Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 27, 1994 TAG: 9401280003
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RADFORD LENGTH: Medium
That's her best attribute off the court, as well.
Seldom does a day pass without a good deed or a kind word from Nester, who regularly bestows gifts and baked goodies and cheerful notes upon her friends and teammates at Radford. Her serves always score points.
Her homemade chocolate chip cookies have become a prematch ritual. One taste and it's no wonder Nester has been voted team co-captain two years running.
``I just want everybody to get excited about the games,'' Nester said.
Who better suited for leadership than Nester, whose fortitude has been steeled by digging ditches and laying cinder blocks in Austria and sleeping on the ground after a humid day of boot camp in Florida? Those were a couple of the ways she spent her summer vacation.
Nester, along with Radford classmate Brent Strange, journeyed to Europe for nearly six weeks last summer as part of a teen mission group. Her assignment was to help with the remodeling of a Christian counseling center in the small Austrian town of Villach, but she wound up doing many more arduous tasks, such as installing septic tanks.
That adventure was a piece of cake compared with the premission militaristic training she underwent in Florida. For two weeks, she rose at 5 a.m., ran an obstacle course, took classes in block-laying and carpentry, attended evangelical rallies, and went to bed with the mosquitoes in a tent. She washed her clothes in a bucket with water from a pump.
``The purpose [of the training] is to have culture shock before you go on your mission,'' said Nester.
The shock therapy worked. Things were easier in Austria. She and the other girls slept in a barn, for example.
``That was a treat,'' she said, although ``you could hear the rats running around.''
After Austria, the group spent a week in Switzerland before Nester returned home to Radford for the first time in two months.
``I appreciated things a lot more when I got home,'' she said.
She skipped basketball season in order to rest up for volleyball.
The team is like her: selfless, hard-working and well-rounded. The Bobcats also happen to be in the hunt for an up-for-grabs New River District title.
Without question, the team's best player is Cathy Richardson, the school's best female athlete. Other players have talents to lend. Ashleigh Funk is a good blocker, Stephanie Smith is a fine passer, freshman Charlee Taylor is a blossoming star, and Nester ... her game is like her life. She does whatever needs to be done.
With her strong serve, she's usually Radford's top scorer, and her 5-foot-10 frame makes her tough around the net. Her greatest contributions can't always be measured in points and inches, however.
``Lesley is always positive,'' said Debbie Carlson, Radford's volleyball coach. ``She's an excellent leader. When it comes right down to it, we don't have a lot of all-around athletes. We all work well together. Everybody likes each other.''
Everybody especially likes Nester, for whom doing unselfish deeds (such as making lasagna with Richardson for teammates) isn't a way to buy the admiration of others. It's her way of life.
In addition to her mission work, she has volunteered as a hospital worker and has stayed active in other school, church and civic activities. All while keeping her grades above water.
Currently, Nester has a 3.4 grade point average in a class schedule that includes advanced-placement English and government (for which she is earning college credits), trigonometry, algebra and third-year French.
Amazingly, her class schedule is lighter than last year. So she uses her spare time this year to help out as an office assistant.
Her schedule will stay full throughout the winter and spring, when she will play club volleyball and will probably be the No. 3 player on the tennis team.
``I just love to play,'' said Nester. ``We all push ourselves to be good. That's part of my role as captain.''
Captain Nester is one tough cookie.
by CNB