TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Volleyball: Love at first sight for Brandon's Stephens

ADVERTISEMENT

By NICK WILLIAMS

nwilliams@tampatrib.com

Published: October 2, 2009

Updated: 10/02/2009 12:11 am

BRANDON - Jaclyn Stephens has a passion for volleyball.

The sport is more than just an extracurricular activity for the Brandon High 18-year-old.

Volleyball opened doors for a girl who came to the school hoping to fit in.

"It introduced me to new people," she said. "I've met some great friends."

Stephens, born Svetlana Ivanova, was adopted from a Russian orphanage by a Brandon family four years ago. When she enrolled at Brandon, the administration suggested that the nearly 6-foot incoming freshman join the volleyball team.

Her love of the sport came instantly.

"For some reason, I liked it," Jaclyn said. "I saw something great in being on a team. The people were really nice."

Jaclyn played on the junior varsity team as a freshman and made the jump to varsity as a sophomore. In her two years on varsity, Jaclyn has helped Brandon win two district titles and reach the elite eight at the state tournament.

"She's night and day from when she first started," said Brandon coach Amy Watson. "The language was such a barrier at first."

Jaclyn said communicating with other teens on a daily basis improved her English. Striving to be great at volleyball helped her self-esteem.

"I tell you, it blossomed her," said Jaclyn's mother, Mary Nasca. "I'm not sure what direction she would have had if she didn't love volleyball."

Jaclyn was the product of a broken home in Pechory, Russia, a city with a population of a little more than 10,000.

Her mother abandoned her at an early age, but took her baby sister Imma, who was a year younger.

Stephens and her younger brother, Igor, stayed with their father, who struggled to make ends meet despite working two jobs.

Igor lived in a 24-hour day care five days a week because their father could not care for him, while Stephens spent countless hours alone at home.

Her father's instability led to her being taken away.

During a rare visit from Imma, child services arrived at their father's home to take the sisters into custody. Stephens, then 10, said officials contacted Russian social services to investigate Imma's well-being when it discovered she was not attending school. Stephens said officials determined her father was unfit as a parent, and took her into custody as well.

Stephens remembers running and screaming, with fear in her heart, and seeing the sadness in her father's eyes.

"I remember sitting in the car with my sister and they were taking us away," she said. "My dad was saying he would come back to get us ... but he never did."

Igor was also taken into custody, and all three children were put into an orphanage, but only Stephens and Igor stayed together. Stephens and Igor spent the next four years in the orphanage, and as she grew older, Stephens' chances of being adopted lessened. She constantly worried about if Igor would be adopted.

"The worst part was coming home to no one, no one to love you," she said. "When you don't have someone to love you, you become rough. I had to take care of myself. That was the harsh reality of being in an orphanage, knowing your parents never came back to get you."

Robert Stephens and Mary Nasca were dating when they read an article in The Tampa Tribune about a group of Russian orphans who were coming to Florida and needed host families.

That's when they met Svetlana, 13, and Igor, 6.

"I just wanted to take them to Disney World and show them a good time," Robert Stephens said. "When she and her brother got off the plane, it was love at first sight."

Svetlana and Igor stayed with Stephens and Nasca for two weeks. It felt right. It felt like a family.

Stephens and Nasca, both in their mid-50s, decided to adopt the two children. Nasca had a son who was an adult at the time of the adoption. During the 11-month adoption process, Stephens and Nasca married (Nasca kept her last name), Svetlana became Jaclyn-Marie Svetlana Stephens. Igor was named Robert Igor Stephens.

The family hired a translator and enrolled the children in a small private school in Brandon.

Jaclyn said Imma was adopted by a family in St. Louis.

When their daughter took an interest in volleyball, Stephens and Nasca were eager to support her new hobby.

Jaclyn wants to be an attorney someday and work in international affairs. Last summer, the family visited Russia, and Jaclyn was able to see her father and an older sister. Imma is expected to visit later this year.

"I'm happier now," Jaclyn said. "Of course I am."

Reporter Nick Williams can be reached at (813) 259-7851.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT

• Sign up now - it's free!
• Post Your Photos