THE TIMES 1995 SPRING ALL-COUNTY TEAMS : Gardner Reaching His Potential : Player of the year: He was a key performer in water polo, basketball and volleyball for San Clemente.

Gabe Gardner is a one-of-a-kind athlete.

Gardner, The Times Orange County player of the year, helped the Tritons reach their first Southern Section boys’ volleyball final since 1981.

But he also excelled in two other sports.

He played goalie for the Triton water polo team in the fall and earned Times Orange County player of year honors after helping the team reach the Division I semifinals.

In the winter, he averaged 14.2 points and 7.6 rebounds for the basketball team although the Tritons finished 9-17.

But that was a mere warm-up for Gardner, a 6-foot-9 outside hitter who has accepted a volleyball scholarship to USC. He started volleyball season slowly but finished with a flourish.

In the quarterfinals, Gardner had 27 kills to help the Tritons rally from a nine-point deficit in the fourth game and defeat Sunset League champion Fountain Valley in four games. In the semifinals, Gardner had 39 kills and nine blocks in an emotional five-game victory over second-seeded Manhattan Beach Mira Costa.

Against top-seeded Los Angeles Loyola in the final, Gardner had 11 of his match-high 29 kills in Game 1, helping the Tritons to a 15-13 victory. But Loyola recovered and ended San Clemente’s storybook season by winning the next three games and the Division I championship.

“I challenged Gabriel to be the leader of this team,” San Clemente Coach Mike Hurlbut said. “He needed to be the physical and motivational leader. He needed to provide stability and he had to provide both the rousing and calming effect for the team.

“He made a statement that we would never give up as a team. Then he went out and backed it up.”