Kearney, Neb. - Starting in May 2014, a new feature called "Loper Reconnection" will profile former UNK student-athletes. Student Andrew Hanson asks the chosen Loper a series of questions.

The fifth subject is former volleyball standout Diane Davidson Rouzee. Wrestler Brian Hagan, softball player Darcie Berry, football player Justin Coleman and volleyball player Jenni Luke were previously profiled.

From 1979-82, Davidson Rouzee was part of four Loper volleyball teams that went a combined 132-28 and won four straight CSIC (Central States Intercollegiate Conference) titles. The CSIC was made up of many current MIAA schools.

Those Loper teams also placed three times at the NAIA National Tournament, including 3rd in 1980 and 4th in 1982. Individually, Davidson Rouzee was named to the NAIA All-District 11 team as a junior and senior and was tabbed as an All-American in 1982.

In the spring, Davidson Rouzee moved over to the softball diamond where then-Kearney State won 134 games between 1980-83. The Lopers were national runner up in 1983 after being 3rd in 1981 and 5th in 1982.


Name: Diane Davidson Rouzee
Hometown/High School: Kearney, Neb./Kearney H.S.
Years: 1979-82 (volleyball); 1980-83 (softball)
Sports: Volleyball & Softball
Current Residence: Grand Island
 
Long before Diane (Davidson) Rouzee was paving the way for women's athletics as a coach, she was doing so as a player. When Rouzee first arrived on the University of Nebraska at Kearney campus in 1979, the volleyball team was just starting to find their footing and the softball team hadn't won more than 20 games in a season.
 
That all changed when Rouzee, a multi-sport standout, chose to put on a Loper uniform.
 
A Kearney High graduate, Rouzee had already been a part of a program turnaround when she helped lead the Bearcats to their first state championship in volleyball. This grabbed the attention of UNK head volleyball coach Rosella Meier, who had just led the Lopers to their first Central States Intercollegiate Conference (CSIC) championship in 1976.
 
After assessing her options, Rouzee decided to play for UNK. "I think I got a volleyball scholarship just because we won state," she reflected.
 
Coach Meier wasn't the only beneficiary of Rouzee's decision, though.
 
After finishing her first volleyball season in the fall of 1979, Rouzee needed something to do. "I'm not doing anything in the spring," Rouzee said. "I thought I'd try out softball and see how it goes.
 
"I had played mostly slow-pitch growing up. I was left-handed, though, and at the time that was an advantage. There weren't a lot of left-handed players back then."
 
During her sophomore year, things took off. The volleyball program had won their third consecutive CSIC title and finished third at the NAIA championship.
 
"I give Coach Meier a lot of credit; she did a great job at recruiting some kids from around the area," said Rouzee. "We didn't have any big names, but we just loved playing."
 
Coming so close to winning it all kept them motivated. "We were pretty dangerous, but we were so close to doing better than that, too," Rouzee said.
 
During the following spring the softball team, which had gone 18-23 the year before, won a then-school record 44 games and capped off the historic turnaround with a third place finish at the NAIA championship.
 
A first baseman and outfielder, Rouzee was quick to give credit to the team's pitching staff. "We had some good pitchers," she said. "Around the area there were a lot of people that played softball, and I was lucky to be on a team with so many good players."
 
The pitchers that head coach Hank Dicke was able to recruit and bring to Kearney helped lead the Lopers to a fifth place finish at the NAIA championship Rouzee's junior year and a runner-up finish as a senior.
 
Pitching was only one part of the equation, though.
 
Being a lefty, Rouzee could hit and helped provide run support for the Lopers' ace pitching staff. As a junior, she hit .404 and was an all-conference selection.
 
There was more than just practice and games that led to the Loper softball program's success.
 
"We did a lot of things outside of practice, and I think that made us better," Rouzee explained. "At the time people just didn't do that. We hung out, we did everything together."
 
Rouzee's volleyball career saw similar success to her softball one. An NAIA Scholar-Athlete and an NAIA All-American, she helped lead the Lopers to seventh and fourth places finishes at the NAIA championships her junior and senior year respectively.
 
Playing two sports created many opportunities, but it also took up a majority of her time. "It was a fun life, but it was hard to balance everything at the same time," Rouzee reflected.
 
For Rouzee, it was worth it, though. "Women's sports were just emerging and we were getting some attention," she said. "There were a lot of people that were coming out to our games and made a lot of noise. People started to take notice.
 
"We started some really good things there. There have been different names and faces, but a lot of people are still playing and it's meant something to us."
 
With more than 600 wins and three state championships as a volleyball coach for Grand Island Northwest High School, things have come full circle for Rouzee. Her daughter, Jenna, was an All-American setter for the Loper volleyball team and ranks in the top 10 for career assists.
 
The 2013 Omaha World Herald and Lincoln Journal Star Nebraska Girl's High School Coach of the Year, Rouzee wouldn't have it any other way. "We laughed a lot, we had a lot of fun and I wouldn't trade it for the world," she said