Catch Her If You Can

Redondo Union’s Tiffany Morales knows nothing about the sidelines. The junior two-sport star has been a varsity mainstay for both the girls' volleyball and water polo teams during her first three years, not to mention the club and national teams she plays on.

Morales, an integral part of the Sea Hawks CIF championship finalist volleyball team, excelled in her defensive specialist position and caught the attention of several prominent Division I programs, but she is headed to the University of Michigan in 2012.

“I had several schools showing lots of interest, and I took a few unofficial visits.  Once I got to Michigan, I felt like I was supposed to be there,” Morales said.

Despite Morales’ busy schedule of tournaments around the world this past year, it was the Sea Hawks run this past fall that stands out for her.

“I feel like this year is always going to remain on a pedestal for me. We bonded as a team and everyone generally loved each other,” Morales said.

The Sea Hawks (32-9) captured the outright Bay League title and took Long Beach Poly to the brink before falling to the Jackrabbits in the CIF championship.

“Through the ins and outs of the season, we fought together and kept pushing ourselves towards our goals of winning the Bay League and going for the CIF championship,” Morales said.

The fact that the close-knit Sea Hawk volleyball team even out of season gets together for movie nights and the camaraderie is something Morales cherishes, despite being a part of several elite club and all-star teams.

“Tiffany goes full throttle at all times,” said sophomore teammate Skylar Dykstra. “She collects herself on the court and is taking on the role as lead captain this year, which is going to be great for us.”

Morales, who has participated in club volleyball since she was eight-years-old, followed in her older sister Clarissa’s footsteps, often displaying a reckless-abandon that she has not abandoned.

“I was really aggressive back then. I really didn’t know there were boundaries and would chase everything down,” Morales said.

It is Morales’ all-out effort that helped her to 490 digs this season for the Sea Hawks and lead her to a spot on the United States Youth National Team that brought home silver in Singapore over the summer.

“It was a whole lot of fun. I got to play with people from all over the country and make friends and learn about different cultures,” Morales said.

The U.S. team that was made up of 17-and-under sensations from around the country defeated eventual gold-medalist Belgium in pool-play, but was defeated in the championship game.

“I didn’t feel a lot of pressure to make the team. Most people get invitations to camps from the tryout, but I got an email over the summer saying that I had been selected and my family and I were very excited that all the hard work had paid off,” Morales said.

In August, Morales and her U.S. teammates first met on the 18-hour flight to Singapore and spent the next two weeks practicing together.

“There was a reason Tiffany was selected to the Junior Olympic Youth Team this past summer, and that reason is her athleticism,” Redondo head volleyball coach Tommy Chaffins said. “Her next-play focus, work ethic and competitiveness combined with a desire to get better every second equals a coach’s dream.

“Her leadership skills have been off the chart.  She was a captain in training as a sophomore here, and last year she was one of the captains as a junior,” Chaffins said.

Morales and her father Louis have helped coach the freshman/sophomore team at RUHS the past two seasons, which Chaffins believes has been key in her development as a player as well.

“She has an ability to identify the technical problem with a player, and then she can teach and correct the player's form. I would argue that coaching has helped her become a better player from seeing the court from a coach’s eye. How many high schoolers have that underneath their belt?” Chaffins said.

There is no off-season for Morales as she transitioned almost immediately from the high school season to the club volleyball season, which lasts from December through the summer.

Morales is a member of the Mizuno-Long Beach team coached by former Division I players Dan O’Dell of Penn State and his wife, former USC Trojan Alli O’Dell.

What may be the most remarkable is that while Morales could certainly rest on her laurels as a three-time All-Area First Team Member and three-time libero of the year in the Bay League, but she jumps from the volleyball court into the water as a key-member of the Sea Hawks water polo squad.

“In an era of one-sport stars, Tiffany has been a varsity starter since her freshman year in both spots,” Chaffins said.

One of Morales’ early club volleyball friends, Rachel Fattal of Los Alamitos, encouraged her to try out water-polo. Tiffany has been mixing it up in the pool ever since.

“Water Polo is a lot of endurance. You have to learn to be tough. The girls are really aggressive and it corresponds well with being tough in volleyball, but nothing seems to compare to being kicked and beat up in the pool,” Morales said.

“It’s really amazing how she can jump from sport to sport. It takes a lot of dedication and time on her part,” Dykstra said.

Morales somehow has found time to fit academics into her rigorous practice schedule as a two-sport athlete, maintaining a stellar 3.84 grade point average and keeping an eye on pursuing a career in Kinesiology and Exercise Science.

Those plans will have to wait, though. Morales has designs on helping lead the Sea Hawk water polo team to the CIF playoffs and continue improving on her club volleyball team.

“My teammates have been in the pool since the volleyball season. I’m not even sure I’ve caught up yet,” Morales said.

Morales’ laid-back demeanor and modesty belies her fierce competitiveness. The idea of catching up perhaps should be less of a concern for Morales as it should be for those unlucky enough to compete with her—in the pool or on the courts.