From transferring to injuries, Bierma has overcome the odds
After playing volleyball at two different schools and fully recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, outside hitter and incoming fifth-year senior Tineke Bierma of Canby, Oregon, said she is optimistic she will improve on and flourish as a volleyball leader going into the fall.
“This is my fifth year, which I didn’t think I was going to have, so it’s kind of a really cool opportunity that I get and this is kind of a second chance to step up and be a leader this year,” Bierma said.
Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan said Bierma has made huge gains based on her determination to play volleyball.
“She’s working super hard and it’s really paid off,” Buchanan said. “She’s in her best shape since she’s been here in Idaho and she’s playing big right now over the net.”
File photo by Yishan Chen | Argonaut
The Idaho volleyball team huddles during pratice April 4 at Memorial Gym. Vandal outside hitter Tineke Bierma, a fifth-year senior, has overcome transfers and injuries during her collegiate career and is one of the more expierenced ouside hitters for Idaho.
Buchanan said Bierma’s 6-feet-3-inch presence and aggressive hitting on the net has challenged the team to swing high and move around more this spring, which Buchanan said will help the team entering fall.
“She’s shutting us down a lot, but from the blocking and offensive side she’s gonna be able to do some stuff,” Buchanan said. “She has a killer serve when she’s on it.”
She said Bierma needs to work on her defense and ball control heading into fall, but she is doing an impressive job on the net.
Bierma’s time as a Vandal hasn’t been easy as she sustained a season-ending ACL injury in her third match at Idaho during a Washington State tournament in 2013.
“It’s a scary thing, and it happened so suddenly and it definitely challenged me psychologically and having the confidence to get back on the court and going full out and not worrying about that injury maybe happening again,” Bierma said.
Her injury sidelined her for the remainder of her junior season and she spent two weeks in physical rehabilitation to prepare for her surgery.
“Pretty much spent every single day in the training room, twice a day just rehabbing and trying to get my strength and stability back in my knee,” Bierma said. “It was a really long process, but I honestly think that I’m a much stronger and better player now.”
Buchanan said Bierma is dedicated to the program, which shows as she would practice, workout and play when she didn’t have to. Buchanan said she had her brace for nine months, which prevented her from making an impact on the team.
“With her brace, she wasn’t at the top of her game, but she saw limited playing time,” Buchanan said. “When that year was up, she was able to take the brace off and was training, she really went for it, and she’s a completely different player right now than she was the last few years.”
Bierma said the team is stronger than last season and sees her team chemistry continually growing after the spring season.
“We’ve really been able to come together as a team and with the people we have, we’ve been able to work together effectively and the teams we’ve played have been competitive,” Bierma said. “All the matches we’ve played has been competitive and I think it’s gone really well so far.”
She said she felt the team’s best match it has played this spring was against Gonzaga during its tournament three weeks ago, but she said each game has been competitive.
Bierma and senior Katelyn Peterson are the most experienced outside hitters on the team with four incoming freshmen, including three who are redshirting, and sophomore Becca Mau.
Last season, Peterson and Jessica Hastriter played in all 29 matches to Bierma’s 14 with Peterson earning all-tournament honors in their opening weekend at the University of Florida Active Ankle Challenge and finishing second on the team in kills with 234. Hastriter had 11 matches with 10 or more kills and earned all-tournament honors at the Idaho Nike Invitational last September. Bierma said her goal on team improvement is to finish on a strong note and remain consistent, which has been a problem for the team.
Bierma’s 2014 season was highlighted with career highs in kills against Northern Colorado (22-11 in 2014, 12-4 Big Sky) with four and three digs at North Dakota (26-9, 12-4). She scored 15.5 points on the season. Bierma also had eight kills in 31 sets, six blocks and four service aces.
Bierma began playing volleyball during her freshman year at Canby High School where she was first-team all-league while competing in basketball and track.
Before playing for the Vandals in 2013, she played at Portland State and College of Southern Idaho. Bierma led CSI to its 10th National Junior College Athletic Association title in 2012 with 10 kills, four blocks, two digs and no errors in the championship match. Despite starting at an older age, Bierma said she still wanted to learn and improve on her performance to achieve her potential.
Bierma said she felt closer to the community and her team since transferring from two colleges.
Outside of volleyball, Bierma is currently majoring in nutrition and plans to go to graduate school afterward to pursue coaching. She said she hopes to work on nutrition education for kids and help incorporate her learning for her team in the future.
Luis Torres can be reached at [email protected]