San Diego Player of the Week : 2-A Title Helps Turner Make Up for Lost Time

A year ago, Alicia Turner, a University of San Diego High School volleyball player, sat on the sidelines, recovering from a broken jaw, and watched her teammates defeat La Jolla in five games to win the San Diego Section 2-A volleyball championship.

This year, fully recovered, Turner, a junior middle blocker, was able to play when USDHS again met La Jolla Saturday night for the section 2-A championship.

“I was really excited to play,” Turner said. “I knew I had to get myself ready because it was my first time in the finals.”

Turner, The Times’ player of the week, had 22 kills as USDHS (18-1) defeated La Jolla, 17-15, 15-11, 15-4, for its second straight title.

“I’ve just come alive in (the playoff) games,” she said. “I play better when I know I have to play really hard. I don’t really call it pressure, I just get so excited for those games that my adrenaline gets going and I just start playing.”

Turner had 11 kills in the fourth and deciding game as USDHS defeated San Pasqual, 15-9, 15-4, 8-15, 15-5, in a semifinal Nov. 18.

Last year, in a midseason match against La Jolla, Turner dove for a ball and broke her jaw, forcing her to miss the second half of the season, including the section playoffs, and a trip to the state playoffs.

“I went for this dive and dove wrong and hit my chin and broke my jaw,” Turner said. “I really shouldn’t have gone for it.”

As she watched from the bench, she grew eager to return to the court.

“I guess I really started questioning things toward the end when I wasn’t back,” she said. “I was thinking, ‘Maybe I could play with something, like a helmet or something, just to make sure I didn’t hurt it.’ The doctor said it would be better if I just waited.”

She returned this season to lead her team in kills and blocks, and she credits her attitude.

“If you are confident in yourself, you can do a whole bunch more than you could if you aren’t confident,” she said. “I think attitude is very important to be able to pull through the hardest times.”

Said Coach Rob Gorney: “She’s one of those type of people with just a great attitude. I mean, I ask her to jump, and she says, ‘How high?’ ”

Gorney was an assistant coach at Vista and taught physical fitness at the junior highs and elementary schools when he first met Turner, then a sixth-grader.

“She was one of those types of individuals with a lot of natural abilities and a lot of desire to learn,” Gorney said. “It was quite apparent to me that in sixth grade she was some kind of natural athlete. We just had to put together all the training for her.”

Gorney was able to observe her progress first-hand as the coach of the St. Francis seventh- and eighth-grade volleyball teams.

But Turner’s family moved from Fallbrook to the University of San Diego attendance area.

She was the starting middle blocker as a freshman for the USDHS team that lost in the first round of the playoffs. Coach Steve Altamirano was replaced the next season by Gorney.

“We picked up where we left off,” Gorney said. “She has just really come on. She has become one of the smartest hitters in the county.”

Alicia Turner

University of San Diego High

Sport: Volleyball

Height, Class, Position: 5-9 1/2, Jr., middle blocker.

Last Week: She had 22 kills as USDHS defeated La Jolla, 17-15, 15-11, 15-4, to win its second consecutive San Diego Section 2-A volleyball title.