STANFORD, Calif. - The telescopes were trained on Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. But by focusing deep into the night sky, Audriana Fitzmorris sensed the bright lights streaking across the horizon.
Audriana could not wait to show brother Keenan, an incoming freshman, the beauty of Stanford. This stargazing night during the Perseids meteor shower, sponsored by the Stanford Astronomical Society at Lake Lagunita, did just that.
Audriana finds fascination in exploring and learning, and carries an unending quest to be the best volleyball player she can be.
"She's the hardest worker, but also the most humble," said Keenan, who will play on the basketball team. "She cares about people around her. I really look up to her for that."
A prodigy at 14, Audriana was the youngest invitee to the U.S. Youth National Team tryout camp, and made the team. She's played in two world championships with U.S. youth and junior sides and, last summer, played in Europe with the U.S. Collegiate National Team.
At Stanford, the 6-foot-6 junior won a national championship and reached the semifinals a year later. This season, she puts her team in better position to win another, because of her switch from middle blocker, where she was an AVCA second-team All-America, to opposite hitter.
The change is partly because of personnel – the graduation of Merete Lutz and depth in the middle -- but second-year coach Kevin Hambly was seeking a way to take full advantage of Fitzmorris' skills – hitting, blocking, receiving and passing.
"She's a very good volleyball player and a very thoughtful player," Hambly said. "I always thought she should be on a pin, and that's where her future is. I never thought she was a middle."
Consider the firepower Stanford can unleash with Fitzmorris and reigning AVCA National Player of the Year Kathryn Plummer on each side. The nation will begin to find out just how lethal when the Cardinal opens Sunday at American.
Audriana credits her development to the coaches who insisted she train in all skills, and her love of volleyball to her sister, Alex, who played at Morehead State, and mother.
Audriana is the daughter of Michael Fitzmorris, a Northern California native who played pro basketball in Sweden and Peru, and Maria Luisa Menendez Llosa, a veteran of 14 years on the Peruvian national basketball team and an international competitor in volleyball. While playing pro basketball in Brazil, Maria Luisa was called to Lima for national-team training. Michael coached a boys' team that practiced against her. The next day, Michael returned while Maria Luisa was shooting a soft drink commercial and asked her to dinner.
They raised four children, and in Audriana they brought up a daughter who is driven, yet appreciative of her gifts. She keeps a journal in her locker, with reminders of areas to focus on. In her room, she keeps notecards of goals for the day. "Give three strangers a compliment," is one example.
"Some people talk about being a great human being," Hambly said. "But she actually works to be one. She's a great listener who thinks very deeply about what you're saying. She's thoughtful, conscientious and very aware of what's going on. She's the person that people go to."
When Audriana was 9, her mother endured a health crisis, which sparked an interest in medicine.
"I want to be able to help someone when they're at their lowest and most vulnerable," said Audriana, a human biology major. "As a kid, you feel helpless. But now I believe I can have an impact on people in the same position."
This summer, she did stem cell research, and gave a poster presentation on how scars develop. She hopes to continue with lab projects after the season.
Hambly said he's never had a player who appreciates their campus more than Audriana, who enjoys finding beauty and meaning in overlooked places.
"I especially adore Memorial Church and the Echo/Whisper Circle beside it," Audriana said. "It has a beautiful quote scrawled on the ground: 'For the troubled, may you find peace. For the despairing, may you find hope. For the lonely, may you find love. For the skeptical, may you find faith.'"
This quote, by Frances C. Arrillaga, found its way to a mural that Audriana created in the basement of their home in Overland Park, Kansas.
Audriana recently revealed to Keenan another of her favorite campus spots, the Student Observatory on a hill by the golf course. "A beautiful spot to view the night sky," she said.
In such a setting, awe and possibilities merge into optimism and promise. Audriana sees the world that way, one shooting star at a time.