Her Travels Usually End in Winning Destination

Courtney Schultz has traveled like an ambassador this year, accruing more frequent-flier miles than some pilots.

She visited the Dominican Republic, hit Hawaii and spent a couple weeks in Michigan, but her favorite destination might be Cypress College, of all places.

The middle blocker played two of the most important matches of her volleyball career at Cypress, leading Harvard-Westlake High to the Southern Section Division III-AA championship in November and the state Division III title a few weeks later.

With a quick, powerful attack, stellar blocking skills and rapidly improving defense in the back row, the 6-foot-1 junior is The Times’ Valley/Ventura County region player of the year for the second consecutive season.

Schultz was dominant from the start, leading Harvard-Westlake to the championship of the Iolani tournament in Hawaii. She played at the same level for four months, capping the season with 18 kills in a three-game sweep of Los Gatos in the state final.

In between, she was the driving force behind the Wolverines winning the prestigious San Marcos tournament and the Mission League title.

“There was just no letting up on her part,” Harvard-Westlake Coach Jess Quiroz said. “She was really pushing hard right from the get-go.”

She delivered 25 kills in a four-game victory over Bishop Montgomery, a longtime playoff rival, in the Division III-AA final.

She was similarly unstoppable in the state playoffs, totaling 18 kills in a sweep of University of San Diego in the Southern Regional final and 16 kills in a match against Tollhouse Sierra, giving a Sierra player a slight concussion with one of her blasts.

“From the beginning, we all had our eyes on the state title,” Schultz said. “We knew we were favored and there was a lot of pressure on us, but we tried not to think about it.”

Schultz’s family better think about widening the mantel at home.

Schultz won a bevy of awards, including San Marcos tournament most valuable player, Mission League most valuable player, section Division III-AA co-player of the year and state Division III championship most valuable player.

“She’s awesome,” Quiroz said. “Very seldom does she not terminate. She is a bona-fide [Division I college] player. She can do it all.”

Before the season, Schultz had a phenomenal summer, elevating her game during a frantic six-week period that included a key role in leading the U.S. Youth National team to a second-place finish in a world championship qualifying tournament in the Dominican Republic.

With a busy off-season, she should be even better next year for Harvard-Westlake, possibly becoming the first three-time winner of the The Times’ player of the year award and leading the Wolverines toward some obvious conclusions.

More traveling. And, very likely, more appearances at Cypress College.