BY DAVID LASSEN
HEMET It’s not as if he was the greatest alpine skier in Saudi Arabia, or South America’s finest ice hockey player. Still, as a boys volleyball player in the Inland area, Jacob Hill is fighting a bit of an uphill battle for recognition. The area’s only returning All-CIF-Southern Section player in the sport, the 6-foot-3 Hill is a setter of many talents for a Hemet team hoping to repeat or surpass its extended playoff run of a year ago. The Bulldogs reached the Division 3 semifinals before falling to Camarillo, becoming one of just a handful of Inland teams to advance that far in the postseason. Norco, in 2009 and 2010, remains the only area team to win a Southern Section title in boys volleyball, a sport played by only about two dozen Inland schools. The run was “pretty amazing,” Hill said, “considering we’re an Inland Empire volleyball team. Guys’ volleyball is nothing in the Inland Empire. … It was a great feeling. Can’t wait to be back there.” Hill was a key component of that run, with his size making him an effective blocker and attacker as well as a setter. He might be larger than the prototypical setter, but his brother and sister both played the position, and when he began playing in high school, he gravitated toward the position. “Our setter was leaving,” he said, “so I just decided to take the spot and go as far as I could then.” He understands, though, that his role is more than just feeding the team’s other attackers. “I kind of go wherever (Coach Bob Jensen) needs me,” Hill said. “If he needs me to pass, I’ll pass. If he needs me to hit, I’ll hit. … Freshman year I played everything. That’s what I’m used to.” Said Jensen, “Any time you have a big setter, especially in the front row, it’s just ridiculously dangerous. Because if you have a block who doesn’t respect him, it’s an automatic kill. And then if you give him too much respect, he’s going to flick an outside ball, and it’s a better opportunity for our team.” Hemet opened its season Monday with a four-game loss to Norco, which underlined a problem the Bulldogs face early in the season. Even with Hill setting effectively – he had just one error in 80 attempts – the Bulldogs finished with just 22 kills, reflecting the absence of the team’s kill leader of a year ago, senior outside hitter Jared Walsh. He’s sidelined for six weeks with an injury suffered during the basketball playoffs. “Not having a terminal hitter, someone who terminates outside, makes it difficult,” Jensen said. “… I have three kids that can touch well above the rim, but with out that consistent high, hard power, nothing’s going to change.” Still, Hill is confident things will get better, and he’ll do what he can to make it happen. “I owe it to these guys to play hard,” he said. “They’re in here working hard every day. “I want to go back to semis or even further in CIF, and they do too, so we’ve just got to work hard.” Where that hard work leads Hill in the future remains very much an open question. “I’m frustrated for him,” said Jensen, “because he can play somewhere big. ... I ref lines for Pepperdine (and) at Cal Baptist. And when they play big teams, and I see the other setters, I’m like, dude, Jake Hill can easily be a Division I setter.” Said Hill, “I’ve been looking at some places, but I’m not really super heavily committed to anywhere. … I’m still waiting to see.” CONTACT THE WRITER: [email protected] FIVE VOLLEYBALL TEAMS TO WATCH
Redlands Arrowhead Christian: Kill leader Kaleb Denmark and setter Joey Savala are among the returnees from the team that won the Ambassador League and reached the Division 5 quarterfinals. Hemet: All-CIF setter Jacob Hill leads the returning players from the 20 1 3 Sunbelt League champions, who made the deepest playoff run in program history by advancing to the Division 3 semifinals. Norco: The Cougars return five seniors from the team that went 1 9-8 last year and took second in the Big VIII, and already have a win over Hemet to their credit. Corona Santiago: After finishing third in the Big VIII a year ago, the Sharks return most of their key players and could supplant Riverside La Sierra, which lost much of its roster to graduation, as league champion. Yucaipa: The defending Citrus Belt champion, a playoff quarterfinalist a year ago, is ranked No. 7 in this year’s Division 4 preseason poll.