T.O. High School volleyball setter ready for an encore

IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers WORKING HARD- Thousand Oaks High School volleyball player Hannah Clancy works with her Lancer teammates. She hopes she can help lead the squad to a championship trophy. For the last eight months, Thousand Oaks High School senior volleyball player Hannah Clancy has been reflecting on her junior year.

Clancy was the Ventura County and Marmonte League's Player of the Year in 2007, but the 17-year-old setter doesn't think about her personal accolades. She only pictures a 3-2 loss to Redondo High in the second round of the CIF-Southern Section Division I-AA playoffs.

"I think about the Redondo game a lot," Clancy said. "It felt great to be recognized as the MVP in the county and in league last season, but I feel no pressure to duplicate that performance.

"The only pressure I feel has to do with my team. The last two seasons we suffered heartbreaking losses in the playoffs and didn't go as far as we would have liked. This is my senior year; this is my last chance to win a CIF championship," Clancy said.

IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers SETTING UP- Thousand Oaks High School volleyball player Hannah Clancy leaps up to set the ball during practice with her teammates on Monday afternoon. Thousand Oaks head coach James Park is confident that Clancy can lead the Lancers further into the postseason.

"Hannah knows she's a good player, but at the same time she also knows she can be better," Park said. "She doesn't get caught up in her personal achievements. She only gets caught up with how well the team is playing."

Clancy won't be alone in Thousand Oaks' quest for a CIF championship. Beside Clancy, the Lancers also have returning stars such as seniors Ellen Querrey, Kat Luft, Tanja Dannas and Molly Hall, all of whom return for another run at the title.

"It helps to have a team full of great players that are also my age and have the same skills and drive I do," Clancy said. "They take a lot of pressure off me and make my job easier."

Clancy is one of the area's top setters, but when she was learning how to play volleyball, it was at the position of outside hitter.

When Clancy was 12, she became a setter, but it was a tough transition at first.

"At the age of 12, I didn't really understand volleyball as much as I do now, but I did know that I didn't like playing setter," Clancy said with a laugh. "People were telling me, however, that the only way I could make a difference playing was if I was a setter because I was too short for any other position."

Clancy said she received invaluable coaching during the next few years from Laura Bleiberg and, thanks to her help, soon began to love setting up her teammates for kills at the net.

"When I started to understand the role of setter, it was like a new world opened up," Clancy said. "I like to be all over the court and in on every play, so the position was just right for me."

In addition to Bleiberg, Clancy also had a whole family to help improve her volleyball skills. Clancy's father, Kevin, and mother, Jane, also played volleyball while growing up. Clancy's older sister Rebecca played for TOHS and graduated in 2006.

Clancy also credits Jennifer Reed, her coach on the Conejo Crush, in helping her learn how to run a complex offense.

With so much guidance, it wasn't shocking when Clancy began her freshman season at TOHS on the junior varsity squad and took home team MVP honors. When Clancy began her sophomore year, however, she may have been the most nervous member of the squad.

"It was kind of scary when I joined the varsity team," Clancy said. "I would look up and see all these players that I grew up basically worshipping because they were on my sister's teams. They were like gods to me."

Although Clancy was timid at first, she gradually began to feel like she was just one of the girls. "My sister took me aside and said, 'Hey, they're just volleyball players like you. And we all have the same common goal—to win.'"

Park agreed that Clancy's play on the court improved halfway through her sophomore year.

"She started trusting herself and trusting the decisions she was making on the court," Park said. "The talent was always there from the beginning. She just had to believe in herself."

Halfway through Clancy's sophomore season, she learned something else—she hated to lose. In October of 2006, after going nearly a year and half without a league loss, Thousand Oaks fell to Moorpark High School in five games after taking a 2-0 lead. It's the team's only league loss while Clancy's been at TOHS.

"I still have nightmares about that game," Clancy said. "But in a way, it was a good thing. I realized I never, ever wanted that to happen to this team again. And it hasn't."

Clancy will head to the University of Dayton in the fall of 2009, but right now the Lancers are the only thing on her mind.

"I'm looking forward to this season, but at the same time I'm also dreading it," Clancy said. "I know it's now or never for a championship, and I'll be sad when it's all over, regardless of the outcome."