VANCOUVER - Whether he's strapped on his trusty six-string to shred through his favourite Alice in Chains tune, or he's rising to deliver a ferocious kill on the volleyball court, Steve Gotch plays with the volume knob at 10.
The UBC Thunderbirds' hard-swinging, guitar-slinging senior outside hitter is all power, all the time, despite the laid-back, surfer boy persona the Okotoks, Alta., native projects away from the court.
"You might expect him to be as fiery off the court," UBC head coach Richard Schick says of the 6-foot-4 Gotch, Canada West's leader in total kills. "But I never doubt that he wants every ball. It's just like Michael Jordan. Why did he want every shot? Because he just thinks that he can succeed."
Blessed with the kind of vertical leaping ability that puts him head and shoulders above a crowd of opposition blockers, Gotch is coming off a weekend sweep of crosstown rival Trinity Western in which he managed 27 kills in the second match, earning Canada West Player of the Week honours for his cold-blooded efficiency.
"Once I get into that competitive mode, it's a little bit fierce sometimes," admits the soft-spoken Gotch, who transferred to UBC from the University of Calgary and sat out the 2006-07 season as a redshirt. "I think I scare people sometimes, but the guys on this team know what to expect from me."
In his fifth and final season, the expectation is to leave everything on the court to try and help UBC (5-3) make a third straight trip to the CIS national tournament and win a title that has eluded the men's program since the 1982-83 season. UBC resumes play after the CIS winter break on Jan. 10 at Calgary.
And Gotch, still hobbled by offseason surgery on his left knee for a torn meniscus suffered in July during a beach volleyball event, is certainly setting an example for his teammates in perseverance.
"It took me seven or eight weeks to get back on the court," says Gotch, who won the national Under-24 beach title in the summer of 2007. "It's pretty much just flat-out pain, but as soon as I step on the floor in a match, the adrenaline seems to take the pain away. But after a weekend of two big matches, I am definitely feeling it when I am walking."
Yet it's walking the walk instead of talking the talk.
And when it comes to jumping, Gotch owns a vertical that is as breathtaking as his ability to wrack up kills (4.93 per game).
"He makes certain things look easy," says Schick. "Especially offensively. He has a phenomenal jump. He's got to be touching over 11 feet. Some guys can reach that height, but he's attacking under control at that height as well."
It's a high for Gotch, just like his music.
Gotch has been jamming with freshman setter Rex Fenton, a drummer, and he says their selection of both Alice in Chains and progressive-rock faves The Mars Volta is almost ready for public consumption.
"Well, I could see us performing for the team," he laughs. "But we'd still have to charge for admission."
It's no leap to expect -- as on the volleyball court -- a killer show.

© The Vancouver Province 2008