Czech Getting High Marks for Skills on Volleyball Court : High schools: Exchange student at Hilltop taken aback by commotion her presence has caused.

Martina Vitkova of Hilltop High gets a little less wide-eyed with each interview, each inquiring phone call.

“You’re getting pretty good at this,” Hilltop volleyball coach Nancy Acerrio said as her star player settled into another session.

Pretty heady stuff for someone who expected to put volleyball on hold for a year so her English could flourish.

The Czechoslovakian came to California two months ago with little more than a visa stamp and a desire to turn a phrase of English.

“In August, I could say, ‘Hello, my name is Martina. I am 17.’ I would get confused if I tried to speak in longer sentences,” said Vitkova, who now communicates easily.

Instead, she is confusing opponents and turning heads of the volleyball community. Vitkova is being tapped as one of the county’s top prospects, with a chance at a Division I college scholarship.

“No question about it,” said Dick Templeman, director of the San Diego Volleyball Club.

Templeman, who said 95% of his elite players (close to 100) have earned full college scholarships in the last six years, has invited Vitkova to a club tryout in December, after the high school season ends.

“I believe she’ll be on our top team,” Templeman said of his 10-member squad. “We’ll have to see how she stacks up.”

Sweetwater Coach Rick Kessler has been around the sport long enough to believe she’ll stack up fine.

“She’s legit,” he said. “She has awesome skills.”

Back home in Prague, the adjectives used to describe Vitkova were more like average.

Vitkova, a 5-foot-11 outside hitter, took up the sport six years ago, after she grew bored of tennis--her father named her after tennis great Martina Navratilova--skiing, swimming and dancing. She was simply another good player for Slavia, a top-level junior team.

“I am not the best,” Vitkova said. “I don’t expect anyone to care about me. There are so many good players in Czechoslovakia.”

Players with her advanced skills aren’t often found in the Metro Conference, or more specifically at Hilltop.

Acerrio acknowledged her team is made up primarily of athletes in other sports who want to stay active during the fall. It was natural that Vitkova would draw her fair share of attention.

“Martina is probably the only true volleyball player on our team,” Acerrio said. “We are a volleyball team consisting of basketball, softball, soccer players, and everything else.”

Foreign players are nothing new to Hilltop. Acerrio had a Swiss player on the roster last season, and a Japanese student tried out this year--she’s now playing field hockey. But Acerrio wasn’t prepared for Vitkova.

“The assistant principal told us there was a foreign student who wanted to play. . . . We’d heard it all before,” Acerrio said. “Then she walked out on the court and we knew she could play. God just dropped this awesome player in our lap.”

Not that her teammates’ jaws drop when she back sets, hits as forcefully from the back row as she does from the front, or digs low balls that most players can’t get. Vitkova is averaging 20 kills per game.

Senior captain Diana Hall said awe made way for improvement in Vitkova’s presence.

“Seeing her helps everyone,” said Hall, a setter. “It’s made us work together more. We’re inspired.”

But has it made the Lancers (8-9, 6-3 in conference) more successful?

“Without her, we’d probably be a good team. With her, we’ve become an exciting team,” Acerrio said.

In the one match Templeman saw Vitkova play, he was impressed by her jumping ability, arm swing and pure athleticism, but sees a need for improved fundamentals.

“Like any high school senior, she needs a tremendous amount of work in fundamentals,” he said. “But they are minor things. . . . She has a lot of potential.”

And humility.

Vitkova doesn’t see herself as a star because she has never been one, and still doesn’t feel she fits the mold.

“I knew I’d be good, but more like a normal player,” she said. “I needed to be the good one. I never felt I was very good before.”

Hall said Vitkova’s ego trails her talent.

“It’s neat because she’s a team player,” Hall said. “She doesn’t think of herself as a star. She doesn’t act like she’s the only one out there.”

Neither is interest in Vitkova limited to one entity. Acerrio estimated half a dozen schools have called about her, she’s done several print interviews and an educational television program has made inquiries.

Cal, San Diego State and Washington are among the colleges that have called or written about her. But since she didn’t plan to play here in the first place, Vitkova is unsure whether she will continue her education, and volleyball career, in the United States.

“I am confused about this,” she said. “I have talked to my parents, they are confused, too.”

The attention has thrown a wrench in Vitkova’s plans to return home and pursue a career as a psychologist.

“I must talk to my teachers, my coaches, my family,” she said. “I thought I would return home. I didn’t finish school. Now, I don’t know.

“I want to stay, but I miss my friends and family. There are two sides.”

Templeman believes there is another side to the attention Vitkova’s been paid. He credits the curiosity to the fact that she’s a foreigner.

“The attention, more or less, is because she’s from Czechoslovakia and she’s the best player on that team,” he said. “If she were playing at Torrey Pines or Poway, she’d be just another good player.”

Hall disagreed. She thinks Vitkova’s play would rise if she was surrounded by players with similar skills.

“Those girls are so good because they’ve been on club teams, and she’s had that experience,” Hall said. “She’d shine anywhere.”