Nikkie Viotto spent her high school volleyball career in the front row, slamming the ball into the opponent's court with enough force and precision to make her a four-time Cook Inlet Conference all-conference outside hitter for Eagle River.
When she took her game to UAA, she had to reinvent herself. She was recruited as a defensive specialist, not as a hitter, and so for two seasons as the team's libero she saw nothing but back-row action. Couldn't leap into the air to attack the ball. Couldn't block. Couldn't do most of the things that make volleyball players pump their fists and scream in delight.
Then she had to reinvent herself again when a serious injury to outside hitter McKenzie Moss in last season's final match left a serious hole in the UAA offense. Viotto, a 5-foot-8 junior, was re-introduced to the front row during the offseason and by the time the new season began, it was as if her two-year detour to defense never happened.
Except that all of that time in the back row made Viotto a better front-row player than ever.
When UAA takes on the nation's top-ranked team tonight in the first round of the NCAA Division II West Region volleyball tournament in San Bernardino, Calif., Viotto will be a central part of an attack that was the most efficient and productive during the Great Northwest Athletic Conference season -- and one of the team's top defensive players.
She ranks fourth on the team in kills with 195 in 93 sets, and it's worth noting that the three players who rank in front of her include two All-Region first-team picks, Jackie Matthisen and Robyn Burton, plus honorable mention GNAC pick Ariel Austin.
She's a key to UAA's defense, ranking third on the team -- and 17th in the GNAC -- in digs, the statistical category that was Viotto's stock in trade during her first two seasons with the Seawolves.
She's the team leader and the GNAC co-leader in service aces with 35 in 93 sets. That stat is telling, because before Viotto got her front-row groove back, the service line was the only place she was allowed to punish the ball.
And Viotto missed punishing the ball.
"When Coach told me I was going to be the libero I worked at that, but it's a completely different game than hitting," Viotto said earlier this week. "I was just talking about this with one of my teammates, actually, about how much more aggressive I can be as a hitter than on defense. I have a lot more adrenaline and I can take it out on the ball."
Players rarely move from the back row to the front row at the college level, UAA coach Chris Green said.
"It's unusual," he said. "It might go the other direction, but normally a player doesn't go from defensive specialist to the front row."
But Viotto's high school years as an outside hitter served her well in March when UAA traveled to Scottsbluff, Neb., for an offseason volleyball tournament at Western Nebraska Community College -- the school Green coached at before coming to UAA, and the place where Austin put in two seasons before joining the Seawolves.
Moss, whose injured shoulder required offseason surgery, was still mending, and that left UAA with a hole at outside hitter. Green called on Viotto to see what she could bring to the position.
"I was excited and I was surprised too, because I had just made the transition to defense," Viotto said. "I wasn't very confident in my hitting, but playing in that tournament helped me to become consistent and confident when I came back in the fall. I never felt unconfident this year."
Green was happy Viotto's swing hadn't disappeared during its two-year hiatus, because he wants outside hitters who can play defense.
"Our outside hitters are asked to pass and hit and play defense," he said. "That position on most volleyball teams is maybe the most demanding."
Viotto's passing and defense were better than ever, thanks to those two seasons in the back row.
"It helped me became a lot more consistent playing defense, to that point where I can work (more) on my hitting, because I have a lot more confidence in my defense."
Other than getting to release her aggression by spanking the ball, Viotto is happy to be back at the net for another reason.
"It's so much fun to be in a different position than defense," she said. "On defense you're helping the team out and you're excited when someone else gets a hit. When you're hitting, you're in control."
While Viotto's role reversal has been nothing but successful, the other side of this story is Moss's continuing comeback.
Moss, a 5-foot-11 senior from Anchorage, dislocated her shoulder while diving for a ball in last year's playoffs and had surgery in December.
"There was quite a bit of damage, more than they thought," Green said. "She wasn't able to swing until May or June. She still doesn't have that full range of motion back."
As a result, Moss's senior season was spent either on the bench healing -- she has played in 52 of UAA's 93 sets -- or playing in the back row. She has made only 17 attack attempts all season -- this for a player who last season earned GNAC honorable mention honors with 2.75 kills per set.
And like Viotto did before her, Moss makes the most of her few chances to attack the ball. She is a deadly server, ranking second to Viotto on the team and in the GNAC in aces-per-set with .35 (18 aces in 52 sets).
As the Seawolves head into their match tonight against Cal State-San Bernardino, Moss has served as a bit of an inspiration. Early in the 2010 season, the Seawolves became the first team since 2007 to beat San Bernardino on its home court, and it was Moss who blasted a kill down the line for match point.
"We do remind her of that," Green said. "Everybody remembers the hit and what happened. (In a timeout) we said, 'Set Kenzie, and Kenzie you hit the line.' She did exactly what we asked of her."
Reach Beth Bragg at bbragg@adn.com or 257-4335.
By BETH BRAGG
Anchorage Daily News