Haneef Will Start Focusing on Game She Loves

LAGUNA HILLS — Tayyiba Haneef is a three-sport athlete at Laguna Hills High School. Her credentials are impressive in basketball and track and field. Yet, the one sport she is least known for is the one she loves most: volleyball. She has no section titles, no all-county team selections, few accolades in the sport.

But the 6-foot-6 middle blocker signed to play volleyball at Long Beach State.

Not basketball, in which the center led the Hawks to their first state basketball title. Not track and field, in which she qualified for this weekend’s state finals in the high jump.

Haneef chose volleyball because she loves the sport. She chose Long Beach State because she wants to play better.

Long Beach volleyball Coach Brian Gimmillaro is known for fostering talented volleyball players. His teams are continually nationally ranked. Yet Gimmillaro has made it clear he would rather have a good athlete on his team than someone who has played volleyball all her life.

And he has found that in Haneef, who last week was named the Orange County female athlete of the year by the Orange County Coaches Assn.

“[Gimmillaro] is one of the top coaches in the nation,” Haneef said. “I’m going there, because he is known for taking talented athletes and turning them into great volleyball players. Players that end up on the professional tour or playing for the national team.”

One of Haneef’s goals is to compete on the Olympic volleyball team. Although she admits it’s more remote than her potential to compete for the U.S. in the high jump, she still likes her chances.

“I’ve thought a lot about it,” Haneef said. “In the high jump, I’m so close. The qualifying mark for the trials is 6-1. But it will take a lot of hard work in volleyball. Maybe, the high jump in 2000 and volleyball in 2004, or later.”

Haneef, who has cleared 5-10 1/2 in the high jump this season, the best in the state and fourth in the nation, hopes to take home her first state title in that event this weekend at Sacramento City College.

Her main competition is Lisa Underhill of Vista Rancho Buena Vista, who qualified with a leap of 5-9. From the county, Woodbridge’s Ashley Bethel is Haneef’s closest competition, clearing 5-6. Haneef recently won the Masters meet, with a jump of 5-6.

“It’s going to take a jump of 5-10 or better to win at state,” said Haneef, who finished third at state last season and fifth as a sophomore. “I’ve done it before, so I know I can do it again.”

Although a state high jump title would mean a lot to Haneef, she doesn’t think anything can come close to winning the state basketball title.

“I will never forget that,” Haneef said. “Winning the high jump would be great, because it would be an individual effort and I would know I did it on my own. But the biggest memory I will have from this year is basketball. We had been together for four years and that was what we had always aimed for. We are all so close and it means a lot.”

Despite the thrill and the memories, Haneef’s basketball career is most likely over. She wants to concentrate on her high jumping and improving her volleyball skills.

Haneef’s athletic career began when she started playing soccer in kindergarten. She says it is still her favorite game, but when she outgrew her teammates, her parents decided it was time to move on.

“They were passing out [track] fliers,” said Haneef, who was 5-11 in sixth grade. “And people kept coming up and telling me to try it. I went on from there.”

Her father, Mo, helps coach her in the high jump, videotaping each jump and watching it immediately so he can correct any problems.

“My parents have always been there for me when it’s good and when it’s bad,” she said. “They never pressured me and always told me I could stop whenever I wanted to.”