Lawrence and Saundra Gibb had no intentions of raising their son, Jake, to become a professional beach volleyball player. For the Gibbs, a bump was something in the road and digging was done with a shovel. The beach was a place to vacation — not earn a living.
Still, they did name their son Jacob Spiker Gibb. OK, so Spiker is Sister Gibb's maiden name. But Jake's middle name does suit him well. The Utah-born returned missionary has become one of the rising stars on the American pro beach two-man volleyball circuit where a powerful spike — along with bumping and digging skills — are precious tools.
Over the past few months, Jake, 27, and his partner, Adam Jewell, have established themselves as one of the top 10 teams in the country. Long and lean, the 6-foot-7-inch Gibb looks like he was born to contend for the "King of the Beach" crown. In fact, he's still a bit awestruck to find himself among the sport's elite.
Most pro players are Southern Californians who learned the bump-set-spike basics soon after leaving the cradle. Growing up in Bountiful, Utah, young Jake was interested in basketball.
"I thought volleyball was mostly a women's sport," he said.
It wasn't until he was a senior in high school that he learned anything about the game when some friends asked him to join a club team. Jake was an admitted liability, especially when he had to handle the ball.
"I wasn't good at all," he recalled while laughing. But he quickly found he was an effective blocker — a skill that would serve him well years later.
Jake graduated from high school and was soon answering to Elder Gibb, laboring as a full-time missionary in the Costa Rica San Jose Mission. Preparation days often found him bumping a volleyball around with his fellow missionaries, but it was little more than a diversion from the demands of preaching the gospel.
When he returned home he enrolled in the University of Utah, intent on claiming a business degree and eventually earning a salary in the traditional workplace. But his hankering for volleyball grew. The Gibbs' backyard was soon a dirt patch thanks to daylong volleyball matches between him and his friends. Saturdays were passed at Salt Lake-area parks and sand courts competing in regional tournaments and working his way through the local two-man ranks.
Eventually he found himself playing across the net from the "big dogs" in Utah's open tournaments. When he and his partner began winning week after week he began wondering how he'd fare on the fabled Golden State beaches.
After completing his degree, he headed to California. Many American pro beach volleyball players developed their skills and reputation on six-man college teams. Jake had never played a match of collegiate volleyball and had few contacts in the sport. He was an admitted unknown in the California volleyball community. Still, he didn't travel alone. Joining him was his wife of three years and fellow volleyball-lover, Jane, who agreed to support her husband while he tried to break into the pro beach ranks. He was not warmly embraced at the beach. The California volleyball culture demands would-be players earn their place in the sand. But the player from Utah had talent, size and desire. He competed in qualifying tournaments and eventually caught the eye of volleyball icon Karch Kiraly, a three-time Olympic gold medalist. Kiraly asked Gibb to be one of his training partners. The guy who was once the weak man on his Utah high school club volleyball team was honing his skills with one of the sport's best.
"It was a thrill. I was training with my idol," Gibb said.
He spent the winter months of January and February of 2003 focusing entirely on his volleyball fitness. The work has paid off. His blocking prowess earned him a partnership with Jewell, an established tour player. The two recently beat the world's top team, placed third in a major tournament and have earned a number-9 ranking in the American pro volleyball tour.
His Church ties have made him perhaps an anomaly in the play-hard-party-hard beach volleyball world. The fact that Jake doesn't drink or party after tournaments is not always understood by the other players, "but it's respected."
It has helped that he and Jane have stayed close to the Church. He enjoys working with the young men, serving as a teacher's quorum adviser in the Fountain Valley 2nd Ward, Huntington Beach California Stake. His wife teaches Primary. He said he's often approached by Church members who attend volleyball tournaments, curious to know if he's a Mormon.
While many pro athletes peak before they hit 30, beach volleyball players can continue their careers through their 40s. Jacob Spiker Gibb hopes a decade of success stands in front of him.
E-mail: jswensen@desnews.com
