Pleasanton's Patak sees volleyball game spike for Team USA

  • By Carl Steward


    EVAN PATAK could have been discouraged after the U.S. men's volleyball team won the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a team on which he was an alternate. He was so close, yet so far.


    As an alternate, the Pleasanton resident and 2002 Foothill High grad didn't go to China. He didn't get a medal, either.


    "Watching my friends and teammates win a gold medal was an emotional experience," he said. "It gave concrete evidence that anything is possible if you want it bad enough."


    What's evident a year and a half later is Patak wants that experience badly, too, and doesn't plan on missing any major international events leading up to the 2012 Games. Almost from the point the '08 Olympics ended, the 25-year-old has dramatically elevated his game to become one of the best of the best on the national team.


    In August, Patak was named MVP and best server in helping clinch Team USA's spot at the 2010 World Championships qualifier. That cinches his roster spot for the fall's World Championships in Italy. He followed up by being named best server in November's Continental Championships in Puerto Rico. The U.S. team lost to Cuba in the final, but Patak had 14 kills in the title match.


    Patak also has become a top pro player in Europe. After playing in Austria in 2008 and Greece in 2009, he now is playing for Halkbank Ankara in the rugged Turkish volleyball league. He's about halfway through a 30-match season that will keep him in Turkey through early May.


    Patak returned to Pleasanton for the holidays and savored being home, something he doesn't expect will happen much this year with his myriad overseas obligations.


    "Playing volleyball dictates my life year-round," he said. "The professional season for most countries lasts eight months. When we are finished overseas, training with the national team starts immediately. There are many competitions and not much time to train together. So with World League and the FIVB World Championships this summer, we will only be home in the U.S. for eight weeks or so. That's by far the most difficult part, all the time spent away from friends and family."


    But Patak (rhymes with "attack") isn't complaining. This is where he always wanted to be. A three-time All-American at UC Santa Barbara, where the 6-foot-8 opposite hitter led the nation in service aces, kills and points as a senior, he was named to the national team in April 2008, less than a year after his graduation. Since then, his stature has grown internationally, and he confessed 2009 was a breakthrough year.


    "On a personal level, I noticed significant improvements in the level of my game compared to years past," he said. "In addition, there were numerous times in matches when I contributed to the success of my team."


    Others noticed, too. Current UCSB coach Rick McLaughlin, who was an assistant for Team USA during the World Championships qualifying tournament at UC Irvine, praised Patak's play.


    "Evan has been given a golden opportunity, and he's made the most of it," McLaughlin said. "The way he is hitting the ball right now, he will be a force for this country when it comes time for the next Olympics."


    Of course, that's about the only national notoriety for U.S. players, and even then it's fleeting in a sport that is far more popular abroad. Patak noted that men's professional volleyball matches routinely draw crowds of more than 10,000 in Europe and Asia.


    Even though he had a choice of a Division I basketball or volleyball scholarship coming out of Foothill, he chose the sport that gets far less exposure.


    "I understood that many people in my position would have a hard time turning down the opportunity to play college basketball," he said. "But for me, it boiled down to doing what I enjoyed most — I simply had more fun playing volleyball. As the situation stands now, I'm pretty happy with my decision."


    He'll be even happier when he gets to London in 2012.


    Source: http://www.mercurynews.com