Christine digs a shot at Huntington Beach, California.

Schaefer is entering her fifth season on the WPVA tour. A graduate and former All-American volleyball player at the University of Minnesota in 1990, Schaefer has one tournament victory, which was at the 1996 Evian Indoor Event at Fairfax, Va. with Karolyn Kirby. At the first stop on the 1997 WPVA tour in Miami, Florida, Schaefer teamed with new partner, Danalee Bragado, and finished in seventh place and in the process, defeated the current number one team in the world of Sandra Pires and Jackie Silva.

Q: You're starting the season with a new partner, Danalee Bragado. How do you assess the competitiveness of your team against the other teams on the tour?

Schaefer: Well, obviously from the first weekend, the competition is getting stronger. We had our 12th and 15th seeds in the semi-finals. So, the competition is really strong. And, Danalee and I are both a couple of young-gun's type players. So, I think we match up well against anybody. We serve tough and we're both big players. So, neither one of us is one of those scrappy little defensive players. But, I think the game is changing a lot and it's kind of a big girl game now. I think we match with anybody.

Q: Are the two of you splitting the blocking?

Schaefer: Yes. Equal time.

Q: For the past few seasons, there has been a dominant team. A few years back, Karolyn Kirby and Liz Masakayan dominated. Then there was Holly McPeak and Nancy Reno. Last season, however, there wasn't really a dominant team. Barbra Fontana and Linda Hanley won a few and McPeak and Lisa Arce won a few near the end of the season, but they didn't really dominate. Is the feeling on the tour that there's more of an opening at the top for more teams to win events this year?

Schaefer: Yes, definitely. I mean, last year was definitely even more open. We had quite a few different winners and I think it's even going to be a little spicier this year. I mean it was obvious, like I said, at the first tournament. It's going to be different in the top four every week. I think Arce and Holly will be in the top four every week. But, I think, hopefully, the (Cammy) Ciarelli/ (Krista) Blomquist's and the Schaefer/Bragado's, and those teams, are going to break into the top four.

Q: What will it take for you and Bragado to start getting into the top four consistently?

Schaefer: I think a lot of it is ball control right now, because the really good teams have great ball control. There's nothing flashy, but they're just very steady. If you can side out, you'll wear down your opponents, and eventually, the points will come. And, I think that's what Danalee and I just need to really focus on, just being able to side out.

Q: I noticed in the first few tournaments, you have some of the FIVB players. In Miami there were the Brazilians, Sandra Pires and Jackie Silva, as well as, Shelda Bede and Adriana Behr. Also, at the upcoming event in Orlando, the Australians, Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst will be playing. Do you think this is a good "building" step for the WPVA and good for the WPVA players to have this level of competition?

Schaefer: Yes, definitely. I mean it makes us more marketable. Better competition is always a benefit. There's a lot of players that will disagree with that, but I think those people speak a little bit in fear of their own money and their own ability to win. I think better competition just makes you better players and it makes our tour more marketable. I don't want them on every stop. I think it's important that we remain a domestic tour. But, I think it's great to give a little flavor, a little flare, to a few of the tournaments.

Q: What are the benefits of playing better players? Why does it help?

Schaefer: If you play better people, you raise your (own) level (of play). I know there's this team that I watched this weekend. They played great against this tough competition and then they played somebody that's not so threatening and then they lost to the lower ranked seed. And, I think players always raise their game to play. I mean, that's what helped me get better. I got beat a lot for two years and that's what made me a better player, a stronger player. Because someone that can do that, get your butt kicked all over the place, and come back for more is mentally what puts you in a state to go, 'you know, I'm not going to let you knock me down. I'm going to come back.' And, you know, I learned so much from playing those teams. Because, you watch them, I mean, granted while you're playing them, you might not be watching so well, but, I learned so much just from seeing players and emulating what they do. So, that's why I think it's so good.

Q: Taking a step back for a moment, to look at last year's Olympics. It seems that the rest of the world has caught up with the U.S.A. The U.S.A. women didn't medal and the men, while they won, had a couple of really close matches. What do you think it's going to take for the U.S.A. to get back to the top? Especially in the women's beach volleyball game?

Schaefer: Well, I don't think that the world has caught up to us yet. I think that Brazil has always been good. I mean, Jackie Silva played on the WPVA. We gave her, her start. And, Australia definitely learned from us. They hired an American coach (Steve Anderson). They have learned a lot from the American game. They spend a lot of their off season here in the United States training against U.S. players. So, I don't exactly think that the world has caught up to the U.S.A. There are a few teams in the world that are definitely good. But, as far as a large pool of players, or a large tour, I think we definitely have the premier beach volleyball tour in the world on the WPVA. The FIVB has got a great tour, but I think the level of competition is still greater on the WPVA. And, I think to regain the medal status, I think that always comes in circles. If it was four years ago, Karolyn and Nancy won in Barcelona. Karolyn and Liz were winning for a year. Nancy and Holly were winning for a year. It seems that things just go in cycles. And, hopefully, we can plan our cycle for 2000, rather than plan it for '98 or '99. But, you know, I don't know if there's some key to that, but I think that, I guarantee that, the U.S.A. will medal in 2000.

Q: What is the key for you, or for anyone, to really become a top ranked player on the pro beach volleyball tour? Skills? Competitiveness? Desire? What is the important key?

Schaefer: You really have to have a drive and a commitment to making this your job. You know, we don't have someone, we don't have a boss. A lot of us don't have a coach that stands over you saying, 'this is where you have to be at this time, this is where you have to be a that time,' which is what I was used to in college. You had to be at practice at two. You had to do weights at five. You had to be at study table at... you know, things like that. So, I think it takes a lot of commitment and knowing that you've got to put in the time. You have to practice. And you have to lift. And you have to run. And you have to watch what you eat. And you have to get sleep. Because the players that are in the best physical shape are the ones that are going to make it through the weekend. I mean, it's a brutal tournament. Two full days, playing maybe three to four matches a day, in the heat, those are the players that make it through. Granted, everybody has some skills, I think. The top level players from 15 up, everybody has the skills. It's just a matter of having the mental commitment and then the physical, being in shape enough to do it for the whole weekend.

Q: Sounds like it takes a lot of discipline.

Schaefer: Exactly. Commitment and discipline. To just tell yourself when you think, I can skip out of the beach a half-an-hour early, but if I was working for someone, would I be able to do that. No! So, I have to remind myself constantly. I couldn't do that if I was going to go in and sit behind a desk, so why do I get to do it just because I set my own hours.

Q: Are you doing volleyball full time? Some of the players have to work part time on the side to be able to play in the sport. What about you?

Schaefer: Yes, this is what I do full time. I gave up working two years ago and committed full time to it. It was tough to pay my bills for a year, but, yeah, it really is the best way to do it. It's tough to be able to go work your waitressing job. You know, work the lunch hour and then try to get on the beach afterwards and then go to the gym, and then get up the next morning and get on the beach again so you can work the night shift and whatever. So, for the women that are doing it right now. it's tough. That takes a lot of discipline.

Q: What's it going to take to get more of the players to be able to do volleyball full time?

Schaefer: Mo' money! I mean the day that we can pay all of our players and everybody is making a living at it is obviously where we're headed. And, a lot of that will come. We just elected a new board of directors this year. And, we've been working a lot on creating a vision, getting a business plan in order, deciding where we want to take our tour, getting the bigger sponsors, the committed sponsors, what we can do to make beach volleyball a major sport in the U.S. Make Holly McPeak a household name like a Steffi Graf or a Monica Seles. I think that we have a good property and a good product that can go to that level, it's just a matter of taking a few risks, I think, right now, in the young stages. Granted we've been around for ten years, but I still think that our tour is pretty fledgling, because the sport isn't one of those old school sports that's been around since the days of the Ancient Greek Olympic games. So, it's just going to take a lot of, I don't know if you want to call it promotion and publicity or whatever, but really, just a positive word of mouth by all of our membership. And then, people that come to our events. And, if our event is a great event, then it's going to spread like wildfire. I think the Olympics helped us out with that a little bit. But, I think that really focusing on making our event something that people enjoy will increase the marketability of our sport.

Q: How about after volleyball hours. What do you do after you're done playing or practicing volleyball? What do you do for fun outside of the game when you step off of the court?

Schaefer: Gosh, lately, I don't even know. It's so funny. Ask any of us, and we're like, we take naps. We take a lot of naps. <laughing!> I also have a group of friends that I really like to hang out with. I do a lot of sporting events. I just went and played on my boyfriend's basketball team last week. And we went to the San Diego Padres opening day. I live for Kentucky basketball, so during March, I was glued to March Madness. But, pretty much, I'm a homebody. Off the court, I just kind of hang out.

Q: Thank you for your time.

Schaefer: You're welcome.