SONIC BOONE : Opponents Take Some Hard Knocks From Edison’s Hitter

Rule No. 1 when playing against Brian Boone, an Edison High School volleyball player:

Don’t lead with your face.

An El Toro player did. He spent the rest of the match on the bench. Well, not exactly on the bench. But he was lying nearby.

Rule No. 2:

Make sure the team’s first-aid kit has a healthy supply of aspirin.

Brian Boone is an 11-foot 2-inch cannon. More than one player attempting to block him has had the ball bound off his scalp and head straight up toward the heavens.

In either case, beware when you step onto the volleyball court opposite Boone. Especially if you step into that region in the middle of the court that he calls his “danger zone.”

Bad things may happen to you there.

“It’s nothing that I plan to do,” he said. “But if someone is in there, I think he’s fair game.”

When he extends his right arm, at the apex of his 33-inch vertical leap, Boone extends 11-feet 2-inches--yes, they now have devices to measure this.

It’s when that arm comes down that havoc tends to happen. And Boone, a 6-6 senior middle blocker, made it happen a lot during the 1988 season.

“He hit balls off the tops of two guys’ heads in two different matches,” an Edison teammate, Mark Presho, said. “The balls ricocheted and almost hit the ceiling.

As for the El Toro player who was hit in the face, “he ended up laying down by their bench for the rest of the match,” Presho said.

Boone led Edison in kills with 322. His kill average was .480, outstanding considering that, like baseball, an average of .300 is considered good.

So is Boone, who will take part in tonight’s Orange County Volleyball High School All-Star matches at Golden West College. The girls’ match begins at 6 p.m., the boys’ at 7:30.

For anyone who saw Boone play this season, an appearance in an all-star match is no surprise.

“He’s a dominating player,” Rocky Ciarelli, Huntington Beach coach, said. “If you wanted to beat Edison, you had to contain Brian.”

Not many people did, Edison went 9-1 in the Sunset League and shared the league championship with Marina.

But for anyone who saw Boone learning the game of volleyball four years ago, today’s events might seem a little far-fetched.

At times, they have to Boone.

“Starting off the way I did, I never thought I even had the potential to accomplish what I have,” he said. “I was wrong.”

After playing 10 years of youth soccer, Boone was looking for a new sport when he arrived at Edison as a freshman.

Along came volleyball. First it involved horsing around with friends outside on the Edison concrete, a brand of volleyball he calls “hackball.” Then came tryouts for the frosh-soph team in a gymnasium. No matter the location, the result always seemed the same.

“It wasn’t very impressive,” he said.

Beginning any new sport is never easy or pretty. Boone was also saddled with a 6-1, 150-pound frame.

“I was still growing into my body,” Boone said. “Trying to figure how everything worked.”

Also, he was suffering tendinitis in his left knee.

He could somewhat control the knee problem with a brace. Volleyball was a different matter.

“He had problems getting his body to do the things he wanted,” Presho said. “Volleyball is a game of timing and coordination. He was still a bit awkward.”

However, quitting never crossed his mind.

“I loved the game so much from the very first time I played it,” he said. “I’d have kept playing even if I hadn’t got any better.”

Surprise! He did.

By the end of his sophomore season, he stood nearly 6-3. He had put his body through drill after drill, time after time. Slowly, timing and coordination developed. Nothing dramatic, just steady improvement. Enough that he was called up to the varsity as a sophomore for the playoffs.

It was there that he saw first-hand the feats of Dan Hannon, Edison’s All-Southern Section hitter. Hannon now plays at Stanford.

At 6-6, Hannon was a dominating player. He was aggressive and smooth, everything Boone wanted to be on the court.

“I think it’s fair to say that Dan became my idol,” he said. “I looked at him and saw what I wanted to be.”

After the season, Boone began a weightlifting regimen. He ran in the sand, up hills and bleachers. He played volleyball every day, and attended volleyball camps.

After his junior season, he was named All-Sunset League. This season, he was named the league’s co-most valuable player along with Marina’s Doug Partis.

“He’s a legitimate dominating force on the court,” said John Herman, Edison coach.

Huntington Beach’s Ciarelli believes Boone’s greatest strength is his “middle blocker’s attitude.” The type of attitude that makes him want to touch every ball around the net.

“It can be hard on a guy to jump for everything, on every play,” Ciarelli said. “But he’s so strong. He never stops. He just wears a team out.”

Boone, who will play at UCLA next season, hopes to continue improving.

“I think I have a long way to go as far as reaching my potential is concerned,” he said.

Which means that helmets may be advisable where college opponents are concerned.