Friday Jul 25

Tom hopes to be world beater

Former Stanford volleyball standout headed to the Olympics for a third time

By Jeff Faraudo / Bay Area News Group

Since we last saw Stanford graduate Logan Tom, at the 2004 Athens Olympics, the volleyball vagabond has continued her play-for-pay world tour.

Now 27, Tom has played professionally in Italy, Switzerland, the Canary Islands and Russia - just in the past four years.

"It's not for everyone, I'm sure," the 2002 Stanford grad said of her globetrotter lifestyle. "Having a new team and a new house every year can be kind of rough. That's just how it's been for me. But it's my choice."

It's her choice to return home every four years, as well, to rejoin the U.S. Olympic Team. Tom, a versatile 6-foot-1 outside hitter, will represent her country in her third Olympics this summer in Beijing.

Playing for the U.S. remains an honor she doesn't take lightly.

"Obviously, it's not money-based," she said. "You're playing for pride, playing for your country, playing for other Americans. It's not a sacrifice. It's a way to give back. It's personal and emotional."

Tom dabbled in beach volleyball last summer, played this past indoor season for Dinamo, a top Russian club in Moscow, then rejoined the national team after a three-year hiatus for a World Cup event in November.

After just two weeks of training with the U.S. squad, she helped the club to a bronze-medal finish in Japan, clinching a bid to Beijing with a performance that made her one of three players nominated for the tournament MVP honor.

"She just immediately fit in," said U.S. assistant coach Tom Hogan, who stumbled a bit when asked what Tom does best. "Oh gosh, everything. That's really why she's so good. She's not the best in the world at any one skill, she's just very good at everything."

Tom was the best player ever to come through Stanford's program, a four-time All-America pick and twice the national collegiate player of the year. She played for the Olympic team at Sydney in 2000 after her freshman season, helping the U.S. to a fourth-place finish. Four years later, the Americans were fifth at Athens.

This U.S. team is coached by Chinese volleyball legend Jenny Lang Ping, who won a gold medal as a player in 1984 and later coached the national team.

"She's a very good player," Lang Ping said of Tom. "She has all the skills. With her experience, she can just walk on the court and we all feel pretty comfortable. With a couple months to prepare, she will have better chemistry with her teammates."

The American women entered 2008 ranked No. 4 in the world, behind Brazil, Italy and Cuba. But Tom isn't in the business of making predictions for how they will fare at Beijing.

"I've been pretty bummed over some outcomes in the past," she said. "It's funny, but before Sydney no one had a prayer for us to do well. We knew we could do well because we trained so freakin' much."

Either way, this isn't the end for Tom. She also has played professionally in Brazil, and figures she will be on someone's roster after the Olympics.

It's not all perfect. In Russia this past year, only one of her teammates spoke English. "The coach, not a lick," she said. "A lot of hand gestures."

Taking in the cultural sights in a new land is exciting, until she inevitably runs out of them. Then there are lonely times far from home.

"Oh, for sure, are you kidding me?" she said. "There are nights I'm sitting there with a little wine and it's, 'Poor me.' You hear the violins playing in the background."

When she's not abroad, home is Long Beach. More precisely, a couple storage units in Long Beach.

"I'd love to have my own place, just for the closet space," she said. "The amount of stuff I have gathered through my travels, I could have a room for each different country."

This summer her country will be the U.S. once more.

"Once you hit the (athletes') village and the opening ceremonies and things begin, you can't deny the emotions running through you," Tom said of the Olympic experience. "First time, third time ... it's why you come back for more."