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Defense runs in the family for USC's Concepcion
Defensive specialist Dinelia Concepcion is on pace to finish among the top 10 all-time in USC history in digs per game.
PHOTOGRAPH PROVIDED BY USC SPORTS INFORMATION DEPARTMENT
Written by JOSEPH PERSON
jperson@thestate.com
Posted on 09.03.08
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Dinelia Concepcion is asked the question a lot, so she offered an understanding smile Tuesday when a reporter asked about her baseball-playing father.
“We’re going to change her name to ‘daughter of Onix,’ ” South Carolina volleyball coach Ben Somera said.
Onix Concepcion played seven seasons in the major leagues as a utility infielder for the Kansas City Royals (1980-85) and Pittsburgh Pirates (1987). The Puerto Rican-born Concepcion played in the World Series with the Royals in 1980 and ’85 and retired with a career .239 batting average and .960 fielding percentage.
His son, Onix Jr., played high school baseball and hopes to play in college, while his daughter has carved out a name for herself as a defensive specialist for the Gamecocks.
Dinelia (pronounced dih-KNEEL-yuh) Concepcion said the two biggest sports in her native Puerto Rico are baseball and volleyball. She chose the latter.
“I’d go out (to the baseball fields) with them when my brother would practice with my dad,” said Concepcion, whose family moved to Florida when she was 12.
That was the extent of her baseball background. Born in November 1987, a couple of months after her father’s final season, Concepcion said most of what she knows about her dad’s career she found on the back of the baseball cards collectors mail to their home in Deltona, Fla., for him to autograph.
Father and daughter are similar in stature. The 5-foot-6 Onix has a few inches on Dinelia, who is listed at 5-5 in the USC media guide but says she is closer to 5-3.
Being closer to the ground than her teammates benefits Concepcion at her position, which calls for her to receive an opponent’s serve and dig out spike attempts.
Her father observed that Dinelia’s defensive positioning is much like an infielder’s: backside low, knees bent and hands down to make sure the ball does not get past her.
“You’ve got to be quick on your feet, just like (baseball),” she said.
Concepcion, a senior who splits time with Sarah Cline, averaged 3.34 digs per game last season and is on pace to finish among USC’s top 10 all time in the category.
“I’m kind of short for volleyball,” she said. “So you’ve got to play to your potential and do more than people expect you to.”
After graduating eighth in her high school class of 500, Concepcion has continued to do well academically at USC. She has a 3.5 grade-point average in her double major of criminal justice and international studies, and she hopes to attend law school.
Somera said Concepcion has an energizing effect on the Gamecocks.
“Everyone gets better technically at the (college) level,” Somera said. “It’s about being able to bring it day in and day out, and ‘Dee’ does that.”
Reach Person at (803) 771-8496.
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