WHAT HANDICAP? DESPITE HAVING JUST ONE HAND, COC'S CASILLAS AN ALL-CONFERENCE PERFORMER.

Byline: Gideon Rubin Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Gina Casillas has always loved athletic competition and hopes to someday become a sports journalist. But Casillas, the star middle blocker for College of the Canyons' women's volleyball team, has already authored one of the area's most inspirational sports stories.

Casillas was born without a right hand and just tying her shoelaces is a challenge many in the same situation would find daunting.

``It's really amazing,'' teammate Lyz Rhodes said. ``She doesn't let anything stop her.''

A first-team All-Western State Conference selection, Casillas leads the Cougars with a .386 hitting percentage. She has 174 kills with just 34 errors in 363 attempts and in one stretch went four matches (13 games) without committing a hitting error. She also leads the team in games played (84) and is second with 67 blocks.

``She proves that the impossible is possible,'' said COC outside hitter Sharon Foster, the WSC player of the year.

Casillas and the Cougars visit Ventura College for a first-round Southern California Community College regional playoff match tonight at 7 p.m. COC (18-6) clinched its second consecutive conference title last week and is seeded 13th in the 16-team regional tournament. Ventura is seeded fourth.

Casillas, who was a two-time team MVP at Hart High and led the Indians to a Foothill League title in 1988 as a junior, credits her family for encouraging her interest in sports.

Though Casillas admits there are times when a ball gets by her that she knows she could have hit if she had a right hand, she isn't mad.

``Whatever God's given you, you have to deal with it,'' she said.

Casillas was first introduced to organized volleyball at summer camp before she started ninth grade. She was soon hooked and decided to try out for the freshman team at Hart.

Casillas exceeded her own expectations, earning a starting spot on the varsity team.

``I was like, `Wow, I could be really good at this sport,' '' she said. ``It was kind of surprising but a good surprise.''

Shabnam Irilian, who played at Valencia High and is now Casillas' teammate, said, ``It was an accomplishment to beat her. If you blocked her or you did really well against her, it was a big deal.''

But the Indians' rising star hit a speed bump in her senior year. Casillas was declared ineligible for most of the season as a result of a controversial decision by the Hart Unified School District. Casillas had failed a history class in her junior year and was assigned a make-up class by the HUSD, to be taken over the summer. But after successfully completing the course, she was informed that the district had assigned her the wrong class.

Casillas was heartbroken at the time and is uncomfortable talking about it.

``I know I messed up, but I tried,'' she said.

Casillas credits Tuong Nguyen, who coached her when she played for the Thunder club team before her junior season, as among the keys to her development as a player.

She drew inspiration from watching former Angels pitcher Jim Abbott, who has a similar handicap, and recalls her parents taking her to see the last game of his career.

``That guy could go do it, so why can't I,'' she remembers telling herself. ``He's out there doing everything he can to win games. I was like `I can do that.' I always really looked up to him growing up and I still do.''

Casillas said her parents reared her like any other kid and placed no restrictions on what she could do. Her parents have long since given up on trying to convince her to wear a prosthetic hand, which she said is heavy and serves no purpose.

``I always went out and played whatever,'' she said. ``I just liked to have fun.''

The toughest thing about her disability, Casillas said, was fitting in.

``Sometimes when I was growing up, other kids would say stupid stuff and try to make me feel bad,'' she said. ``Kids would stare, ask, point. I got over that fast.''

In a club tournament last summer, Casillas overheard an opposing coach telling one of his players, ``She's got one hand up there and she's blocking you.''

Those words did little to deter Casillas.

``I was like, `Oh, okay, I'll just block you some more then. That's fine.' ''

Casillas, who is in her freshman year, wants to continue her collegiate career at a four-year school after next season but wants to stay in California to be near her family.

COC coach Lisa Hooper's first saw Casillas when she was doing commentary on a Hart volleyball game for a local cable-television station. The first thing she noticed was how dominant a player she was, but Hooper admits she did a double-take when she realized her handicap.

She said Casillas is the most consistent player she has ever coached.

``Don't tell Gina what can't be done,'' Hooper said. ``Tell her what needs to be done and she'll find a way to do it.

``In the beginning, everything she did surprised me. Now, nothing she does surprises me.''

Casillas said she hopes to work with handicapped children and believes others, not just the disabled, can learn from her never-give-up attitude.

``If you set your mind to something, you can do it,'' she said. ``Even if you can't, don't let other people bring you down. Keep trying, even if people are negative toward you.

``Just go out and have fun, no matter what you do, as long as you do your job right.''

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Photo:

(color) Gina Casillas has overcome the adversity of being born with one hand and excelled in volleyball for College of the Canyons.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer