Fusco Stays Close to Her Volleyball Roots

Each year, Capistrano Valley Christian volleyball coaches open the gym doors to young girls and hand them their first volleyballs.

The Eagle coaches teach aspiring players how to pass, set, hit, block.

Then, inevitably, some of the girls pick up their new skills and their new pride and head for the bigger programs, in search of the kind of top-level competition and media exposure that can lead to a college scholarship.

“Loyalty is an important quality with kids and it’s not there a lot. We work with them and they transfer and it’s kind of disappointing. So it’s a breath of fresh air when someone could do that and they don’t,” Eagle Coach Dave Barkley said. “To me, this whole thing is about character anyway.”

Character--Carmen Fusco has it in spades.

Fusco, a senior setter, is a three-time, first-team, all-league selection for the Eagles, who switched from the Olympic League to the Academy League after Fusco’s sophomore year. Fusco has started every match in her four years, 68, even starting several matches despite a sprained ankle earlier this season.

She was selected the school’s athlete of the year last year, even though she was only a junior and even though she only plays one sport.

The award was a token of the school’s appreciation for Fusco, who refused to turn her back on them.

“[Players from] Dana Hills, San Clemente have all tried to get her to come there and set,” said Fusco’s father, Philip. “There’s more to volleyball than the game. It’s people, individuals, integrity, loyalty.”

Fusco plays with girls from different high schools on her club team, the Laguna Beach Volleyball Club.

“It’s difficult because I play with those girls in club and I feel like it would be fun [to play with them in high school] but I feel like I owe it to my teammates and my coaches to stay here,” she said. “They have put so much time into me.”

Fusco was a good player before she even arrived at Capistrano Valley Christian, having already played three years of intense club volleyball. For Eagle Assistant Coach Darren Utterback, that’s what makes her loyalty to the school even more remarkable.

“We have kids leave our school every year because they think they’re too good to be there or whatever the case might be. There are girls who aren’t even half as good as her and they leave because they think they’re too good,” Utterback said. “She’s important to the future of the program. The young kids that are in that school see her and they see how good she is and they think, ‘You know what? I can play here.’ ”

Fusco has attended private schools ever since she began elementary school at San Juan Capistrano’s Stoneybrooke Christian School, which Philip helped found in 1983.

Fusco enjoys the small-school atmosphere, which is why she selected Capistrano Valley Christian, enrollment 264.

“I think at a small school you get the chance to have an intimate relationship with a group of people. You kind of know a little bit about everybody, which can be good and bad,” she said with a laugh.

The idea of starting on the varsity as a freshman at Capistrano Valley Christian also appealed to her, as did the school’s Christian environment.

“I felt if I went to a public school, maybe I could reach out to some other kids, but going to a private school is good because it builds up your faith, strengthening it,” she said.

Her father, a former pastor, also helped build her faith.

“He knew a lot about the Bible and he instilled in me a good base just for decisions I make in my life,” she said, giving the thumbs-up sign.

It’s easy to see that Fusco’s decisions are made with a large dollop of responsibility. In addition to her busy volleyball schedule, she also works as a receptionist on weekends at a local tennis club. “I have to keep gas in my car,” she said.

Fusco’s teammates often rely on her for support.

“She’s got her head on her shoulders really well,” said Kelly Eisman, an Eagle senior. “She’s got it together. She knows exactly what’s going on.”

Fusco also is hoping to land a college volleyball scholarship.

“I want to help my parents out,” she said. “They’ve put so much money into club [volleyball], I think it would be nice to help them out by getting my education paid for.”

So far, attention from college coaches has been mild, and her current coaches say she is being overlooked.

Said her club coach, Michael Soylular: “She is definitely one of the best setters in Orange County. She doesn’t get her name in the media because her [high school] team plays in [Southern Section] Division V. She could probably be setting for most Division I [high schools] with no argument.”

Said Barkley: “Every time she touches the ball she makes good things happen. It’s just that stability she lends to the team.”

Fusco is leading the Eagles through the Southern Section Division V-AA playoffs. She is hoping this will be the year for the team’s resurgence after the Eagles lost in the Southern Section quarterfinals every year since winning consecutive state titles in 1991 and 1992.

Fusco and the Eagles came a step closer by defeating league-rival St. Margaret’s (11-8) in the quarterfinals Saturday, 15-3, 15-6, 15-2. Capistrano Valley Christian (14-3) will play at Los Angeles Brentwood (22-3) in the semifinals Tuesday.

“I’m pretty excited about this year because this team is mentally really strong,” she said.

It’s all that character.