Lloyd repeats as Avo League volleyball Player of the Year

For the second consecutive year, Fallbrook High School’s Carli Lloyd was named as the Avocado League’s Player of the Year in volleyball.

“When I heard that, I was pretty excited,” said Lloyd, who learned about the recognition November 21.

Lloyd was selected by the Avocado League’s coaches. “I believe she deserved it,” said Fallbrook coach Galen Tomlinson. “I believe Carli was the premier player.”

Lloyd was a unanimous choice by the league coaches. “There wasn’t another name mentioned to even discuss,” Tomlinson said.

Tomlinson felt that Lloyd’s two consecutive Player of the Year honors reflected talent and ability as well as consistency. Although Lloyd couldn’t improve upon her superlative 2005 league honor, Tomlinson felt that she improved as a player and leader in 2006.

“She’s a better player this year. She’s just a better athlete and she’s more mature,” Tomlinson said. “Her leadership quality improved as well, which was a big part of why our team was successful.”

Fallbrook forfeited seven games, none of which were Avocado League contests, due to a player declared ineligible, and that starter’s ineligibility also adjusted the team’s playing plans on short notice. Tomlinson cited Lloyd’s leadership during the season’s turmoil. “She knew it was up to her to make sure everybody stayed focused,” Tomlinson said.

Lloyd showed that leadership in another kind of court when she filed for an injunction against a decision not to allow the Warriors to participate in the CIF playoffs. A CIF rule bans teams with more than a specified number of forfeits – five in the case of volleyball – from post-season competition. A school can appeal to the CIF commissioner to regain eligibility for the playoffs, but CIF commissioner Dennis Ackerman denied Fallbrook’s appeal on October 20. Lloyd had not seen the CIF’s case in writing and sought the injunction, which was granted November 2. Two days later Fallbrook was seeded fourth in the CIF Division I playoffs, and the Warriors’ season continued until a CIF semifinal loss to top-seeded La Costa Canyon.

“It was a tough season to get through. We went through a lot,” Lloyd said.

The results of the three playoff matches gave Fallbrook a final 15-18 regular-season record including the seven forfeits, or a 22-11 record on the court. In Avocado League competition the Warriors finished 8-2 and placed second in the standings behind Carlsbad.

In 2005 Fallbrook had shared the league championship, and Lloyd was pleased that the coaches recognized her effort despite the absence of a league title. “I guess my work paid off,” she said. “I was always seen as a good volleyball player, so that was good.”

Lloyd noted that her second league Player of the Year award was just as exciting as the first, and she feels that her improvement from the 2005 season was primarily mental. “I feel that I’m more experienced with the game. I understand it better. I felt more comfortable on the court this year,” she said. “Running the game offensively I thought I was a lot smarter this year. I just felt more comfortable with my team and myself.”

Lloyd has been on Fallbrook High School’s varsity team since her freshman year, playing both setter and right side hitter. As a freshman she was an honorable mention all-league selection, and as a sophomore she was named to the Avocado League’s first team and to the all-CIF first team. Lloyd repeated her all-league and all-CIF honors as a junior, adding CIF Player of the Year as well as league Player of the Year to her 2005 recognition.

Lloyd’s all-league and all-CIF recognition also included first-team all-league track and field honors as a freshman and sophomore and all-CIF track and field recognition as a sophomore, when she reached the state meet in both the 110-meter hurdles and the long jump. Her track and field activities also included the 300-meter hurdles, the 400-meter run, and the relay team. Lloyd did not participate in track and field as a junior.

Lloyd was also Fallbrook High School’s Most Valuable Player in track and field in both her freshman and sophomore years, and she was on the cross-country team in ninth grade and earned team MVP honors. However, cross-country and volleyball are both fall sports and Lloyd abandoned cross-country after her freshman year. She has not played any winter high school sports.

Lloyd was born in Fallbrook and lived there until her family moved to Bonsall when she was 9 years old. She began her competitive volleyball career on the Sullivan Middle School team as a sixth-grader and played three years for the Sullivan squad. Lloyd began club volleyball while in eighth grade with Vintage in Temecula and currently plays club volleyball for the Poway-based Epic team.

Lloyd signed a letter of intent November 8 to play collegiately at the University of California.