Woodbridge’s Doolittle Discovers Intensity Serves Her Well in Volleyball

Deanna Doolittle has always wanted to do a lot of things and do them well.

Most likely, it’s because of her nature--and not to offset the subliminal suggestion in her surname.

“She’s very intense, “ her mother, De Doolittle, said. “That’s her personality and one of the key words to describe not just her (attitude toward) her athletics, but her life.”

Doolittle, 17, is captain and outside hitter of Woodbridge High School’s girls’ volleyball team. She leads the team in kills with an average of 19 per match. Doolittle is in her third year on the varsity, though she only began playing volleyball four years ago.

Doolittle’s intensity was evident early. When she was 7, Doolittle decided to try out for a swim team. Her tryout was a 50-meter race, and the coach told Doolittle just to swim to the end of the pool and try to win.

“He blew the whistle and well, Deanna had never seen a race before,” De said. “These kids all did racing dives and she dived to the bottom of the pool. She came up, saw everybody was ahead of her and still came within an inch of winning. That’s an example of how intense she is and how she goes for it.”

At 5-foot-9, Doolittle is small for an outside hitter. Even though she is not a great leaper, her intensity and intelligence enable her not only to survive, but to flourish at her position, Woodbridge Coach Steve Stratos said.

“A lot of kids don’t have what she has,” he said. “She has the killer instinct. Coaches call it a lot of different things. I call it the Division-I attitude--if you have that in you, you have a chance of playing Division-I college volleyball.”

To distinguish her from her younger sister, Erika, who also plays on the varsity, teammates call the older Doolittle, “Big Doo,” “Doo” or “Dooey.” She also can be distinguished by her achievements in volleyball and other areas.

Last year, Doolittle was the only junior to make The Times’ all-county volleyball team. She led Woodbridge in kills, averaging 5 1/2 a game, 16 per match, and most Woodbridge matches went only three games. She averaged seven digs, three stuff blocks and four service aces as Woodbridge won a share of the Pacific Coast League crown for the third consecutive year.

Doolittle also is a four-year varsity soccer player, an honor student and an active sixth-year member of the National Charity League, a volunteer group servicing the Irvine community.

Doolittle has been known to volunteer a little more than her time. A perfectionist who gets down on herself for playing below her capabilities, she has not hesitated to chastise teammates for performing below theirs.

“I think she just does it to help the team,” said Jill Ramirez, a senior back row player and Doolittle’s best friend. “I wish everybody were like that, really I do. It just pumps everybody up because they are so mad at that person they want to do everything right. That’s how I feel when she yells at me.”

Doolittle said: “I always feel bad if I yell at people. Sometimes it just explodes out of my mouth. But I think (my teammates) are getting used to me, so it is like in one ear and out the other.”

Doolittle says she realizes that high standards and a short temper don’t mix, and she is working on turning down the intensity--at least with her teammates.

Ramirez has noticed the change. “She doesn’t say negative stuff as much as she used to, but I think she keeps it all inside,” Ramirez said.

Doolittle diffuses some of her intensity through humor and water skiing.

“We have a house in Lake Havasu, Arizona. . . . whenever I can, I go water skiing there,” she said. “That totally relaxes me.” Stratos also has noticed a change in Doolittle. “She has become a lot more mature about the imperfections of humanity,” he said. “She can accept a lot more easily that she is capable of making mistakes, but she is still a perfectionist. That’s what makes her so good.”

Doolittle has been hitting well this season, helping to compensate for the graduation of two-time all-league hitter Sharisse Kiino (Princeton) and three-time all-league setter Hiromi Murakami, who returned to Japan.

But Woodbridge (3-2) wasn’t hitting on all cylinders in the Tournament of Champions at Edison last weekend. The Warriors, ranked fifth in the Southern Section 5-A, lost to Newport Harbor in the opening round and struggled to defeat unranked Edison in five games before losing to Capistrano Valley in the fifth-place match.

“We have good players and everything and everybody is tall, but I think our main problem is desire,” Doolittle said. “The last game (against Edison) everybody wanted to win and we killed them, 15-5. As soon as we get everyone intense, everything will start falling into place.”

Sounds like a job for Doolittle.