Coro: Turner turns corner at GCU

There was a time when the end of Molly Turner's volleyball career for her school brought her to tears of sorrow.

Now, it brings tears of joy.

Turner, once the girl cut from her Illinois high school's sophomore volleyball team, is ending her Grand Canyon beach volleyball career at home this week as an All-American and national team player,

She arrived at GCU as a walk-on beach volleyball player with no other offers, wondering if there was a beach in Arizona and offering to be a manger just for a chance to prove her collegiate caliber.

But in addition to growing into a nationally acclaimed standout, Turner grew into a different person as she heads into her final matches Thursday and Saturday at GCU Beach Volleyball Stadium and a commencement ceremony at GCU Arena later this month.

"Me coming here was very selfish," said Turner, a psychology major. "I was trying to prove everyone wrong. I was putting myself first. Ending this career, I wanted to be the best for my team. And I wanted to do it for my coach (Kristen Rohr), and her husband (and assistant coach Joe), who passed. I got choked up because I've changed so much over the years. It's really cool to look back and understand how small I was and how I don't need to prove anything to anyone anymore."

Turner is headed for a pro beach volleyball career and Olympic goals once she plays her final two matches Saturday, wrapping up a GCU career that laid the base for the Lopes' nationally ranked program. Despite being a shorter star at 5 feet 8, Turner brought a sneaky guile and added body and mind power to become an All-American for last year's 22-3 season with partner Tjasa Kotnik.

It was just more than year ago when all the lingering confidence issues disappeared in a match against top-ranked Hawaii's undefeated No. 1 pair. Turner turned a mental corner.

"I thought, 'Wow, I'm here right now, competing against one of the best teams in the nation and we're about to beat them,' " Turner said. "After we won, I cried and hugged my coach. It felt like I finally made it and gained the confidence that I belonged here."

Others already were on to that fact.

Twice, Turner was selected to age-group national teams with USA Volleyball. Last summer, she was a member of the collegiate national beach volleyball team. Last week, she was named GCU's Female Student-Athlete of the Year.

"If I had to judge from her sophomore year to now, she's beyond exceeded expectations of where I thought she'd get to," Rohr said. "It has a lot to do with the hard work she has put in, not just on the court but off the court. Just doing all the little things right.

"It's very similar to how you see the professionals approach practices and matches, just constantly evaluating where she is and what she needs to do to get better. If she hits a shot and it drops, that's not good enough for her. She's thinking, 'Does the best defender in the world pick that up?' "

That came on a long path from the Naperville, Ill., girl who fell in love with the sport as a third-grader learning from her older sister in the backyard. She made the Neuqua Valley freshman "B" indoor volleyball team as a benchwarmer and then left the sophomore team tryouts a year later with an envelope containing a note that began, "Sorry …"

"It was the worst day every," Turner said. "My dream just got cut off. It really got to me. Nobody thought I was good. The only person who thought I was good was my mom."

Turner then quit playing indoor volleyball and joined a beach volleyball club, training year-round with an indoor facility for winters. She still did not garner recruiting interest and reached out to GCU when a friend was pursuing rugby with the Lopes.

Rohr came aboard before Turner's sophomore season and became a sister, mother and best friend for her. Turner already had ball control skills as a smaller player but developed a hitting pace that made her one of the nation's top sideout players.

"Joe and Kristen were both so good for this team together," said Turner, wearing a purple rubber bracelet with his favorite phrase, "Be well," printed on it. "It's really hard to not have him on the team any more but Kristen exemplifies what he was and carries on who he was and what he wanted. She makes it feel like he's still there and it's really special."

The beach volleyball program feels as indebted to her. She has been a mentor to a young team and adjusted methods to three partners during her senior season.

Last week, Rohr gathered her players in a circle in their locker room and asked each one, "Why are you here?" Like anytime she talks about the program she is about to leave, Turner choked up when answering the question.

"I love this team so much," Turner said.

Rohr thought of Turner recently when she read a quote from soccer great, Pelé, which said, "Success is no accidents. It's hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and, most of all, love of what you're doing."

Rohr said, "That describes Molly to a T."

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.

Grand Canyon University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Tjasa Kotnik

Molly Turner

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