He’s Their Ace of Heart and Soul : DeBlasio Finds a Way to Pep Up the Eagles When They’re Down

Santa Margarita volleyball Coach Eddie Rapp sits stoically on the bench during most matches, intensely analyzing the opponent’s every move.

But Tuesday, with the fourth game on the line against sixth-ranked Corona del Mar, there was just a crease of a grin on Rapp’s face when senior outside hitter Justin DeBlasio aced a critical jump serve. It was DeBlasio’s second jump-serve ace of the game and it rallied the Eagles, ranked second in the county, to a 16-14 victory and the match.

Call it fate, perhaps, that the serving rotation came around to DeBlasio at such an important time, but Rapp and almost everyone else on the Eagles’ side of the gymnasium was glad it did. A four-year starter, DeBlasio is the team’s big-play guy.

“He gets the team going. He’s a real leader on the court,” said Marcus Skacel, a 6-foot-4 junior middle blocker. “He keeps the team on fire. A lot of the time he controls the pace of the game, and when we are down, he brings us back.”

At 6-1, DeBlasio is not big for an outsider hitter. In fact, he and Rapp admit DeBlasio’s college prospects may be limited because of his size. But what he lacks in height, he makes up with his timely play. Several sideouts before Tuesday’s crucial ace, DeBlasio recorded a kill that led to five straight Eagle points that erased a 14-11 Corona del Mar lead.

“He’s a big-game player; solid throughout,” Rapp said. “He’s one of those guys that, if I had my choice, he’d be my first pick on the team every time. There may be more talented guys around, but Justin is one of those guys you need to keep the work ethic and determination going.”

Still, DeBlasio’s 108 kills on the season are not overly impressive. Rapp says that’s because DeBlasio is an unselfish player, that this season he has made leadership, not personal glory, his main focus.

“He’s not the top kill guy. He keeps our guys together,” Rapp said. “He has accepted his role every year. He makes up for what he lacks with hard work and heart.”

How much heart? DeBlasio changed club teams last fall, he said, because he felt his former club coach was not intense enough. As a way to make himself more palatable to college coaches, DeBlasio has been working at the setter position in practice. Even at his height, he has been a blocking factor at the net.

“He makes himself and the guys around him better volleyball players,” Rapp said.

DeBlasio says the reason his statistics are off a bit from his 1996 totals is because he has taken on a different role this season.

“In past years, it was obvious that I was working hard to compete with older guys. That always kept me on my feet,” he said. “This year, I have to keep myself on my toes. It’s a little bit harder for me. I’m not looking to live up to last year, but I have set goals for myself.”

When DeBlasio is off the court, Skacel says, Santa Margarita’s momentum swings dramatically.

“When he is out of the game, there’s just no guy to look to as a team leader,” Skacel said.

DeBlasio has paid his dues at Santa Margarita. As a freshman in 1993, the Eagles finished 3-14. His sophomore year, they went 10-10. As a junior, he was the Sea View League’s co-most valuable player and the Eagles were 18-3. Now, heading into Friday’s important league match at No. 5 Newport Harbor, Santa Margarita (9-1 overall) has gained the top ranking in Southern Section Division II.

Santa Margarita’s only loss was to Edison, which came several days after the Eagles’ stunning victory over Esperanza, the county’s top-ranked team. True to form, DeBlasio called a team meeting after that loss.

“We were thinking we were No. 1 and we let down and couldn’t get back in that match against Edison,” DeBlasio said. “We had a team meeting to re-evaluate what we wanted to do. We were able to get back on top.”

An English teacher once gave DeBlasio a good piece of advice, words that he says he uses to guide him on the court.

“He told me that if you reach for the stars, you always end up somewhere in the clouds,” DeBlasio said.