Ronika Stone. Photo courtesy UO Athletics.
By the time Ronika Stone was born in 1998, her father, Ron Stone, was already a two-time Super Bowl champion with the Dallas Cowboys.
By the time she started school, her father had added two Pro Bowl appearances with the New York Giants to his résumé.
And by the time she graduates from the University of Oregon in 2020, she will be a legend in her own right, one of the best volleyball players to ever pull on the green and yellow: the school’s all-time leader in block assists, an All-American, an All-Pac-12 standout, and a former member of the US Women’s Junior National Team.
Growing up with a famous parent isn’t always easy—UO volleyball teammate Willow Johnson, herself a two-time All-America Honorable Mention, is the daughter of baseball legend Randy Johnson, and Willow is so reticent to discuss her father that she described him during a volleyball promotion earlier this year as simply a photographer.
But Ronika does not shy away from talking about her father. At all.
“He was playing a lot when I was younger,” she said. “He was gone at games and practices, but when he did have time to be around us, we would do a lot of competition games, like who could do the most sit-ups, the most jump ropes. He was goofy and joked around, and we always thought of him as a big kid.”
(It should be noted that Ron was a very “big kid”—he played right guard in the NFL, keeping Troy Aikman upright and run blocking for the likes of Emmitt Smith and Tiki Barber.)
“I didn’t realize how cool it was to have my dad be a professional athlete until he was in video games, Madden and NFL Street, and some of my guy friends would mention that they used him to play,” said Stone. “Seeing the animated version of him was really cool.”
But when you’re a high-level athlete like Ronika Stone, having a professional athlete for a father carries more than just a “cool” factor—it can also be very beneficial when you need advice. And Ron needed to dole out a lot of advice, as four of the five Stone children—Ronika, Ronna (UO, track and field), Ronnie (Texas Christian University, cheerleading), and Ron Jr. (Washington State University, football)—were involved in collegiate athletics.
l-r: De'ja, Ron Jr., Ronnie, mother Roxanne, Ronna, father Ron, and Ronika Stone. Photo courtesy Ronnie Stone.
And, with Ronika, who was the No. 10-ranked overall prospect in the country coming out of Valley Christian High School in San Jose, California, that advice included how to select the right college.
“He said to get to know the coaches more than just what they’re selling you in the beginning,” she said. “Watch them in games, watch how they react. He reminded me to not focus on the material items that schools had to offer, but who the people were, because we’re stuck with them for four years.”
Ronika’s four years have seen their share of highs and lows, too.
During her freshman season, the Ducks defeated No. 21 Illinois, No. 10 Washington State (twice), No. 20 Utah, No. 8 Washington, and advanced to the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament. Stone lead the team and was third in the Pac-12 in hitting percentage, and earned Pac-12 All Freshman and all-Pac-12 Honorable Mention honors.
Head coach Jim Moore was let go during the offseason, and assistant coach Matt Ulmer was promoted to replace him. During Ulmer’s first year in charge the Ducks defeated No. 5 Nebraska and No. 15 Utah, but once again lost in the Round of 32. Stone started every match for Oregon and lead the team again in hitting percentage, and was named an All-Pac-12 selection and PrepVolleyball All-America Honorable Mention.
The following season the UO went on a tear, beating No. 1 Minnesota, No. 22 Washington State, No. 12 USC, No. 23 Arizona, and No. 19 UW, and in the NCAA Tournament notched another win over the Golden Gophers en route to the Elite Eight. Stone notched 20 kills in the Sweet Sixteen win over Minnesota, and took home AVCA second-team All-America and all-Pac-12 honors.
The stage was set for the team to go even further in Ronika’s senior season in 2019, with one of the nation’s top-ranked recruiting classes arriving in Eugene to bolster the ranks. But three key returning players transferred out during the offseason, costing the Ducks a number of likely starters. The remaining squad was talented but young, with 10 true or redshirt freshmen on a roster of 14 players. They fought hard throughout the first two months of the season—six matches went to five sets, including a 3-2 win over No. 18 Utah—but headed into November with a 6-13 overall record, and just 1-7 against ranked opponents.
Stone and the rest of the Ducks kept fighting, and the UO opened November with an upset win at No. 20 California, where Stone had a team-high 17 kills. While they followed that up with a loss at No. 5 Stanford, the senior right-side hitter—she had been a middle blocker until this year, but changed positions to fit the new lineup—entered the UO record books during the match, taking sole possession of first place in career block assists in school history.
Roxanne, Ronika, and Ron Stone throw the O after the UO defeated No. 20 California on the Bears' home court. Photo courtesy Ronika Stone.
She also kept smiling. One of the most positive, cheerful athletes at the UO, Stone often dances to the music pumping through Matthew Knight Arena while on the court and usually sports a broad grin when she’s playing, regardless of the score. That, she says, is a valuable lesson she learned from her Pro Bowl father.
“He always told me not to show it if I’m struggling,” she said. “Teammates feel that, and opponents can feed off that. He’d always be like, ‘Fix your face.’ That’s always something that has stuck with me.
“[When I’m having a bad day] I still try to smile and still talk to my teammates. The more you keep talking to your team the more you get out of your own head. I’m always trying to talk it out or asking for help. I can’t internalize everything and think it’s all on my shoulders, because it’s not: there’s five other girls on the court.”
It also helps when you’re not afraid to fail. To Ronika, every missed block and every attack that goes out of bounds is just a learning experience she can call on in the next rally.
“Failure is successfully learning what isn’t going to work,” Stone said. “It’s okay to fail. You just have to have a lot of tools in your box. If you only have one thing to go to and another team finds out, what’s next?”
For Ronika, “what’s next?” is her final month as a collegiate volleyball player, eight matches that include five home contests, beginning November 7 against No. 14 Washington and ending on senior night, November 29 against Oregon State. Then, she will finish her journalism degree from the School of Journalism and Communication; she eventually wants to be a broadcast journalist, and once spent a day job shadowing Maria Taylor when ESPN College GameDay came to campus.
“I’ve always wanted to be a broadcast journalist,” Stone said. “In junior high I would always joke around interviewing people. I even interviewed my dad once, jokingly. He really didn’t want to be a part of it. It was cool to be able to do it, because he’s the football coach at my high school. After a game, I ran up to him and (mimes holding out a microphone) yelled, ‘Coach Stone!’ and got him.”
After graduation? Then it will be time to pick an agent and sign with a professional volleyball team overseas.
“Since I started playing in college my goal has been to play at the next level,” said Stone. “I’m always trying to get to the highest level. I don’t know where I want to go because I haven’t spoken to an agent, but I know they’re out there.”
Not surprisingly, Stone’s Super Bowl-winning father has advice to offer about work ethic and setting goals, too.
“He’s always reminding me that there’s a next level and to never settle for where I am now,” she said. “Even when my high school won the state championship for the first time ever he was like, ‘That’s nothing.’ I was like, ‘I guess you’re right.’ It’s always about reaching higher.”
TIPS FROM THE STONES
(Ronika and Ron, not the Rolling)
- People > possessions
- Fix your face
- Learn from failure
- Never settle
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SEE RONIKA IN ACTION
November 7 v No. 14 Washington
November 10 v No. 24 Washington State
November 15 v Arizona
November 17 v Arizona State
November 29 v Oregon State (senior night)
Full schedule at goducks.com
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- by Damian Foley, UO Communications