HIGH SCHOOL PREVIEW : Duggins Ready for Island Life : Volleyball: Hawaii-bound senior hopes to lead Fullerton to Freeway League title first.

It was a no-brainer for Fullerton’s Lauren Duggins. The 5-foot-11 senior committed to play women’s volleyball for Hawaii, sight unseen.

Well, sort of.

“I’ve never actually been on campus,” said Duggins, who will take her official visit to the campus near Honolulu later this month.

Duggins, however, still knows all about the islands. Her mother, Deb, grew up in nearby Kaneohe. And to get a chance to spend four years in that tropical paradise, get an education and play volleyball?

It’s aloha to the mainland for Duggins.

Although Duggins plays for a high school team that isn’t known as a volleyball power, she has carved out her own reputation as one of the county’s top players and will get to play for one of the nation’s top women’s collegiate programs next season.

But before the three-time All-Freeway League selection leaves, she wants to take one last stab at leading Fullerton to its first league volleyball title. Although La Habra and Sunny Hills are the favorites again this year, Duggins has hope.

“I think we have a lot of potential,” Duggins said. “I think the league title is really up for grabs. “

And the Indians couldn’t ask for a better leader.

“She’s very patient,” Fullerton Coach Wendy Vrolyk said. “She’s encouraging and she wants to help this team play at its highest level.”

So Duggins helps who she can during drills, like Micol Zattana, an exchange student from Italy who had never played volleyball until she arrived in the U.S.

Duggins didn’t begin playing volleyball until eighth grade, but she was raising eyebrows back then.

“I remember the first clinic I saw her at was before her freshman year,” Vrolyk said.

Duggins also remembered.

“It was very intimidating,” Duggins said. “A lot of the players were really big and they were hitting it hard.”

Vrolyk had a different perspective.

“Lauren was a kid just dripping with potential,” Vrolyk said. “She could jump out of the gym and she had big, soft hands. She could set the ball without much effort.

“I had these college coaches asking me ‘What schools are talking to her?’ and I just said she’s only a freshman.”

Duggins has matured into a great all-around player. Quick and explosive, Duggins plays middle blocker with her club team, a position she’ll probably play in college. But Vrolyk has had Duggins play setter for all three seasons.

“She has great hands,” Vrolyk said. “I figured if she’s setting, she’s touching the ball every time it comes over. And it also helps that she’s such a good blocker.”

And setting is a welcome challenge, not a distraction for Duggins.

“I loved setting,” Duggins said. “It was a nice change. I think it made me a better player. When I set, I know the hitters’ point of view and now with my club team, I also see the setter’s point of view.”

Duggins also saw the view from the soccer field. Although she gave up club soccer several years ago, she was an All-Freeway League selection in soccer at Fullerton for the past three seasons. But she won’t play this season as she concentrates on volleyball.

Duggins’ decision to give up club soccer wasn’t easy.

“That was really tough,” Duggins said. “Since I grew up playing soccer, everything always flowed for me. But in volleyball, it wasn’t until my sophomore year that everything started clicking and it started to flow.”

And she fell in love with the sport. Now, that volleyball ability has helped her all the way to Hawaii.

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Any list of Orange County players to watch must begin with Newport Harbor’s April Ross, the Times Orange County Player of the Year last season. The 6-foot-2 senior outside hitter, who has committed to USC, will play part-time at setter this season. . . . Other players with big shoes to fill include La Habra junior Keao Burdine, a top-flight talent who will help La Habra defend its Southern Section Division II-A title after the graduation of Division II player of the year, Amanda Siler, who is now at Santa Clara. Ocean View senior Kelly Jameson is one of the few returners for the Seahawks, who won section and state titles in 1997 and reached the section Division III-AA final last season.

One of the county’s top sophomores is Mater Dei’s Breegan Mulligan, a 6-0 opposite who transferred from Dana Hills. . . . Seniors Kelly Brockman of Huntington Beach, Stephanie Gamst of Los Alamitos and Dimitra Havriluk of Corona del Mar play for teams that aren’t favored to win their league, but all three should help their teams contend. Others players to watch: Foothill senior Chavaughn Brown, Liberty Christian senior Felicia Jao, Villa Park senior Jessica Koopman, La Quinta senior Bonnie Shum, Sunny Hills senior Stevie Nicholas and Kennedy senior Cira Wright.