Hey, can you 'dig' it?

  • Published
  • By Nick DeCicco
  • Daily Republic
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Second Lt. Katie Batchelder may not have played volleyball competitively since the fall of 2008, but the bump in action has done little to cool her fire for the court.

"It's the only sport where you can hit somebody in the face with a ball on purpose and get away with it," said the 23-year-old officer with a smirk. "I am competitive in every aspect of my life and volleyball was my main avenue to express that."

Lieutenant Batchelder will carry that fiery spirit back to the court Friday, when she, along with Capt. Melissa Bland, head to Hill Air Force Base in Ogden, Utah, to tryout for the All-Air Force women's volleyball team.

Eighteen female Airmen stationed at bases worldwide were selected to tryout. Ten to 12 players are expected to make the team, according to its head coach, Maj. John Napier.

The squad competes annually against its sister services in the All Armed Forces tournament, held this year at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C.

The best players from each team are then selected for the All-Armed Forces team, which will compete in the 2011 Military World Games against teams from other nations in Rio de Janeiro in July.

Captain Bland and Lieutenant Batchelder represent opposite ends of the experience spectrum for the team. While Lieutenant Batchelder is the wily newcomer in her first attempt to make the team, this is Captain Bland's third invitation to tryout.

Both are outside hitters who played for the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., during their time at college. Captain Bland made the Air Force team in 2008 and 2009 and comes into this year's tryout as the oldest invitee.

"Melissa brings so much energy and positivity to the team, I just had to invite her to tryout," said Major Napier.

Captain Bland, a C-17 Globemaster III pilot with the 21st Airlift Squadron, was unable to participate in the tryout in 2010 because her squadron was on a six-month deployment to Southwest Asia.

If she makes it, the 28-year-old would be the oldest woman on the team this year.

Lieutenant Batchelder and Captain Bland typify the caliber of player Major Napier selected for the tryout. Many of the female Airmen are former Division I college players while others have a strong background in the sport.

For Lieutenant Batchelder, a Chico native who works in the 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs office, it's important not to become overconfident about making the cut.
"I never walk into a tryout or a game thinking I have already made the team or already won," she said.

Having made the team twice before, Captain Bland, who also made the All-Armed Forces team in 2009, said rank and role evaporate once a player's on the court.

"What's great about the volleyball uniform is it doesn't matter that I'm a captain and the girl next to me is an Airman 1st class," said Captain Bland. "By wearing a volleyball uniform, that brings all of us together in a way where there's no judgment."

It is an opportunity to wear two uniforms at once, something Lieutenant Batchelder doesn't take lightly.

"Every service member represents the military and our country whether they are wearing combat boots or flip flops," she said. "There is absolutely no difference."

Because Captain Bland is currently at squadron officer school at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., she and Lieutenant Batchelder have yet to meet in person. Yet the elder officer is looking forward to getting on the floor together.

"She's a rookie, but I'm excited about it," Captain Bland said. "I heard she's a young gun with a lot of strength."

For Captain Bland's sake, hopefully her face is not on the other side of the net when Lieutenant Batchelder has a chance to spike the ball.