CHS freshman showing poise, talent

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers SKILLS—Calabasas High freshman Marissa Rossi has been a bright spot for the school's girls' volleyball team this season. For years, volleyball has been a big deal in Marissa Rossi's family. Now, Calabasas High is starting to reap the benefits.

Although the girls' volleyball team at CHS hasn't won a match this season and hasn't earned a victory in the Marmonte League since 2005, the future looks bright because of Rossi, a freshman, and her triplet sisters, Alanna and Sarina.

Marissa "is a good player, and she has the potential to be a great player," Calabasas head coach Marla O'Hara said. "She's got a great attitude, and she does whatever I ask her to do as a coach."

Marissa first began playing volleyball in the fourth grade after hearing stories about her older sister, Tanya Sweet, and her mother, Marla Rossi.

"Tanya is 15 years older than me, but she played volleyball at Pierce College," Marissa said.

"My mom told me a story about how the college didn't have enough players at the time, so she played on the team as well. It was on the news and everything. After hearing them tell those stories, I knew I wanted to play, too."

When Marissa first began playing volleyball, she immediately liked it.

"Just making a really good kill would get me very excited," Marissa said. "I was nervous when I first started playing, but all the people I played with were nice, and they made it easier to learn."

Marissa would continue to play volleyball with her mom and sisters after school, and eventually she became a pretty solid outside hitter. The 15yearold freshman was shocked, however, when she learned where she'd be playing during her first season at CHS.

"My goal when I came to Calabasas was to make the junior varsity team," Marissa said. "I wasn't even thinking about making the varsity team.

"We had three days of tryouts, and on the second day Coach O'Hara asked me to play a little longer with the varsity squad. That's when I thought, 'Hey, maybe I could play for the varsity team. That would be awesome.'"

O'Hara said she had the majority of her varsity and junior varsity teams already set during the summer, but Marissa was a talent she just couldn't ignore.

"I was surprised with how much composure she had," O'Hara said. "She was very poised, and had a lot of natural instincts. We would be doing a drill, and if there was a broken play she would step up and get it done right."

Although O'Hara knew Marissa had a ton of athletic ability, she wanted to make sure she would mesh in well with the rest of the varsity squad.

"The one thing I didn't want was for her to feel like an outsider," O'Hara said. "So I asked her if she felt comfortable at the varsity level. She told me she would be comfortable wherever I decided to use her. I thought that showed a lot of character, and that helped my decision."

Marissa said the early jump to varsity has been made easier for her thanks to the help of senior co-captains, Christina Cicione and Jennifer Passovoy.

Marissa hopes that one day the team can win a few more games and her sisters can join her on the court. Alana is currently playing on the frosh/sophomore squad while, according to Marissa, Sarina will try out next season after regretting not trying out this year.

"I'm looking forward to playing with my sisters," Marissa said. "That would be so much fun. When we get some more wins here, I know we'll celebrate a lot."