When children pick up sports, they often visualize themselves as an integral part of a championship dynasty by being voted the Most Valuable Player and, the greatest childhood fantasy, scoring the game-winning point. So when hearing how Juan Carlos Lopez is content with just being a fill-in-the-blank man, it kind of makes you want to check your hearing.
"Whatever (head coach Joel Walton) tells me to do," Lopez said. "Sometimes I may not like it, but if it's for the team, I'll do it."
"Juan has made a great contribution to our team," Walton explained, "and not necessarily the way most players do by numbers and statistics. He's a versatile player and his role has been very important to our program."
"Back home, volleyball is the main sport and everyone loves it," Lopez said. "I've been in this a long time and he's been a coach since I was little." Lopez attended Colegio La Piedad, where he was a two-sport athlete playing volleyball for his father and baseball. He was voted MVP in volleyball all four years and was MVP twice in baseball. When the time came to attend a college, Lopez saw the value of education at Ball State before seeing the great volleyball tradition. "I knew they had a great volleyball program," Lopez said, "but I also wanted a good education and I knew they had a good accounting program." When Lopez first tried out, his future with the team was up in the air. However, he never lost hope. Since he has been at Ball State, Lopez has brought many valuable assets to the team. Walton considers him to be a factor in the success of this year's squad. "He's been a glue-type of player," Walton said. "Whatever we've asked him to do he's been able to do it. I think his greatest strength is his versatility and his willingness to do whatever we've asked to help the team. He's just a very mature, intelligent and dedicated person and we're a better team because he's been a part of our squad." Lopez, in his final season at Ball State, has seen the past four teams and separates this year's team from the others in terms of cohesiveness. "Out of the four years I've been here, this is the team that has gotten along the most," Lopez says. "There's a great chemistry going on between us." That chemistry may be tied directly to him, whom teammate and fellow senior Paul Fasshauer said keeps everyone happy. "He's a very energetic person in practice," Fasshauer says. "He always keeps everyone motivated." Probably no player on the men's volleyball team would know more about being motivated by Lopez than sophomore Jary Delgado, who also is from Carolina. "He's my best friend and he's always supporting me," Delgado said. "We're best friends and at the same time I consider him like my brother," Lopez said of Delgado. "When he came here I tried to guide him through things because he was a freshman. When I came here I didn't have anyone to look out for me so I knew what it was like. And we always have fun." So it should be no surprise that Lopez credits his famous dive to Delgado. The dive is a little show -Lopez comes out of a game and players form a bridge off court for him to dive under. "We're always joking around and at the same time we're focused on the game," Lopez said. "If I'm not playing that day, I'll just do that and have fun. The guys like it too, so I don't mind." With the end of the season approaching, Lopez took time to visualize his hopes for this year. "I just want to go to the final four," Lopez said. "Anything less than that, I don't think it will be good."
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