Women’s Volleyball: Heenan digging it at VU

The secrets to succeeding at one of the more unfathomable tasks in sports, are less mysterious than one might imagine.

And when Vanguard University senior Kelly Heenan handles the revelation, she is talking as much about her personal journey as the art of playing her position.

As it turns out, the Golden State Athletic Conference Libero of the Year, who has helped Vanguard (23-11) earn a repeat trip to the NAIA Tournament’s 24-team final-site championship in Sioux City, Iowa, has benefited from such insightful instruction even more off the court than on.

Let’s start with the role of the libero, a defensive specialist designed to facilitate, not finish. It’s Heenan’s job to first tangibly and instinctively read where opposing attackers will place the ball.

But discerning where to be is only half of her quest for perfect placement, as she then must be able to pass the ball — often after diving or lunging out of balance and thrusting a single appendage in front of a spike that features a vapor trail — within an area no bigger than the circumference of a Hula Hoop. By accomplishing this, she keeps her team “in system,” and allows the setter to receive the pass and comfortably distribute the ball to the Lions’ hitters, who then attempt to finalize with a kill.

So, to review: Align oneself in the perfect spot; then pass the ball into the perfect spot.

But, as with anything, the greatest efficiency is not always achieved on the first attempt.

So it was with Heenan, who completely misidentified her perfect spot when choosing a college out of Newport Harbor High.

Though her older siblings Dennis and Jamie had raved about their student-athlete experiences at Vanguard, the youngest of the four Heenan kids, whose father Kevin played college basketball at Cal State Fullerton and who now is an assistant men’s basketball coach at Vanguard, had different views about how she wanted to spend her undergraduate years.

“I didn’t think that you could get a college experience at such a small school,” Kelly Heenan said. “And, I thought that if you wanted to play volleyball in college, then Division I was the only place to be. So, I went to a huge school. But I found out I didn’t like that.”

After a year at UC Santa Barbara, where she suffered disconnection from her family and never gained full social immersion into a student body of more than 20,000 that largely revels in the school’s reputation as party central, Heenan said she had even lost some of her passion for volleyball.

But upon deciding to transfer from UCSB, she nearly shanked her passage yet again.

“I was actually committed to Concordia when [then-newly-hired Vanguard Coach Eryn Leja] called me,” Heenan said. “But the Concordia coach had just been let go, and I was concerned about transferring again without knowing if I would like it. When I talked to Eryn, I felt like she really wanted me to come to Vanguard. And it was nice to be wanted.”

Leja, for whom Jamie Heenan earned second-team All-American honors as a senior outside hitter in 2011, was not the only one selling Kelly Heenan on the school.

“Dennis [who played basketball at Vanguard] and Jamie definitely tried to influence me some, but they didn’t want to make the decision for me,” Kelly Heenan said. “But they were super excited when I decided to come.”

Clearly, Heenan now knows, Vanguard was her perfect spot.

“The one word that comes to mind when I think of coming to Vanguard is special,” Heenan said. “I know now, just how special the experience is. One of the huge aspects I like about Vanguard is the academics and the teachers and how they make everyone feel like they are a part of the school. But even more than that, it’s the community of Vanguard that is so awesome. It’s all the connections I’ve made here. Our program is not just about volleyball, but building relationships with teammates. I consider these girls I play volleyball with part of the family. They are going to be in my wedding and at my baby showers. That’s really awesome.”

Heenan spent the 2011 redshirting, getting back on balance and dug in at Vanguard. In her three years on the court since, she has focused in on digging. And digging. And digging.

“I’ve been spoiled the last three years, because liberos like Kelly don’t come around often,” Leja said. “She’s a special athlete and she knows the game in and out. And even though she is so talented and plays at such a high level, she always wants to learn more every day and improve.”

Going into three round-robin pool-play matches in Iowa, beginning with defending national champion Texas at Brownsville on Tuesday, Heenan has 520 digs this season. She has 1,619 digs in a three-year Vanguard career that has produced all-conference honors each season. She has also been a team captain each of those three years.

“She’s clearly a leader and the girls respect her,” Leja said of the 23-year-old Heenan, who said she considers herself to be the grandma of this team. “She’s usually the first one in my office to talk about a scouting report. She had already started putting together her own scouting report as soon as we found out we were playing Texas at Brownsville. She texted me with some information even before I found out [the draw]. That’s Kelly. She is so into the sport. We’re going to miss her.”

But Heenan will not miss Vanguard just yet, regardless of the outcome in Iowa. Having collected her bachelor’s degree last spring, she is in the first year of a two-year graduate program for organizational psychology.

Heenan said there is even a psychology to her game.

“I know my mentality on defense is that I am not going to let anything hit the floor,” Heenan said. “I’m going to dig everything.”

Just then, she remembered another vital coaching point about playing libero.

“You want to stay low, and you want to make sure you are stopped,” she said. “You can’t be moving when you pass.”

Movement, of course, is unnecessary once one has found the perfect spot.