Her heart now lies in Connecticut

Maile Hetherington Maile Hetherington's surroundings may have changed, but her competitive spirit on the volleyball court has not.

Hetherington, a 2008 graduate of Thousand Oaks High, excelled in her first year at Connecticutbased Sacred Heart University.

The 5-foot-10 freshman had a team-leading 389 kills and was third on the squad with 268 digs. In November, she was voted to the All-Northeast Conference second team.

Despite making the step up from high school to college, all of the accolades Hetherington received didn't come as a surprise.

"I'm very passionate about volleyball, and when I came to Sacred Heart my attitude was, 'I want everything right now,'" the 18-year-old said. "I guess, in a way, that's also my biggest problem. I'm also my biggest critic. I immediately expected to change things when I got there."

Thousand Oaks head girls' volleyball coach James Park said he wasn't surprised about Hetherington's quick start at the next level.

"Her desire to win is just different from other kids," Park said. "She's athletic, and she's a very strong and powerful hitter.

IRIS SMOOT/Acorn Newspapers EAST COAST THING—After graduating from Thousand Oaks High, Maile Hetherington opted to play volleyball at Sacred Heart University, where she starred as a freshman this past season. "I know she was really looking forward to playing in college, so it doesn't come as a surprise to me when I would look on the Sacred Heart website every now and then and see she was doing well."

Success didn't come easy, Hetherington said.

"It was a very tough semester, and school was basically a breeze compared to all the work I did on the volleyball court," she said. "It was also difficult adapting to a different competition. It was weird talking to players on my team and other teams that had never even heard of my volleyball club in California."

One person that made Hetherington's life easier on the East Coast was Sacred Heart head coach Rob Machan, who previously was an assistant coach at Azusa Pacific University and USC.

Hetherington was introduced to Machan during her junior year at TOHS.

"When I first met Machan, he offered me a scholarship to play at Sacred Heart but only as a backup plan in case no California schools wanted me," Hetherington said.

"As time went on, Machan liked what he saw of my volleyball ability even more, and it became more of a, 'No, Maile, we really need you to play for our program.'"

Hetherington said she felt honored to have a coach truly want her to play for him, especially since it had only been a few years since she was cut from the volleyball team at Redwood Middle School in T.O.

Although Hetherington was disappointed she didn't make the Redwood team, Conejo Crush Volleyball Club founder Jane Clancy watched the youngster play and saw a potential star.

Soon thereafter, Hetherington was asked to join Clancy's club, where she played for the next three years before switching to the Moorpark-based Point West Mizuno Volleyball Club.

"During the time I played at Conejo Crush something just clicked, and I really started to get serious about volleyball," Hetherington said.

"It wasn't a question anymore if I would play the sport in college. It was more of a where would I play in college."

One of the volleyball players that took notice of Hetherington's desire was Clancy's daughter— two-time Marmonte League Most Valuable Player Hannah Clancy, who played with Hetherington for two years at TOHS.

"Maile was a year older than me, so I always looked up to her," Hannah Clancy said. "I said to myself, 'If she is this committed to volleyball, then I want to be, too.'"

"Although this past season was great, it wasn't the same without Maile," Hannah Clancy said. "She has such a great spirit on the court. I used to play a lot of beach tournaments with her because playing with her had become addictive."

Hetherington says she often thinks about her days at Thousand Oaks, especially when the weather is cold in Connecticut, but added that her heart is now with her college squad.

With Sacred Heart fielding four freshmen and two sophomores in its starting lineup last season, Hetherington knows the best is yet to come.

"I can't wait to play the next couple years at Sacred Heart," Hetherington said.

"It's become a pretty big sports school, especially with volleyball. I want our team to win the conference, and I want to be Player of the Year. I see all that happening possibly next season."