An old sports adage says you’re only as good as your competition. Wyatt Harrison can verify that.
The Pacific Collegiate School senior moved with his family to Santa Cruz from Hawaii after his sophomore year. While in Kauai, he played volleyball almost daily, either for his school team or, more often, on the beach with his dad and two brothers. Yet, the strides he made over a lifetime on the islands can’t be matched by the breakthroughs he had over the course of two seasons in Santa Cruz.
“He’s gotten a lot better since he moved here,” said Harrison’s brother Noa, a sophomore libero for the Pumas. Noa noted that the boys volleyball scene on Kauai was so paltry that he played on the only boys club team, which had no choice but to compete against girls squads. And that was an improvement over the state of the game when Wyatt was his age.
“Wyatt never got any of that. All he had was high school,” Noa said, adding that there were so few high school teams that they played each other over and over. “Playing here and on the beach, he’s gotten a lot better.”
One significant measure of his improvement: Harrison went from being a second-team all-league selection last year to having league coaches name him the undisputed 2017 Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League MVP for boys volleyball.
Junior outside Kacey Losik earned Offensive Player of the Year honors as the firepower behind an Aptos team that handed PCS its only SCCAL loss. Jake Landel, who coached the Mariners to second place, was named the SCCAL’s Coach of the Year.
In general, the SCCAL proved among the strongest leagues in the section. Three league teams reached the Central Coast Section quarterfinals, tied for the most with the Santa Clara Valley Athletic League’s De Anza Division. Two SCCAL teams reached the semifinals.
Harrison earned the top honor by captaining a PCS squad that won the first outright SCCAL title in program history, compiling a 13-1 record. The Pumas went on to win the CCS Division II title for the second time in four years. They also played in the NorCal championship — the ultimate match at the high school level since California has no state championship in the sport — where they lost to defending champion Saratoga. During that run, in which the Pumas tallied a 35-6 overall record, Harrison put down 660 kills for an average of 6.285 per set, the best average in the greater Monterey Bay area, according to the Monterey Bay Prep Report. The 6-foot-4 outside hitter also managed 42 blocks and an average of almost two aces per match.
“He was always at the beach all summer long and playing for Main Beach, but I really don’t know what happened to him,” PCS second-year coach Scott Sanborn said. “He was good, but to make the jump into becoming a monster? He’s probably the (SCCAL’s) best offensive player, I think, since Brian Cook.”
The Harrisons made the move to Santa Cruz in part because father Todd Harrison was offered a position as vice principal at PCS, in part so mother Anne Harrison could return to her hometown, and in part to get the boys more volleyball exposure.
Wyatt Harrison probably touched the ball as much last year as he usually did in Hawaii. The quality of those touches vastly improved, however, as he spent nearly every moment of his free time playing the best competition he could find with his Main Beach and Bay to Bay clubs, with PCS or in beach tournaments alongside Losik, his doubles partner.
“Once we moved here, club went right into high school which went back to club,” said Harrison, who plans to play for UC San Diego next season. “I guess I just couldn’t get enough of it.”
Nonetheless, Harrison credits his time in Hawaii for laying the foundation. He said digging hits on the beach from his father, a former University of Hawaii player, made him a good passer, which has made everything easier.
“All three of us would line up and he would hit it at us. It was fun,” Harrison said of those sessions with his dad and brothers, Noa and Kai. “I’m really happy about that because we got in the hardest part, the passing. That definitely helped a lot once the height set in and I was learning to hit. That definitely helped, being able to touch a volleyball when we were small.”
That tidbit and the fact Harrison grew two inches between his junior and senior years is encouraging for Noa Harrison, who would like to one day fill his brother’s shoes. At 5-4, Noa was the smallest player on the court for PCS. Yet the all-SCCAL second-team selection has shown — especially while playing against Saratoga and its 6-4 UC Irvine-bound power outside — that he also picked up some solid passing skills during his time on the islands.
“I’ve kind of gotten burnt out because I’m just passing and digging,” Noa said, “and that’s not as much fun as watching Wyatt.”
PCS junior middle Phil Grote and sophomore setter Jake Sandidge also were selected to the first team, as was Harbor junior Calvin Sanborn, PCS coach Scott Sanborn’s younger brother. Aptos senior opposite Jayson Guy joins Losik on the team, along with Scotts Valley senior Eric Bullard and Mount Madonna sophomore Brigg Busenhart.
Just two of the seven all-SCCAL first-team players, not counting Harrison, graduated this spring, which may serve as an indication of the league’s continued strength in the future.
Contact Julie Jag at 831-706-3257.