Naulls Is on Time at Crunch Time

The interview with the reporter has taken too long and Malaika Naulls is late for the team bus, which is pulling away from the Harvard-Westlake High campus a nanosecond after 4 p.m.

As the bus accelerates, so does Naulls, from a brisk walk to a sprint. She catches up quickly.

The bus stops, unfolds its doors and reveals who is sitting in the front row: Girls’ volleyball coach Jess Quiroz. He is laughing.

“It’s all part of the give and take,” he said.

Not that Quiroz planned to strand his middle blocker, who will deliver 11 kills in a playoff victory that night at Rosary. The match lasts less than an hour. Naulls takes less than that to find her rhythm.

“When she’s on fire, she dominates,” said Quiroz, hoping for a similar performance tonight at Cypress College, where the top-seeded Wolverines play No. 2 San Luis Obispo at 7 p.m. in the Southern Section Division III-A title match.

Naulls, a 6-foot-1 senior, was a member of last year’s State Division III championship team, but at a different position, opposite hitter.

“My first and only year at opposite,” she said.

She was a starter, not a star. That title went to setter Jenni Kriste, now at California.

Naulls is back in the middle, where she has played since seventh grade, and it’s her turn to draw college interest. Florida, Texas and Connecticut are intrigued, which isn’t surprising. Naulls isn’t just a volleyball droid.

She sings alto for the school’s Concert Singers, reads mysteries--no Stephen King, he’s a “little too freaky”--and loves Oceanographic Bio class.

On the court, she’s confident, not cocky, a philosophy handed down from her father, Willie, a UCLA basketball great who played under John Wooden from 1954-56.

“No show-boating. It wastes energy,” said Malaika, who grew up in a home that, save for a few photographs, doesn’t sport much Bruin memorabilia.

“He’s a very humble guy,” she continued. “When you ask him about it, he says it’s in the past. He looks forward, not backward.”

If she looks into the future, Naulls sees herself owning a major corporation, “something big.”

For the short run, there’s the ultimate bus to catch: A repeat victory in the State finals.

“I think we can go all the way,” Naulls said. “I really do.”