do so much. Kerri gave me a little taste and helped me realize that maybe I still have a chance. The turning point for me was Kerri picking me up. She made me feel like we were going to win and we did. I think that's what opened the door with Elaine and I."

But the 5'9" Wacholder did more than her fair share in those tournaments too.

"Rachel is a great player with an amazing future in the sport," said Walsh. "Rachel has improved upon every single skill. The most noticeable improvements are with her consistency and her confidence. She has always been an amazing defender and she is finally getting the credit she deserves. Rachel has a great combination of finesse, aggressiveness and smarts which she combines with her sound fundamentals. She is a stud."

The Olympic bronze medalist that now stands on the same side of the net would second that motion.

"It's her consistency and very aggressive play at the net," said Youngs, who won the bronze in Athens last summer with women's all-time wins leader Holly McPeak. "She is playing like a big girl and I love that. Her confidence level is also sky high."

Youngs has no complaints about how the partnership has progressed.

"It's gone unbelievably well," she said. "I was not sure how things would go before the season started, but I knew we could win. We are a very athletic team and I don't think we get enough credit for our volleyball smarts. We have great chemistry and mostly have a ton of fun."

Wacholder admits she had a bit of apprehension in the beginning of the partnership. "I was worried I would come in and Elaine would expect me to be Holly," said Wacholder, a former indoor player at the University of Colorado who won an AVP title this year in her old college stomping grounds (Boulder).

"I'm a very different player than Holly. It would have been hard if she had expected me to play that way. But from the start, she didn't expect me to be that. We played our own game. Elaine has been great for me. She's patient with me. A lot of it is having a partner that is really good. It takes some pressure off of me. I'm playing with someone who can do a lot of great things."

McPeak has seen Wacholder's improvement firsthand. Wacholder and Youngs sported a 6-2 mark against McPeak and Jen Kessy during the 2005 AVP regular season.

"I think Rachel's offense has improved the most this season," said McPeak. "She is siding out well and I think EY's consistent setting has helped her experiment with her offense."

People have also taken notice of the work Wacholder does beyond just the big kills or the key digs.

"Rachel is so quick in the backcourt that she touches every ball," said May-Treanor. "Rachel remains consistent and makes the little plays you need to in order to be successful. I feel that Rachel has improved so much. She compliments Elaine's game with her finesse and speed."

The team also picked up women's great Liz Masakayan as their coach after the San Diego Open in June. Masakayan was Youngs' first partner and coached Youngs and McPeak.

"Since Liz has been around we started worrying only about ourselves and focused on what we are doing as a team," said Wacholder. "Liz has helped a ton."

But Masakayan cautions Wacholder's rise, from a coaching standpoint, isn't as dramatic as it seems on the surface.

"To start off with, Rachel is better," said Masakayan. "But it's not like since I started coaching her that it's, my gosh, she's so much better.' She was already a gifted athlete. When you have someone that is that good to start with it's not that hard. We just fine-tuned some things. She's a very coachable athlete."

Wacholder also excels by playing above her 5'9" frame.

"I met with someone who was interested in sponsoring me and this person said, ow, you're not that big at all.' Nope. I'm normal-sized," laughed Wacholder. "I'm not 6'3", but I feel I can play a little bigger than I am. I reach higher than most people my height."

A lot has also been made of the new rivalry created between Wacholder and Youngs and May-Treanor and Walsh. Keep in mind, in the previous two seasons May-Treanor and Walsh played together on the AVP tour, they sported a 78-3 mark, won 14 tournaments and earned over a quarter of a million dollars in combined earnings. Only the combo of Jenny Johnson Jordan and Annett Davis were able to beat them on the court.

This season, May-Treanor and Walsh were 65-3 during the AVP regular season with all three losses coming to Wacholder and Youngs, who notched a fourth win over their top rivals at an FIVB event in France—the only loss the defending world champions had on the international circuit in their first 27 matches this season.

"It's not a fluke now," said Wacholder. "People say, 'Well, you did it one time.' We did it (four) times. Every time it's been a different match and a different strategy with them. The one time we went after Misty. We've beaten them in two pretty handily. That says something. We can side out against them. We're aggressive and we're right there.

"I have so much respect for those two girls. But we put the pressure on and it's hard to score points. We've put them in a spot they aren't used to being in very often. They aren't invincible. They have been so dominant that when they lose, people ask how they are doing and if they are alright. I think it's good for them and it's good for the sport. But the thing with them is they are so good and they could still get better. I'm sure we'll have a lot more battles. I'm sure they'll beat us and hopefully we'll beat them."

May-Treanor and Walsh are enjoying the new rivalry as well.

"EY and Rachel are playing very well. I knew they would form a great team. It was just a matter of time," said May-Treanor. "Both of these ladies are different players than what I have seen in the past. They work well together and they push us to our limits. All our matches with this team have been close even if the scores don't portray it."

"I love playing that team," said Walsh. "They push us, they make us stronger and they light that fire in our hearts. It is absolutely a big rivalry in my book and no matter how much I respect those ladies I still want to kick their buns up and down the court."

But just a year ago, thoughts of battling two greats in an open final weren't running through Wacholder's mind.

"For sure I thought about quitting," said Wacholder. "The beginning of last year I'm asking myself, "Why am I doing this?" I put so much into it and I care a ton about this sport. I never did this for the social scene or the parties. I wanted to be the best. I'm an athlete that can compete with the best. I wanted that chance. At this point last year, I didn't think I'd be where I'm at."

In past years Wacholder felt she was misunderstood in the sport.

"I felt I didn't get much respect as a player. I don't know if it's because I'm a little girlie or because I was a quiet player," she said. "I wanted to be treated like a volleyball player, not "Oh, she's cute." What else did I need to do? I worked hard and I trained every day. Why else would I be doing this? I didn't know if it was my personality and the fact that I'm not mean and in your face. People questioned my desire. I'm a competitor and I'm into it. I care a lot. People just have different ways of competing."

Wacholder's "girlie" image that she alluded to is also something she's proud of, but at the same time, she prefers to let her volleyball career define her first and foremost.

"It gets on my nerves when people don't acknowledge that I'm a decent volleyball player," said Wacholder, who has done a bit of modeling in the past. "I want to be girlie and feminine. But I don't want that to be the first thing and everything. I still want to be respected as a volleyball player. I've earned it."

Off the court, Wacholder has been dating AVP men's player Sean Scott for three years. The couple recently bought a home together in the Redondo Beach, Calif. area.

"It was kind of weird. We would see each other all the time at events but we would both keep to ourselves," said Wacholder. "At the Montreal FIVB event, that was the first time we had a conversation. We got along well and ended up exchanging e-mail addresses. After a couple of weeks of e-mailing, a phone number got thrown in there and he called me from Portugal."

Wacholder is also a fan of the culinary arts. "I do like to eat," she laughed. "When I have the time I like to cook. I love everything. I'm a huge sushi fan. I've been barbecuing lately and have been into different marinades."

But despite having a blast on and off the court, Wacholder isn't about to start resting on her laurels.

"The exciting thing is I have so much more room for improvement," said Wacholder. "I can be more consistent, but I'm getting there. I'm kind of there. I want to get a lot better. I'm at the top, but I'm not at the top. I'm close to the top. I'm out there competing and not embarrassing myself. My ultimate dream is to go to the Olympics, but that is a long ways off. For now, I have these memories. At one time, I was one of the top players."

And all signs point to Wacholder continuing to be one of the top players for a long time to come.