Her stats aren't eye-popping. Neither is her English. But her volleyball, that's more than fine.

Pelin Yurtman loves to play volleyball. And if she were to say that, it would sound something like this, "Voleybol Oynamayi seviyorum."

You see, Yurtman is from Istanbul, Turkey, and currently an exchange student at Hope Lutheran High School.

"Volleyball is my life," Yurtman said. "I love to play."

The Patriots couldn't feel luckier to have her and Yurtman has been an amazing surprise.

"As long as I've been coaching or participating in volleyball, I've never had a foreign athlete that signs up for something and plays as well as she has," Hope Lutheran coach Angie Meyer said.

The Patriots' program is heading into its third season. They just picked up their first ever Southeast Conference win last week. They are young and learning. Yurtman is years ahead of the program that is still trying to make its way.

"We're such a young program," Meyer said. "We have to work from the bottom up every year."

Meyer didn't know what she had in Yurtman come Day 1 of practice. It didn't take long for her to realize she found her setter.

"We knew she was coming and had played volleyball, but we've had foreign exchange students in the past," Meyer said. "But her host mother (Shannon Bautch) said, 'I think she really plays volleyball.'

"We got her on the court and it was like 'Wow, you do play. Now we need to catch up.'"

But Yurtman has to play catch up, too. She doesn't speak English well and she can't, as senior Christine Klug mentioned, always have her "handy Turkey-English dictionary ready." That's just not going to happen in the middle of a volleyball match.

"Excuse me ref, while I check my dictionary."

Oh, wait, she wouldn't be able to say that either.

So, spoken communication is a little troublesome at times, but the Patriots (3-5) manage. Hand gestures work OK and, if all else fails, "(Yurtman) just grabs you and puts you where she wants you," senior Katie Paszkiewicz said with a laugh.

The communication barrier will actually make the Patriots a better team, too.

"They have stepped up and realized there are communication issues," Meyer said. "Now, they communicate much better. They're also learning to figure out who's going where."

Hope is learning and Yurtman is teaching or trying to. For some players of Yurtman's talent, playing on a sub-.500 team could be frustrating. With her, it's anything but.

"I've never coached somebody this talented with this kind of attitude," Meyer said. "Most players at her level are nothing but frustrated if not playing around elite teammates. But Pelin is patient and cares a lot about her teammates."

And Meyer may admit Yurtman could be more patient a coach than coach is.

"There are times when I'm frustrated as coach," Meyer said. "I look at her and expect her to be reacting in the same way, but I haven't seen it. She is the first one saying it's OK. I think she understands the team's situation and likes the girls she's playing with."

Yurtman will go back home after she graduates. She hopes to come back to the States. She wants to go to college. She wants to play volleyball. Problem is, she's not going to get much exposure at Hope Lutheran.

"We're trying to figure out how we can best help her there," Meyer said. "We believe she's very scholarship worthy.

The hard part is she's not going to get the stats here."

The plan is to get her on a junior Olympic team. It won't take long after that. And, if coaches get a glimpse of, not just Yurtman's skills, but her attitude, they'll be dying to have her.