Playoff Profiles : Herrick Plays to Perfection

Campbell Hall High volleyball player Dylan Herrick is a perfectionist.

On the volleyball court, he hates to lose.

In the classroom, he won’t turn in work unless it’s neat and crisp.

And when Herrick sketches, he won’t apply the final touch on a project until he’s thoroughly satisfied. His favorite work is a black-and-white landscape with a lake, cliffs and bare trees. It took three months to create.

“I’m a perfectionist in everything I do,” said Herrick, a 6-foot-4 opposite hitter who leads the Vikings against Bishop Montgomery tonight at 7 in a Southern Section Division III semifinal at Harvard-Westlake. “My idea is you’ve only got one shot in this life. Why not shoot for the best?”

It’s a theory that works well for the Vikings, who are back in the semifinals after being knocked out by Santa Ynez last season. Herrick, a senior, wants more.

“Just getting there [to the finals] would be great, but I want to win,” he said. “I want the ring. I want the banner.”

The only time Herrick doesn’t demand perfection is when he hits the surf.

Thanks to lessons from teammate Tim Nollan, he can get up on a long board. A short board, however, causes problems.

Oh, well. Herrick can simply pick up a volleyball, walk across the sand and return to his element by playing a game of beach volleyball.

Herrick, who is thinking of majoring in architecture, feels equally comfortable in front of an easel. He turned down $300 for his landscape piece, which now hangs in his girlfriend’s room.

Herrick’s athletic skills netted him a scholarship from University of the Pacific. He leads Campbell Hall in kills, blocks, aces and in the lesser-known stat of scoreboard smacking.

In every practice, the Vikings turn a hitting drill into a game: Who can spike the ball over the net, off the floor and into the air the highest? Herrick constantly wins and has nailed the scoreboard numerous times.

In a second-round match at Carpinteria, one of his kills bounced up and hit a basketball backboard that had been reeled up into the ceiling.

Now that sounds like the perfect picture.