Morrow All Set for a Title Run : Harvard Looks to Its Spark Plug

It was another sunny day in Palm Springs and, of course, another crowded day at the Oasis Water Park.

Spring-break aficionados filled the wave pool to capacity and relaxed in the imitation sand. Ahhh, vacation time.

But over on the slide ride, a conspiracy was going down.

Halfway down the slide, members of the Harvard-Westlake High boys’ volleyball team were grabbing the sides, stopping and waiting for teammates to catch up with them.

They became a little too greedy, however, and a tangled mass of four Wolverines crashed into the pool at the end of the slide. The unimpressed lifeguard threatened expulsion from the park.

Fingers pointed to setter Jason Morrow, the mastermind of Waterslidegate.

“He was the ringleader,” said participant and teammate Rick Rauth. “He’s the smart one in the group and he coordinated it.”

Sounds like an opponent’s testimony after a Wolverine match, during which Morrow skillfully orchestrates the Harvard-Westlake attack. He’ll do it again tonight against Dos Pueblos in the opening round of the Southern Section Division I playoffs.

Whether he’s sending the quick set to the middle or the high lob to the outside, Morrow is always the hub of the offense. But he’s not always the center of attention.

That distinction goes to the hitters, who get the kills and the ovations.

“They’re the guys that get the glory,” Morrow said. “But it’s fun to be the guy that doesn’t get noticed. Nothing wrong with being the little guy that does the little things.”

Unless the little things become too big to handle.

“It’s kind of like linemen in football,” Morrow said. “The only time you get noticed is if you’re messing up or getting penalties.”

Morrow, a junior, hasn’t had any trouble setting for the Wolverines. Power hitters Trevor Julian, Jim Ostridge and Rick Rauth are key reasons Harvard-Westlake is the seventh-ranked team in Division I.

But how far the Wolverines go in the playoffs might depend on the finesse player of the team.

“He’s the go-to guy that gets the ball there,” Wolverine Coach Jess Quiroz said. “Even if we’re having an off day passing (to Morrow), he still gets the ball to them.”

Last season, Morrow didn’t do much of anything. Brought up to varsity as a sophomore, he basically watched. And stewed.

“That was probably the first time I’d ever had to sit on the bench and watch a sport,” Morrow said. “It was frustrating not being able to do anything but watching and going, ‘I wish I could be out there doing that.’ ”

He did learn to run the offense as an understudy to setter Court Young, now a redshirt at UCLA.

A year later, the 5-foot-10 Morrow gets to strut his sets every match. And he sports a nasty jump serve that skims the net and curves down viciously.

A presence off the court as well, Morrow often takes a lighthearted approach to keep everybody loose, including his coach.

Morrow remembers a ninth-grade retreat to the Colorado River two years ago. Quiroz, one of the supervisors, wasn’t biting on the theme of student-teacher relationships.

“He said he didn’t want to have any Kodak moments,” Morrow said. “So now I hug him every time I see him. I try to keep him cheery.”

Morrow won’t be laughing if Harvard-Westlake (13-2), which tied for the Mission League championship with Loyola, bows out early in the playoffs. The Wolverines lost in the quarterfinals last year to eventual champion Huntington Beach and plan to get at least as far this year.

“If we play good side-out volleyball, pass the ball, play good defense . . . I don’t see any reason why we can’t hang with the best teams,” Morrow said, “if not beat them.”