Eve Rackham, 5'10" setter for the North Carolina Tar Heels, wanted to be a Wahine…as in University of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine back in 1999. But she had to wait.
She had to wait for Jennifer Carey.
In 1998, Hawaii's setter was the superb and underrated senior Nikki Hubbert. Surrounding Hubbert was a talented group of players including outside hitters Jessica Sudduth and Heidi Ilustre, right side hitter Jennifer Roberts, middle Veronica Lima, and All-American candidate Heather Bown.
Hawaii had a dilemma. A major dilemma.
Who would be their setter in 1999 without Hubbert to set these talented hitters? Having failed to secure the services of a few setter recruits the year before, Hawaii was running out of time and was now feeling the pressure. They went after Jennifer Carey hard and offered her a scholarship while, at the same time, informing other setter recruits to be patient.
Eve was one of those "other" recruits.
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| Having helped lead the North Carolina Tar Heels to two consecutive ACC titles, Eve is on the verge of winning their third ACC title this season. |
Hawaii recruited Eve back then as a setter and she welcomed it. She wanted to be a Wahine. Although everyone believed Carey was headed for UCLA, the situation changed dramatically in late 1998 and Eve had to wait a little longer.
"It seemed like I was waiting forever," said Eve. "Hawaii told me that if Carey did not take the scholarship, they would offer me the scholarship."
At the time, Eve was holding a scholarship offer from Arizona and another one from North Carolina. In the meantime, she really wanted to play for Hawaii, so she decided to wait for Carey to make her decision.
Days became weeks. Weeks became months.
"Recruiting was so stressful because time was running out and Carey had not decided yet," recalled Eve. "She took a really long time to make a decision. I just wanted the whole situation to be over with."
Despite reassurances from the Hawaii coaching staff that they were still recruiting her, Eve was a nervous wreck. The fact of the matter was, everyone was waiting for Carey.
Hawaii was waiting for Carey and they weren't sure they could get her. Just in case, they also recruited Margaret Vakasausau (who, ironically is now the starting setter for the Wahine in 2001 as of this writing). Eve, of course, was waiting for Carey. Other recruits were waiting for Eve. This is the typical domino effect that is so common in college recruiting.
The waiting was unbearable. Eve had enough.
One day, Eve called Arizona to accept their offer. Unfortunately, no one was around the phone at Arizona to take the call. So she called North Carolina. "That night, I decided to call North Carolina about my decision to accept the Arizona offer," said Eve. "But I ended up talking to Joe [Sagula, North Carolina's head coach] for about an hour."
Sagula's recruiting pitch worked. She was sold on the North Carolina volleyball program, their strong athletic program, and their strong academics. Eve accepted the North Carolina offer.
A few days after Eve accepted the North Carolina offer, Carey accepted the Hawaii offer. Arizona waited until 2000 to recruit Rochelle Ruen, who is now a freshman learning from Dana Burkholder.
Of course, today, Eve's not complaining. "I love it here at Carolina," said Eve. "The academics and athletics here are awesome!"
Yes…this is North Carolina! Famed Chapel Hill, North Carolina where future superstars Michael Jordan, Sam Perkins, James Worthy, Vince Carter, Lawrence Taylor, Mia Hamm, and Marion Jones honed and developed their skills in their respective sports.
In addition to the athletics, North Carolina is one of the most popular colleges among high school students nationwide. Once on board, no student ever regretted attending the school. That's a fact. Boasting one of the highest morale and school spirit in the country, many Tar Heel alums continue to give back. North Carolina students and graduates bleed Tar Heel blue.
"The athletic community here at Carolina is very close," said Eve. "95% of my friends are athletes. We all take classes together and hang out together."
Raised in Sebastopol, California, Eve started playing volleyball since the 5th grade. Although she engaged in other sports like basketball, gymnastics, and swimming, volleyball was the easiest for her. Her natural athleticism, height, and talent for the sport allowed her to play numerous positions, the foremost being hitter.
Nevertheless, her ball control skills were superb enough that colleges were looking at her as a setter. Indeed, her versatility and athleticism for the Empire volleyball club caught the eye of several Division I recruiters like David Rubio of Arizona, Dave Shoji of Hawaii, and Joe Sagula of North Carolina, among others.
Upon arriving on the Carolina campus and participating in setting drills, Eve was a bit overwhelmed. "I had never set before and when I first got here on campus, I didn't know what I was doing," remarked Eve. "This was the first time I was running a 5-1 system."
Nevertheless, Eve persevered and was named the starting setter her freshman year in 1999, just like Carey was in Hawaii. Eve remained a permanent fixture at the setter position for the entire season and ran the offense very effectively.
She led her team to a 29-6 record, an ACC championship, and a trip to the NCAA tournament where her team lost to Texas A&M in the second round. Ironically, had North Carolina beaten Texas A&M, her team would have faced Hawaii (and Carey) in Honolulu. In addition, Eve was named to the 1999 ACC-All Freshman team, was named ACC Freshman of the Week four times, was second in the ACC with 13.36 assists per game, and also led the team in service aces with 36. She set the team to a 0.242 hitting percentage.
Quite an accomplishment for a freshman who had never set before.
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| Eve loves to jet ski, which she really can't do much of in Chapel Hill. Oh, yes...and one more thing...Eve sports a tongue ring. |
Her success continued in her sophomore year where she led her team to a 26-8 record, another ACC championship and a trip to the NCAA tournament. Eve led the ACC with 13.29 assists per game and was named to the 2000 ACC All-Tournament team.
As a sophomore, she broke or moved up on various Carolina setting records. She set the team to a 0.232 hitting percentage.
This year, she led her team to an impressive showing against nationally ranked Penn State as they pushed the Nittany Lions to a fifth game. It was early in that fifth game that Eve hurt her right ankle. The injury set her back but she returned later in the season.
In addition, North Carolina is currently 16-3, ranked first in AVCA's East regional rankings (10/17/01), and #25 in the latest AVCA/USA Today Coaches' poll (10/15/01). Eve is pushing hard to earn North Carolina's third straight ACC crown, which had never been accomplished before.
But it's more than volleyball. "This is the most incredible campus and school!" exclaimed Eve. "The college atmosphere is awesome! I love Chapel Hill. It's similar to my hometown Sebastopol."
Had Carey not accepted the scholarship offer to Hawaii, Eve would now be setting for Hawaii. Had someone at the Arizona office answered the phone when she called, Eve would now be on the Arizona roster battling Dana Burkholder for the starting setter spot.
Looking back, Eve is happy with her "bad luck." After all, she's playing the sport she loves on the very court where Michael Jordan roamed.
For a student-athlete, it can't get better than this…