U.S. Volleyball Captain Ctvrtlik Is Always Game -- Leadership, Longevity Are Asset To His Team

When does an athlete know he or she has made the big time?

For some, it's the day they sign a lucrative endorsement contract.

For figure skaters, it's the sight of a tabloid television-show camera crew setting up on the front yard.

Olympic volleyball player Bob Ctvrtlik knew he had arrived when he spied a card taped to the front of his mother's refrigerator.

"I had a Trivia Pursuit game card," said Ctvrtlik (pronounced stuh-VURT-lick). "The question was: `Who's the 1988 Olympic gold-medalist the Brazilians nicknamed Buy-a-vowel?' That's when I knew I had arrived."

Though Ctvrtlik's name is hardly a household word, it is one of the most respected in American men's volleyball.

He is the captain of the U.S. men's team, which will play the Canadian national team at the Seattle Center Arena tomorrow night. The match is part of a five-city tour the Americans and Canadians are using to tune-up for the next month's Pan Am Games in Argentina.

Ctvrtlik, a 31-year-old outside hitter, is the second-oldest member of the U.S. team. Middle blocker Bryan Ivie is two months older.

Based on Ctvrtlik's longevity and leadership, his teammates have bestowed another nickname on him. They call him "Four Star."

GENERALLY EFFECTIVE

"I guess that's for four-star general," said Ctvrtlik, laughing. "I'm the one who has to keep everyone else in line. I'm the one who has to slap the young guys around."

When Ctvrtlik and Ivie are excluded, the average of the 13-man U.S. team is 24.1.

"I have a wife and a little boy, who is 15 months old," Ctvrtlik said. "No one else on the team really has a steady girlfriend."

Ctvrtlik, a native of Long Beach, Calif., has done it all in the world of volleyball. He won All-America honors while leading Pepperdine to the 1985 NCAA title, and has since played on two U.S. Olympic teams. He earned a gold medal in 1988 at Seoul and a bronze in 1992 at Barcelona.

He also spent three well-paid years on the European professional circuits (Italy and Croatia) and a season on the Bud Light 4-Man Beach Tour.

"I made a ton of money in Europe," said Ctvrtlik, who said players in European and Japanese professional leagues earn salaries of $75,000 to $500,000.

"I hit the three best years ever in Europe. My wife isn't working and she isn't going to have to work."

He rejoined the U.S. team last July, just after the American team went zero for 12 in the $6 million World League tournament. After Ctvrtlik returned, the U.S. team regrouped and finished a surprising third at the 1994 World Championships.

He is committed to playing in the Pan Am Games, the World League tournament and the World Championships this year and the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.

QUESTIONS AFTER '96

After Atlanta his plans get vague. He might take a shot at a proposed indoor American pro league, as a player and/or coach, or he may devote himself full time to a real-estate concern he and his brother share, though he admits "it will be hard to throw away everything I've done in volleyball."

Ctvrtlik said the current tour is intended to give American fans a chance to cheer for "their" team, not catapult his sport to the national stature football, basketball and baseball enjoy.

GROWTH SURGE EXPECTED

He said television coverage is the best vehicle for triggering rapid growth and believes that may happen in Atlanta. After all, he said, even though basketball's Dream Team included Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Michael Jordan, men's volleyball had better television ratings during the 1992 Olympics.

"The Atlanta Games are going to be one of the biggest events ever in the U.S.," Ctvrtlik said, "and volleyball is going to be one of the featured sports.

" We're going to be on TV every day. That's why we need to make a good showing."

----------------- A STOP IN SEATTLE -----------------

What: Stars and Spikes men's volleyball tour.

Who: U.S. National Team vs. Canada.

When: Tomorrow, 7 p.m.

Where: Seattle Center Arena.

Tickets: Available at all TicketMaster outlets ($17.50, $12 and $8, plus service charge) and at the door. For more information call 628-0888.