CHATSWORTH — Luck? There’s no such thing.
Not when you’re Sierra Canyon setter Lucky Fasavalu, who is also a University of Missouri commit.
Fasavalu ends her morning workouts by hitting 20 consecutive fast top-spin serves over the net with accuracy. If she misses one, she has to start over.
“My family preaches getting reps that while everyone is sleeping, you’re out working,” Fasavalu said.
She jumps, tosses the ball from her hand and accelerates her hand and arm to the ball to send it rocketing over the net.
The serve itself is considered effective, but the chances for an error while attempting it are high.
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Which is why Fasavalu practices her serves over and over. She was taught by her mother, Alo, who played outside hitter and middle blocker at Kansas State. Alo encouraged her daughter to turn her serve into a weapon for Sierra Canyon, the No. 1-ranked team in the country.
“Everything I know how to do comes from her,” Fasavalu said of her mother. “I started top spinning because of her. Top spins are really cool, and (she said), ‘I think you have a really good top spin.’ We kept working on it.”
Her routine includes waking up at 5 a.m. each day. She takes an ice bath for body recovery and then lifts weights with her father, Junior Fasavalu, who is an Army officer.
She then travels 32 miles across Ventura County, from her hometown of Camarillo to Sierra Canyon.
After school and practice, Fasavalu heads back to Camarillo and begins her own practice.
She’ll walk into a nearby gym and begin her second practice near 10 p.m. Fasavalu will stay there until midnight.
Her second volleyball workout varies. from setting to serve receiving, digging and diving after balls. Her workouts are fast-paced and high-intensity, but she always ends with her top spin serves.
“I can’t leave the gym until I hit 20 serves in a row,” Fasavalu said.
Her work ethic has paid massive dividends for Fasavalu and Sierra Canyon. The Trailblazers have dropped only two sets during their 10-0 start and they won the Ann Kang Invitational in Hawaii — considered one of the top national tournaments — to begin the season.
Sierra Canyon’s roster includes outside hitter McKenna McIntosh (USC commit), middle blocker Kendall Omoruyi (Nebraska commit), opposite hitter Eva Jeffries (Tennessee commit) and outside hitter Hannah McGinest (Texas Tech commit).
“I don’t know if I’ll ever have a team like this again with this many Division I level-committed seniors,” Sierra Canyon coach Stefanie Wigfall said. “I want to enjoy it with them, and I want that to involve a lot of winning, of course. I tell them every day in practice that they are incredible players. And I tell them my job every day is to make them just a little bit better every day before they leave.”
Sierra Canyon’s star-studded rotation includes an elite setter in Fasavalu. She doesn’t just see the floor and time her sets with near perfection. Fasavalu is also a leader who has turned her serving into a weapon that acts as a meteoric first layer opponents are forced to fight through.
Sierra Canyon, through Wigfall’s coaching, has produced Division I setters in the past like Taylor Simpson (Colorado/Washington) and Sade Ilawole (Indiana). A fact not lost on Fasavalu and the relationship she’s built with Wigfall.
“I’m so thankful for her,” Fasavalu said. “There are so many practices she doesn’t have to be there and (she could) spend time with her kids. And she’s in the gym with us, making us better. Making sure we are putting in 100% effort even if we are feeling 20%. She pushes us to the best of our abilities, even if it’s tough love. We know she is pushing us to the best of our abilities.”
With Fasavalu, Wigfall knows just how lucky her team is at setter.
“We are living the lucky life here,” Wigfall said. “I’m lucky enough to get these kids into the program we have now. And we’ve had a lot of people help Lucky reach the level she’s at now. She deserves the most credit because she’s constantly pushing herself and constantly trying to raise her game and be a better teammate. She’s got that relentless mindset of progress and improvement. She’s constantly pushing herself to be a better teammate.
Fasavalu said she owes it all to her two athletic parents: discipline instilled by Junior and volleyball skills shared by Alo.
“The goal is that we are near perfection,” Fasavalu said. “That’s what we are aiming for.”