Daily Journal Volleyball Players of the Year: Hillsdale’s Jessica Dean and Victoria Vanos

Yet there they were — bucking those improbable odds — ultimately forcing a decisive fifth set, with Dean stepping to the service line like she so often did in big spots throughout the 2021 season. And she delivered, serving up match point with a top-spin floater, forcing an overpass by San Ramon Valley that was met by Vanos, who socked it to the floor to finish off a miraculous comeback.

“I was just crazy,” Vanos said. “Crazy that we were able to push ourselves after losing two sets.”

On and off the court, Dean and Vanos were virtually inseparable. They have been best friends since they stepped onto the volleyball court at the start of the freshman season. They have played together on four different teams, including three different Bay Area volleyball clubs.

Whether it was luck or fate that led them to go the public-school route at Hillsdale, their legacy left no doubt. As a tandem, Dean and Vanos are the clear-cut choice as Daily Journal Volleyball Players of the Year.

“I’m going to say it was luck,” Hillsdale head coach Dwight Crump said. “Both of them could have gone to private schools, but they chose to go to Hillsdale together. … It was just fate that they ended up being at Hillsdale. It was fate that they both came in and had some talent … and that’s the reason they came in as freshmen and started. And they just refined that talent into what it is today.”

The Dean & Vanos show

The Dean & Vanos show was renowned for double-double performances this season. With Hillsdale playing 30 matches, posting a 27-3 overall record, the two combined for 39 double-doubles, with Vanos totaling 19 and Dean going for 20.

Performance wise, their output was oh so similar. The manner in which each of them got there, however, was markedly different. Just as the two outside hitters played opposite one another in the Hillsdale lineup, the two are different personalities, with dramatically different styles on the court.

“Victoria is a very graceful, dynamic hitter, and I would say Jessica is a very strong, aggressive hitter that plays smart volleyball,” Crump said. “When you look at the gracefulness of Victoria, and the aggressiveness of Jessica, you could say they’re the same.”

And their connection is undeniable.

Hillsdale royalty

Vanos knows the power of connection through sports. The volleyball star is something of Hillsdale royalty, as the niece of former basketball star Nick Vanos. Victoria Vanos never met her Uncle Nick, who advanced from the high school ranks at Hillsdale all the way to the NBA as a 7-1 center with the Phoenix Suns.

But on Aug. 16, 1987, years before Victoria was born, Nick Vanos died in a commuter airplane crash in Michigan that killed 154 people. Victoria’s father Peter, several years younger than Nick, was in college at the time of the devastating tragedy.

“He does tend to get emotional, especially when talking to me, because he tells me I remind him a lot of his brother,” Vanos said.

While Vanos isn’t nearly as tall as her uncle was, she still stands — by volleyball standards — a towering 6-2. And to add to the similarities between she and her uncle, this year she changed her uniform number midseason from No. 12 to No. 32 to honor the number No. 32 Nick Vanos wore at Hillsdale, which has long since been retired and enshrined on the wall of fame at Zugelder Gymnasium.

“I feel like now he was watching me in a way,” Vanos said of donning the number prior to Hillsdale’s Sept. 9 Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division opener. “I was a little nervous because it was like now, I have to live up to him.”

Now, Vanos has something of a family connection with Dean. The two met through playing for the same 650 Volleyball Club in middle school. It was a lifeline for Dean, who attended private school at Our Lady of Angels in Burlingame, and upon arriving at Hillsdale didn’t know anyone — except Vanos.

Finding a volleyball family

As a senior, Dean was the emotional core of the Hillsdale team. Energetic and charismatic, her personality reflects her explosive hitting style. At 5-11, she doesn’t have the benefit of Vanos’ long, fluid attacking lines. So, Dean swings harder, expends more energy, and reaps the benefits by contacting the ball with a notorious sonic boom.

Dean’s confidence, however, did not necessarily come naturally. In fact, she was overwhelmingly shy when she arrived at Hillsdale.

“When I got to Hillsdale … my first year on varsity, the team that was already there,” Dean said. “They were mostly seniors … and they were yelling and cheering, and I was kind of intimidated, like, that’s not really me.”

Now, Dean is the one yelling and cheering.

“I think it motivates us,” Vanos said. “And she does it in a way where it’s not super intense but goofy in a way. So, it helps us relax.”

Hillsdale played extraordinarily relaxed in 2021. After sweeping through league play to earn the PAL Bay Division title, the Knights earned a bid to the Central Coast Section Open Division tournament, where they made a quick exit with a loss to St. Francis. But with the Open Division bid came an automatic berth in the state tournament, and Hillsdale made the most of their placement in the CIF Division I bracket.

The Knights would ultimately fall in the state championship match against Harvard-Westlake of Studio City. But the previous match, playing for the Northern California Division I championship match at Oak Ridge-El Dorado Hills, was perhaps the greatest night in the history of the Hillsdale volleyball program.

Nor Cal champs

After battling to extra-points for a Game 1 victory, Hillsdale went on to claim the historic Nor Cal crown with a three-set sweep 26-24, 25-21, 25-16 in front of an Oak Ridge crown that was so loud and energetic, it could only be matched by the mighty yawp Dean unleashed as she walked off the court during a timeout late in the third and final set.

And once again, Dean found herself at the service line starting down a chance to serve for match point. All the growth of her four years at Hillsdale were magnified in that moment.

“I looked at Dwight, and I looked at my team and I was like shaking because we’re going to go to state if I get this,” Dean said.

With a quick check of her nerves, Dean executed her patented float serve to deliver a Nor Cal championship ace.

“I just remember running to Victoria and hugging her, and everybody was screaming,” Dean said.

Now, the Dean & Vanos show is riding into the sunset. Playing for the Encore Volleyball Club 18-and-under team, the duo will enjoy one more season together. Come the fall, Vanos is intent on attending UC Davis, where she will attempt to continue her playing career as a walk-on with the Division I volleyball program. Dean is still shopping for a college where she can play at the next level.

“I will never forget the feeling of walking onto the court with her for the last four years,” Dean said. “But I’m also a big believer in everything happens for a reason. … I think I’m going to miss playing with her, I’m going to miss being on the court together, but overall, I’m happy with how our relationship and our volleyball careers have gone together, and I’m definitely going to cherish the last couple months we have of playing club together on the court.”