OLYMPIC FESTIVAL : May, 16, Courts Stardom as Outside Hitter

Unlike many coaches of team sports at the Olympic Festival, Craig Cummings does not give all his volleyball players equal court time.

That makes Misty May all the more impressive.

“I don’t think about age when I put my players on the court,” said Cummings, who coaches at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. “I put my best players out there to go out and do a job and Misty deserves to be out there.”

May, an outside hitter, is the youngest player on any of the Festival volleyball teams, but she plays nearly every minute of every match.

A 16-year old who will be starting her senior year of high school, May was not planning to try out for the Festival. Like many of the best volleyball players her age, she was going to try out for the Junior Elite volleyball camp.

But her parents encouraged her to try out for the Festival team instead. They said it would be a good experience.

She made the team and now starts for Cummings on the West squad.

Pretty good as far as confidence boosts go, right?

“Definitely. But it still hasn’t hit me yet,” May said. “My parents are encouraging me to do something every day.”

Their confidence is well founded.

You can start with her dad’s genes. Butch May was on the 1968 Olympic volleyball team that played in Mexico City.

Then take a look at her awards, which have college coaches drooling:

--At Newport Harbor High in Newport Beach, she has been a three-time All-Southern Section player and was the Division I Southern Section player of the year last year by a vote of coaches.

--The U.S. Volleyball Assn., the governing body of amateur volleyball, has named May to its All-American team the last three years.

--She was a member of last year’s junior national team and was named to the all-tournament team at the junior national tournament.

--She was named to Volleyball Monthly’s All-American first team last year.

And when you consider that the Festival accepted participants 23 and under, you realize that May beat out quite a few collegiate players.

“I’ve watched Misty play for a long time,” Cummings said. “As a collegiate coach, you have to watch these things (tournaments), so I’m fully aware of what she can do. She’s a great, accomplished player.

“I think that if there’s a group of people here who are going, ‘Who’s Misty May?’ Well, I think quite a few people know who she is now.”

As easy as it may seem, May says playing at this level is difficult.

“It’s a lot faster than club or high school,” said May, who stands 5 feet 9. “It’s a lot more competitive. It’s hard being the shortest one out there. When I’m on the front row I don’t know what to do with the ball.”

She doesn’t know what to do?

In a volley against the East team, May had a dig by diving and sliding her hand under the ball just before it could hit the floor, saving a point, and when the East returned the ball, May teamed with Jennifer Jackson to block the spike for a side out.

May also has been up to the challenge of receiving most serves, and has passed effectively.

Even when she doesn’t know what to do, she has been getting a lot of advice.

“It’s great,” she said. “(Other players) tell me tips all the time.”

Notes

Laura Berendt defeated South teammate Amanda Augustus of Palos Verdes, 6-3, 6-3, for the bronze medal in women’s tennis. . . . In the men’s competition, the West’s Mike Jessup, of Saratoga, Calif., won the gold by defeating the South’s Jack Brasington of Miami, 7-6, (7-2), 6-4.