Remembering Steve Lowe's legacy
September 21, 2016 | Volleyball
Badgers honor former head coach with 25th-annual Steve Lowe Night
BY ANDY BAGGOT
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. -- To know Steve Lowe is to know that he wouldn't be a bit surprised by what we're seeing from the Wisconsin volleyball program.
The Badgers are a perennial national powerhouse and a prime recruiting destination.
They just moved into new, state-of-the-art headquarters and are on pace to smash season attendance records
.
They are ranked third in the nation, 8-1 overall, having just run a non-league gauntlet in which they knocked off two top-10 opponents on the road.
They sold more than 3,000 season tickets for the first time in school history and expect sellout crowds at the Field House for Big Ten Conference matches with No. 17 Ohio State on Friday night and Maryland on Saturday night.
UW is living the dream Lowe surely had for the program when he inherited it in 1986.
His remarkable tenure – which included the first Big Ten title and NCAA tournament berth in program history – spanned four seasons before he died of lung cancer in August of 1991. Lowe, a non-smoker, was 35.
"He was a big visionary," said Liz Tortorello-Nelson, a captain and setter for the Badgers from 1988 to '91.
Consider the recruiting pitch Lowe made to Arlisa Hagan-Williams, who became a standout middle blocker from 1989 to '92 as well as a captain.
"He said, 'We're going to do good things here. We're going to be Big Ten champions here. We're going to be nationally recognized here,'" she recalled.
A quarter-century later, fourth-year coach Kelly Sheffield is ably building on that foundation.
Lowe's legacy and prescience will be celebrated Friday when the 25th anniversary of Steve Lowe Night is staged.
One of the highlights of the pre-match ceremony will occur when senior middle blocker Tori Blake receives the Steve Lowe Memorial Scholarship from his son, Ian, and grandson, Kai.
Hagan-Williams, now in her 11th season as the coach at Georgetown, said she and her former UW teammates recently reminisced about Lowe as part of a big text message thread.
"He was such an encourager and supporter of us," she said. "He sold us a dream and then helped us realize that dream. He was an amazing person.
"When you have someone who believes that you can do great things and teaches you how to do those things and trains you with a passion and a purpose every single day, it's not hard not to be influenced by that."
Hagan-Williams said she wouldn't be involved in coaching volleyball were it not for Lowe. Basketball was her game growing up in Louisville, Kentucky, but Lowe not only offered her her only Division I volleyball scholarship, he dutifully kept his promises.
"There are definitely times where I think of Steve and just what he tried to instill in us," she said. "He really emphasized the importance of us.
"Steve believed in me and believed in us as a group of players in a way you don't see very often."
Tortorello-Nelson is a former coach at Loyola who's now involved with volleyball at multiple levels. She coaches middle-school teams. She has 13-year-old daughter Ava playing at the club level while directing the prep program at Chicago Latin. She also serves as a color commentator for the Big Ten Network.
"The biggest thing I think about is that I'm still involved with volleyball because of him," Tortorello-Nelson said. "That wouldn't have happened if it weren't for Steve.
"You do need people in your life at a young age to tell you how important a sport is and how you can contribute to it."
Lowe inherited a team that went 7-24 overall in 1985. In short order, Wisconsin went 16-18 in '86 to 19-10 in '87, 16-16 in '88 and 26-11 in 1989.
The breakthroughs came in 1990. The Badgers lost their first three matches, including one to top-rated UCLA, but finished 29-8 overall. They compiled a 16-2 mark in the Big Ten, winning the program's first conference championship, and advanced to their first NCAA tournament, advancing to the Sweet 16 where they fell to Penn State. Along the way, senior Lisa Boyd was named the first Big Ten Player of the Year for Wisconsin and also became the UW's first All-American.
"He had big dreams and goals himself and he was able to recruit so well in a short period of time to make that happen," Tortorello-Nelson said. "I had confidence that he was going to build something special."
Lowe died at Meriter Hospital less than four weeks after his diagnosis. He was admitted July 27 with a blood clot and breathing problems. He died Aug. 22.
"We didn't really expect Steve to die," Hagan-Williams said. "He went into the hospital and never came out."
After news of Lowe's passing became known, Tortorello-Nelson remembers team members and UW officials – including a psychologist – gathering at her Spring Street apartment to console one another.
"Most of us had never dealt with death before," she said. "Maybe a couple girls on the team had lost a grandparent, but at that age you never know. We all dealt with it at different times."
Hagan-Williams described the whole experience as "a really big fog" in which "we pulled in tight as a unit and supported one another."
Tortorello-Nelson said her senior season in 1991, which began Aug. 31, was a struggle in part because everyone seemed to have different grieving schedules. Not just the players, either. Coaches and administrators, too.
"We surely were tough enough to handle it on the volleyball court," Tortorello-Nelson said. "It was away from the court when it was hard.
"Once you were done (grieving) and you thought you could move on, your teammate wasn't.
"We still had so much we wanted to do."
Under interim coach Margie Fitzpatrick, the Badgers went 22-10 overall and finished third in the Big Ten at 14-5.
So much has changed with Wisconsin volleyball, but so much seems to be the same.
Hagan-Williams said Lowe would "still be great" as a coach even though he'd be 60.
"With this particular population that we're coaching now, it's really about the relationships," she said. "That was one of his most important pieces."
Tortorello-Nelson said club volleyball in Wisconsin exists because of Lowe. Same goes for the passionate fan base that looks forward to celebrating the first national championship in program history.
"He represented so much," she said. "He just got everyone connected somehow, some way."
                                                                   --30--
Â
UWBadgers.com Insider
MADISON, Wis. -- To know Steve Lowe is to know that he wouldn't be a bit surprised by what we're seeing from the Wisconsin volleyball program.
The Badgers are a perennial national powerhouse and a prime recruiting destination.
They just moved into new, state-of-the-art headquarters and are on pace to smash season attendance records
.
They are ranked third in the nation, 8-1 overall, having just run a non-league gauntlet in which they knocked off two top-10 opponents on the road.
They sold more than 3,000 season tickets for the first time in school history and expect sellout crowds at the Field House for Big Ten Conference matches with No. 17 Ohio State on Friday night and Maryland on Saturday night.
UW is living the dream Lowe surely had for the program when he inherited it in 1986.
His remarkable tenure – which included the first Big Ten title and NCAA tournament berth in program history – spanned four seasons before he died of lung cancer in August of 1991. Lowe, a non-smoker, was 35.
"He was a big visionary," said Liz Tortorello-Nelson, a captain and setter for the Badgers from 1988 to '91.
Consider the recruiting pitch Lowe made to Arlisa Hagan-Williams, who became a standout middle blocker from 1989 to '92 as well as a captain.
"He said, 'We're going to do good things here. We're going to be Big Ten champions here. We're going to be nationally recognized here,'" she recalled.
A quarter-century later, fourth-year coach Kelly Sheffield is ably building on that foundation.
Lowe's legacy and prescience will be celebrated Friday when the 25th anniversary of Steve Lowe Night is staged.
One of the highlights of the pre-match ceremony will occur when senior middle blocker Tori Blake receives the Steve Lowe Memorial Scholarship from his son, Ian, and grandson, Kai.
Hagan-Williams, now in her 11th season as the coach at Georgetown, said she and her former UW teammates recently reminisced about Lowe as part of a big text message thread.
"He was such an encourager and supporter of us," she said. "He sold us a dream and then helped us realize that dream. He was an amazing person.
"When you have someone who believes that you can do great things and teaches you how to do those things and trains you with a passion and a purpose every single day, it's not hard not to be influenced by that."
Hagan-Williams said she wouldn't be involved in coaching volleyball were it not for Lowe. Basketball was her game growing up in Louisville, Kentucky, but Lowe not only offered her her only Division I volleyball scholarship, he dutifully kept his promises.
"There are definitely times where I think of Steve and just what he tried to instill in us," she said. "He really emphasized the importance of us.
"Steve believed in me and believed in us as a group of players in a way you don't see very often."
Tortorello-Nelson is a former coach at Loyola who's now involved with volleyball at multiple levels. She coaches middle-school teams. She has 13-year-old daughter Ava playing at the club level while directing the prep program at Chicago Latin. She also serves as a color commentator for the Big Ten Network.
"The biggest thing I think about is that I'm still involved with volleyball because of him," Tortorello-Nelson said. "That wouldn't have happened if it weren't for Steve.
"You do need people in your life at a young age to tell you how important a sport is and how you can contribute to it."
Lowe inherited a team that went 7-24 overall in 1985. In short order, Wisconsin went 16-18 in '86 to 19-10 in '87, 16-16 in '88 and 26-11 in 1989.
The breakthroughs came in 1990. The Badgers lost their first three matches, including one to top-rated UCLA, but finished 29-8 overall. They compiled a 16-2 mark in the Big Ten, winning the program's first conference championship, and advanced to their first NCAA tournament, advancing to the Sweet 16 where they fell to Penn State. Along the way, senior Lisa Boyd was named the first Big Ten Player of the Year for Wisconsin and also became the UW's first All-American.
"He had big dreams and goals himself and he was able to recruit so well in a short period of time to make that happen," Tortorello-Nelson said. "I had confidence that he was going to build something special."
Lowe died at Meriter Hospital less than four weeks after his diagnosis. He was admitted July 27 with a blood clot and breathing problems. He died Aug. 22.
"We didn't really expect Steve to die," Hagan-Williams said. "He went into the hospital and never came out."
After news of Lowe's passing became known, Tortorello-Nelson remembers team members and UW officials – including a psychologist – gathering at her Spring Street apartment to console one another.
"Most of us had never dealt with death before," she said. "Maybe a couple girls on the team had lost a grandparent, but at that age you never know. We all dealt with it at different times."
Hagan-Williams described the whole experience as "a really big fog" in which "we pulled in tight as a unit and supported one another."
Tortorello-Nelson said her senior season in 1991, which began Aug. 31, was a struggle in part because everyone seemed to have different grieving schedules. Not just the players, either. Coaches and administrators, too.
"We surely were tough enough to handle it on the volleyball court," Tortorello-Nelson said. "It was away from the court when it was hard.
"Once you were done (grieving) and you thought you could move on, your teammate wasn't.
"We still had so much we wanted to do."
Under interim coach Margie Fitzpatrick, the Badgers went 22-10 overall and finished third in the Big Ten at 14-5.
So much has changed with Wisconsin volleyball, but so much seems to be the same.
Hagan-Williams said Lowe would "still be great" as a coach even though he'd be 60.
"With this particular population that we're coaching now, it's really about the relationships," she said. "That was one of his most important pieces."
Tortorello-Nelson said club volleyball in Wisconsin exists because of Lowe. Same goes for the passionate fan base that looks forward to celebrating the first national championship in program history.
"He represented so much," she said. "He just got everyone connected somehow, some way."
                                                                   --30--
Â
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