Cox returns - but now is an Eagle

By Kim Hart
Daily Sports Writer

In 1993, Ramona Cox realized a dream when she walked on to the Michigan women's volleyball team. As a freshman she never played in a match, but she bonded with her teammates and the coaching staff and became a motivator for the team.

She continued to practice and work out for two more seasons, and in 1995, as a junior, she made her collegiate debut. She had two kills and one dig in a match against Toledo.

Coach Greg Giovanazzi labeled her a model player, and she won the Coaches' Award in 1995, but her desire for more playing time prompted her to leave the team in September 1996.

"I love Ramona to death and I think she is one of the greatest people I ever coached," Giovanazzi said. "It was hard for us to see her go,"

Down the road at Eastern Michigan, a new head coach was building a program and was looking for some players to add to her roster. Even though she would have to sit out a season, Cox saw an opportunity she could not refuse.

She enrolled at Eastern and played her first match against her former teammates on Saturday morning at Cliff Keen Arena, in the All Sport Volleyball Challenge.

"It's exciting to be back," Cox said. "I've been out for a while and I played in a different position, so I was concentrating on what I was doing but there is no tension between us. It was hard to leave but I had to play so I took advantage of the option to go."

Against the Wolverines, Cox played in all three games, recording one kill, one assist and five digs.

Michigan volunteer coach Shannon Brownlee, also a former Wolverine player and captain of the 1995 team, is happy for her former teammate and respects the decision she made.

"It's really nice to see that she is playing," Brownlee said. "She worked her butt off here for so long, and she did what she was supposed to all the time. But she really didn't get any reward, so it's really nice to see that she is getting it in her last year."

Cox is a player with fierce determination, and she will do whatever it takes to play because she simply loves the game. She not only faced the challenge of transferring schools, but she had to learn about a new team and earn a spot on a roster with people who had been there all along.

It would take a strong person to come in, make friends and earn the respect of the Eagles' team - but that is the kind of person Cox is.

"I give that girl a lot of credit because it's tough," Eastern Michigan coach Kim Berrington said. "When I talked with the coaches at the University of Michigan, I said it's got to be a special kid that can handle the pressure, and they said she could do it because she's a great kid.

She came in, she listened, she learned, she worked her butt off and made some sound points. My team has accepted her instantly because of her work ethic."

Berrington brings Cox in off the bench because she "makes a spark" when the team needs a turnaround.

"I can depend on her for a big kill, a big block or a big dig. I know she is going to go in there and give it all she's got and I have a lot of respect for that," Berrington said.

Cox touched a lot of her teammates while she was a Wolverine and they continue to speak between games and in the off-season.

"It was exciting to play against her, and I think she fires me up even when she is on the other side of the net," Michigan junior middle blocker Linsey Ebert said. "I definitely miss her a lot because she is a great player, and it was exciting to play with her as well."

09-08-97