Cream always rises to the top

Charlie Brande

This morning at 10, Newport Harbor High’s April Ross will be

honored at Newport’s Davidson Field by Gatorade as the National

Volleyball Player of tje Year.

In the long line of volleyball successes in the Newport-Mesa area, she

is the first Gatorade Player of the Year recipient.

Last year’s winner was Logan Tom from Utah, who was a first-team NCAA

All-American at Stanford University this past fall.

This morning’s ceremony will honor Newport’s CIF champion football

team, as well.

April is the most versatile volleyball player to ever play in our

area. After middle blocking as a freshman on the varsity, she moved to

the ball-control outside hitting spot for her sophomore and junior years,

and, after moving to setter, played all three positions during her senior

year, which ended with Newport winning the California State Division I

championship, again.

She joins an elite group of former area players who were honored as

the National Player of the Year. In the 1980s, Newport’s Lara Asper and

Jenny Evans were named after leading their teams to state championship

matches. The 1994 national championship Newport Harbor team featured

Misty May, who, like April, could play many different positions, although

she was used as an outside hitter for Newport.

Extremely talented, April was a very good soccer player in her

pre-high school days. In track, she excels in the jumping events and was

a state finalist in the high jump. She played three years of basketball

for Newport and was named the Newport-Mesa Player of the Year last year.

I asked her high school volleyball coach, dan Glenn, to give me a

funny “April” story that nobody had ever reported and this is the result.

It seems that during a very stressful moment of the 1997 CIF semifinal

match with Mira Costa, April, only a sophomore, looked at her teammates

and asked, “Why panic? They are only mere mortals.” Dan could not

understand why his team was laughing so hard during this big-time match

until he heard her comment.

One of the great joys of my profession is to observe as hundreds of

athletes move through their lives. The changes and life paths chosen are

the reward. April’s progression from a wide-eyed eighth-grader who played

with great enthusiasm to an even more wide-eyed freshman on Newport’s

varsity, were indications of her love for the sport.

As a sophomore who started on many Orange County Volleyball Club NIKE

teams, which won the Volleyball Festival National Championships, she led

from the middle blocking position in the 18s division made up of mostly

seniors in high school.

After a junior year as CIF Player of the Year and state champion, she

was understandably confident in her abilities.

As a senior, April has the confidence and understanding to maintain a

role that few people ever reach. Obviously talented and very charismatic,

she understands that volleyball is a team game. To me, she has become the

consummate team player, which is the greatest compliment one can receive.

Last night, Gatorade sponsored a dinner to honor April. She could

invite anybody she wanted. The invitations went to her family, Dan Glenn

and Athletic Director Eric Tweit from Newport, Jerritt Elliot, who will

be her college coach at the University of Southern California, and

myself. The remaining invitees were her entire Newport Harbor girls

volleyball team, which is another example of their importance to her.

Talented athletically, blessed with tremendous charisma, coupled with

great passion for sports and their inherent relationships, April Ross is

a person who should be one of those great role models which younger

players can emulate and respect for many years.