PREP EXTRA : The Class of ‘95: Seniors to Watch : Lighting The Way : In Volleyball and Track, May Does Things Her Way

Misty May doesn’t have to talk a good game. Everyone else does it for her.

--Said Rocky Ciarelli, Huntington Beach girls’ volleyball coach: “From her ball control, to hitting, to setting, she does everything well and she knows the game better than any high school player now, guy or girl.”

--Said Charlie Brande, Orange County Volleyball Club coach: “Misty should be labeled with the best ever in the county . . . she could be the greatest ever from Orange County.”

--Said Sara Fairborn, Newport Harbor player: “When it’s tough and most players will get frightened or scared, Misty will step up and make three great plays in a row.”

--Said Mike Hurlbut, Dana Hills coach: “I wouldn’t be surprised if Misty was wearing an Olympic gold medal in 1996.”

But May’s exceptional talent also breeds great expectations.

“Some people expect too much,” said May, a 5-foot-9 senior from Newport Harbor. “Then sometimes, they’ll get mad or angry if I’m not able to do it. Maybe that’s a little unfair, but I try not to let it bother me.”

But on the surface, bothersome events have dotted her high school career.

During last year’s State championship match, May was briefly benched for disciplinary reasons by Newport Harbor Coach Dan Glenn. The Sailors lost in five games to rival Corona del Mar.

Although May finished second in the high jump at the State track and field meet as a sophomore last season, she was kicked off the team after a dispute with Newport Harbor coaches.

In the last eight years, May has found it difficult to find a comfortable club volleyball environment, playing with five teams.

“Everything she does is made a big deal because it’s Misty May,” Glenn said. “But every high school kid makes mistakes and they’re supposed to do that. They’re growing.

“To me, it doesn’t matter what outsiders think. My team is the most important thing. Misty and I get along fine and she has always played hard for me.”

Said Albert Gasparian, Golden West College women’s volleyball coach: “Because of Misty’s talent level, things get blown way out of proportion. Let’s face it, she’s a 17-year-old kid, and a kid will be a kid.”

Misty May was a 5-year-old kid when she started playing volleyball.

“That was when I first started bumping the ball around,” May said. “I think I was 7 when I entered my first beach tournament.”

Her father, Butch, wasn’t a bad guy to learn from.

Butch May, who played for the U.S. team at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, also enjoyed a successful beach volleyball career.

Misty’s mother, Barbara, also came from a family rich with athletic talent. Misty’s aunt Bettyann Dent, her uncle Phil Dent, and her cousin Brett Hansen, all played professional tennis.

“My family pushed me into tennis,” Barbara May said. “But we let Misty try everything. She liked soccer and a lot of other sports too, but I guess she really liked the challenge of volleyball.”

The Mays also search for ways to continually challenge their daughter--scholastically and athletically.

“I wish she’d push herself more in the classroom,” Barbara May said. “She’s a B student, but I’d like to see her be an A student like I was.”

But the parents’ input into Misty’s athletic career has ruffled more than a few feathers in the Orange County coaching community.

“If we’re considered rebels because we ask questions, that’s fine,” Butch May said.

“Maybe they see us as a threat because we’re knowledgeable about the sport,” Barbara May said.

The biggest clash at Newport Harbor came over Misty May’s status with the track and field team. Although she did well in the high jump as a sophomore, she was struggling as a junior, which prompted her father to seek outside help.

“We went to the Riverside Track Club, and there, Misty learned more about high jumping in three hours than she did in three years at Newport Harbor,” Butch May said.

Said Eric Tweit, Newport Harbor Athletic Director and track and field coach: “Basically, Misty decided not to attend our practices. They wanted to go to their own high jump coach, and I said they could do that on their own time.

“But she had to be at our practices. At Newport Harbor, we feel the athletes have a certain obligation and commitment, and we expect them to fulfill that.”

Said Butch May: “It might have been workable to do both, but we chose to go to Riverside.”

Said Barbara May: “I guess you can say we have a difference in philosophy with the coaches at Newport Harbor.”

Dan Glenn has heard the scuttlebutt, and for three years, he has heard the criticisms of his coaching ability. But they don’t bother him.

Glenn plays May at outside hitter, although he knows May could develop into a national-team level setter. That’s one reason why May has made an oral commitment to Long Beach State, where former 1984 U.S. Olympic team setter, Debbie Green, is an assistant.

Some say May is ready to set now.

“Already, with the proper training, she could step in right now and be a Division I setter,” said Lance Stewart, Corona del Mar’s coach. “She’s a very smart player and she has the tools.”

But Glenn has other concerns.

“Misty is just one of 13 players on this team and I have to do what’s best for everyone,” Glenn said. “I treat everyone equally and I feel I’m fair. I think Misty’s my best player, and when she’s a hitter, she can touch the ball twice--passing, then hitting.”

Ciarelli said: “Danny already has a setter (Jenny Hecker) so Misty’s a perfect choice on the outside. I think Misty could either set or hit in college. Heck, now you could put her back there by herself and she would get the ball back.”

A comeback during last season’s State championship match was on May’s mind when her brief outburst occurred.

“The match was tight and she started yelling at her teammates, then she snapped and shouted at me,” Glenn said. “I don’t even know what she said, but I just subbed her out and she quietly went to the end of the bench.

“After a few points, Misty came back to me and said, ‘Sorry coach, I got really frustrated,’ so I just told her, ‘OK, but remember, you can’t lose your cool like that out there.’ “I just subbed her back in and that was the end of it. I don’t dwell on the past and it wasn’t a big deal, really.”

Others made a big deal about it. Can Dan Glenn and Misty May get along? Can they win the big game?

“Everything Misty does gets examined too closely,” said Gasparian, who has led Golden West to community college women’s volleyball State championships in four of the last six seasons.

“Fans should just appreciate the type of player she is, and she looks pretty good to me. As for not winning the big one, there is a certain element of luck involved to win anything.”

Last season, Corona del Mar won the Southern Section and State Division I championship for the second consecutive year, defeating the Sailors in the section and State finals in 1993.

“Misty May will never win a championship by herself,” Stewart said. “I felt we were a better team and we played better at the right time during the championship. It wasn’t a case that Misty didn’t play well or she couldn’t win in the big match.”

Winning and competing in volleyball is important to Misty May, but she admitted there are times when she doesn’t enjoy the game.

“I always tell myself every summer that I’m going to take a break, just to get away from it,” she said. “But I just end up playing somewhere. I like it too much.”

She likes it so much that last season she played through injuries in the playoffs, helping the Sailors reach the section and State finals.

“She’s a gamer,” Glenn said. “She played hurt down the stretch but she wouldn’t quit.”

At the center of all the ruckus is Misty.

“People will just come up to me and say, ‘So you’re the best player?’ ” May said. “I just say ‘I don’t know, go ask so and so.’ That’s just not me. I’m very quiet.”

Well, some of the times.

“Actually, Misty’s a clown,” said Fairborn, her teammate. “She will crack up tons of people. But our whole team is goofy in its own sort of way.”

May said she’s a big Jim Carrey fan and dreams about being a TV star with the cast from “In Living Color.”

“There’s Misty, and there is this other person who makes people laugh,” May said. “When I first meet people, I like to do something weird and make them think, ‘Wow, she’s really out there.’ ”

Especially on the volleyball court.

In July, May was the youngest player to participate in women’s volleyball at the Olympic Festival in St. Louis.

“At first, they weren’t going to let me try out because you were supposed to be a senior in high school,” May said. “But my dad called (U.S. women’s national team Coach) Terry Liskevych and I got a tryout.

“But I thought they weren’t going to take me because it was all politics, but my dad said just try. After practice, I earned some of the players’ respect because I showed that I could pull my own weight.”

May did more than that, earning a starting spot on the West squad early in the tournament, then she helped the team finish second.

But excelling in volleyball has always been second nature to May.

“One of my first memories of playing with Misty was when she was 8,” Butch May said. “She was copping an attitude with me when we were playing in a mixed tournament. She kept getting upset, ‘Dad, you’re not putting the ball away.’ ”

“Well, she was right. She was doing all the right things, setting the ball to the right places, but we lost.”

As a freshman for Newport Harbor, May started on a senior dominated team as their setter. In her sophomore year, one Pac-10 coach said he would have taken her right then to play at the collegiate level.

“It’s easy to notice someone who can hammer the ball, and Misty can get up and hit it with anybody,” Stewart said. “But her defense and passing are incredible. She covers so much court . . . she scores more points for them with things outside of hitting.”

Said Brande: “She’s like a female Karch Kiraly.”

Said Glenn: “She’s golden.”

Even those who haven’t seen Misty May know all about her.

“Based on the numbers I’ve seen and people I’ve talked to, she definitely has a bright future,” Liskevych said. “Although she’s a sight-unseen for me, I would still love to invite her to San Diego for tryouts so we could get a look at her.”

And from the looks of things, this 17-year-old kid will be just fine.

Times staff writer Mike Reilley contributed to this story.