Home-court advantage
By ROGER UNDERWOOD
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

Nikki Hernandez left home for awhile.

She stayed for a time in Bellingham, then moved to Ellensburg. But eventually it came down to two simple things for the Eisenhower alum: She could stay away from neither her family nor her sport, and is Yakima Valley volleyball ever glad about that.

"I guess," Hernandez said with a smile and a shrug, "I just can't give it up."

While YVCC has struggled, falling to 2-10 in Eastern Region record and 6-15 after Wednesday night's loss at Spokane, Hernandez has been a season-long standout.

She has totaled a team-high 141 kills — a 3.44 per-game average — and has also led the squad in digs with 614 — a 4.00 average.

And Hernandez has done this after a year of competitive inactivity.

Following a remarkable career at Ike, during which she helped the Cadets to a three-year record of 42-0 in Big Nine Conference play, plus back-to-back runner-up finishes at the Class 4A state tournament, she joined close friend and teammate Kari Rice in
signing to play at Western Washington.

It didn't work out. The emotional strain of being away from her family prompted Hernandez to move to Central Washington in much-nearer Ellensburg.

She redshirted last season, but concluded afterward that a fresh start at Yakima Valley would be better.

"Western was too far away from home," Hernandez said in a recent interview. "Being away from my family was a big part of it. And this turned out to be more affordable for all of us."

SARA GETTYS/Yakima Herald-Republic Yakima Valley Community College's Nikki Hernandez listens to her coach during a time out during her team's match against Walla Walla Community College, played at YVCC on Wednesday, October 17, 2007.

Still, even as she enrolled at YVCC to pursue a career in elementary education, Hernandez wasn't sure she wanted to play volleyball. More than a decade of competition had taken a toll, one which probably had been heightened by recent distance from her family and accompanying financial demands.

So she thought about it, weighing the pros and cons and sorting out her emotions.

Coming home had been a good idea, Hernandez reasoned. So would returning to a sport she loved.

"I've been playing since I was 10," she said. "I've been so used to playing all the time that it's sort of a become part of me. For awhile I was wondering if I was going to play. But now I thank God that I am."

Not only has the 5-foot-8 Hernandez resumed her competitive exploits, she has also coached and officiated.

Last summer she guided the Spikers Volleyball U-16 summer team, and saw the game from a drastically different perspective.

"It's just so different," she said, shaking her head. "There are so many things a coach has to pay attention to and deal with.

"I apologize to all my coaches for different things that happened along the way. But I really do enjoy coaching."

Her officiating has been mostly confined to middle school competition, she said.

But it's nonetheless volleyball.

"It's just something that gets in your blood," she said.

Still, Hernandez was uncertain as to whether she'll play next year, or beyond her days at YVCC. Events had moved a bit too quickly after high school, after all, so patience would seem the order of the day.