Lloyd, Morton earn all-CIF honors

Fallbrook High School volleyball players Carli Lloyd and Shelly Morton were awarded all-CIF honors.

Lloyd was named to the all-division first team as well as the Division I first team while Morton earned a berth on the Division I second team. Lloyd is a senior and Morton is a junior.

The 2006 all-CIF honor was the third for Lloyd, who signed a letter of intent November 8 to play volleyball collegiately at the University of California. “It was exciting to hear the news,” Lloyd said. “It was a tough season.”

The Warriors forfeited seven games due to a player declared ineligible by the CIF. The seven forfeits would have made Fallbrook automatically ineligible for the CIF playoffs, but Lloyd sought a court injunction and was successful. The Warriors were seeded fourth in the CIF Division I playoffs and ended their season on the court rather than in court, losing to La Costa Canyon in the CIF semifinals.

“I thought I had a chance, but with everything we’ve been through this year I didn’t know how things would turn out,” Lloyd said of her all-CIF honor.

Lloyd spent four years on the Fallbrook High School varsity team, 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 was also first team all-league and all-CIF as a junior and was the Avocado League Player of the Year and the CIF Player of the Year in 2005. Lloyd’s honors during her senior season also included first-team Avocado League honors and league Player of the Year recognition.

The repeat all-CIF honor wasn’t any less exciting for Lloyd than her first two. “It’s either the same or more every time I hear it, especially my senior year,” Lloyd said.

Although Lloyd didn’t close out her high school playing career with a CIF championship or a berth in the state tournament (which is accorded to both CIF finalists), she now ends her high school career with the all-CIF honor. “That’s always great when you get a championship, but we did our best and it was a good season,” Lloyd said.

“Proud of her,” Fallbrook coach Galen Tomlinson said of Lloyd. “I expected it and I’m proud of her and it was a very good way to end her senior year here.”

In addition to playing volleyball for Fallbrook High School, Lloyd was on the track and field team as a freshman and sophomore, although she did not compete in that sport as a junior. As a freshman she was first-team all-league in track and field and as a sophomore she earned first team all-league and all-CIF honors. Her sophomore season also included qualifying for the 2004 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 was the track and field team’s Most Valuable Player both as a freshman and as a sophomore.

Lloyd also ran cross-country in ninth grade and earned team MVP honors, but cross-country and volleyball are both fall sports and Lloyd abandoned cross-country after her freshman year. Lloyd did not play any winter high school sports.

Lloyd was born in Fallbrook and lived there until her family moved to Bonsall when she was nine 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 with Vintage in Temecula while in eighth grade and currently plays club volleyball for the Poway-based Epic team.

Morton was primarily an outside hitter but also plays setter. “I’m happy that at least she got recognized,” Tomlinson said.

“She’s been in Carli’s shadow for so long,” Tomlinson said of Morton. “Her ability as a player has been overlooked.”

Morton had earned first-team all-league honors prior to her all-CIF selection. “I didn’t expect that at all,” Morton said of being named all-CIF. “We didn’t get that far, and I didn’t know that I’d get it.”

Fallbrook also reached the CIF semifinals in 2005, earning a share of the Avocado League title in the process. As a sophomore Morton earned second-team all-league honors and second team all-CIF recognition.

Morton was born in Phoenix and came to Fallbrook in second grade when her father was transferred to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. Her father had previously been stationed in Okinawa, and Morton spent kindergarten and first grade in Japan before transferring to Mary Fay Pendleton Elementary School. Morton attended Sullivan Middle School before enrolling at Fallbrook High School.

Morton earned a berth on the Fallbrook High School varsity volleyball team as a freshman. She is in her seventh year of club volleyball, starting with one tournament for the North County Volleyball Club under-12 team and then playing for Vintage. Morton has been playing club volleyball with Epic for the past three years.

“I don’t think she’s gotten enough credit along the way,” Tomlinson said of Morton.

That could change in 2007. “It will be her year to come out from Carli’s shadow,” Tomlinson said.

Morton feels that it will take more than herself to replace Lloyd. “We’re going to miss Carli, but I think if we work together we’ll probably have a pretty good team,” Morton said.