Kris Hartwell

Rick Devereux

The Estancia High School boys volleyball team is on the precipice of

making history by sweeping its way to a CIF Southern Section Division

III championship. That’s right, the Eagles haven’t lost a single game

against the best teams in their division.

A major reason for the Eagles’ dominant run has been Kris

Hartwell. The senior outside hitter tallied 39 kills and 16 service

aces in the first four rounds of the postseason and has continually

come up with key digs and inspirational plays. On the off chance that

Estancia has a poor pass that sends setter Trevor Holmes out of

position, he usually tries to find Hartwell to bail out the team.

“I like being known as the go-to guy,” Hartwell said. “When we do

get in trouble, Trevor can set anyone out there and get kills. Trevor

relies a lot on me to get those kills. It’s fun, but I know that even

if he doesn’t set me, we’ll get the [point] because all of us are

good hitters.”

Most of those trouble sets go to Hartwell while he’s in the back

row, a position from which it is difficult to get any type of attack.

But Hartwell’s leaping ability makes him as dangerous from behind the

10-foot line as most players are from the front row.

“He’s a great hitter from anywhere,” Coach Tracey Ingraham said.

“We have set plays where we know we’re setting him [in the back row]

because he can place it and jump just like he’s hitting out of the

front row and put a lot of spin on the ball.”

Hartwell, the Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week, began playing

volleyball in the eighth grade and was hooked immediately. Hartwell

grew like a weed, rising from a 5-foot 3-inch freshman to a 6-2

senior. But his coach thinks he has grown more than just 11 inches.

“Even in two years he’s improved so much. I told him at the

beginning of the season, ‘You’re going to be scary in two years from

now,’ ” Ingraham said. “He’s gotten stronger and stronger every

season. From a coach’s perspective you want to see him perform on the

court, but you also want to see him develop skills that he’ll use on

the court, at the college level and even in life outside of

volleyball. I think that emotional stability and mental toughness has

been his biggest growth.”

Despite Hartwell’s physical and mental growth, Division I colleges

are looking at him as a potential defensive specialist as a libero.

But a libero can not do the main thing Hartwell enjoys most about

playing volleyball: hitting.

“D-I schools can’t use him as a hitter,” Ingraham said. “If you

watch it, the guys are giants. When we were at the Santa Barbara

tournament, the UC Santa Barbara coach said that he’d make a great

libero. That’s just the unfortunate reality of Division I sports at

the college level. Guys that jump like that, should not be in the

back row.”

His options as a hitter are not totally closed, however. Hartwell

is considering going to Orange Coast College for a year to try to

prove to Division I schools that his height is not a factor, but he

is also thinking about a private university in Denver.

“Hitting is my passion. I want to hit forever,” Hartwell said.

Fortunately for Estancia and Ingraham, there is one more match

Hartwell can show off his hitting prowess. Hartwell and the Eagles

will meet Orange Lutheran for the CIF Division III title today at 1

p.m. at Cypress College.

“The whole team and the gym erupts when he gets a good kill,”

Ingraham said. “He gets up with hang time and just places it and

pounds it.”