Mazzarella sets sail from the Beach

By Moria Khou
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer

The abstract and intangible qualities encapsulated in a leader are seldom found within an individual, for that reason, it's even harder when the key component that fuels the team departs.

Lone senior and setter Jillian Mazzarella bid farewell to the hardwood for the final time as a collegian and as a 49er last Saturday against UCLA. Overcome with emotions that only a true competitor with burning desire would exemplify, she was left discontented with the abrupt end to her volleyball career.

"I'm never going to come into grip," Mazzarella said.

Her coach, Brian Gimmillaro echoed the same sentiment of how arduous the task was in coming to terms with the conclusion of something you love.

"We work and train exceptionally hard, and our demands [at Long Beach State] are just as much as everybody," he said. "Jillian devoted a lot of time into this – it's hard for a person to just stop."

There were never any doubts as to who the captain of the team was. It was "Mazz," a nickname often used due to the difficulty in the pronunciation of the Italian name, Mazz-UH-rella.

Assistant Coach Debbie Green-Vargas, a former Olympian and All-American setter at USC works closely with setters in the program and often equates the position with a quarterback on a football team. Green-Vargas, a pioneer of a volleyball move called the "Debbie Dunk" stressed to Mazzarella on how vital it was for a leader to be vocal and to have on-court presence.

As a result to all the effort and tutelage put in, the coaching staff at Long Beach State has developed a plethora of All-American setters throughout the years, Sabrina Hernandez, Brittany Hochevar, Keri Nishimoto, Joy McKienzie, Sheri Sanders and Misty May. To no one's surprise, Mazzarella had the prestigious title of First-Team All-Big West Conference dawned upon her this season.

"It felt good to be honored," she said. "It was a goal I was working for all-season and I thought I deserved it."

Mazzarella achieved her first goal when she was named All-Big West, but a second ambition the setter targeted, to make it to the Final Four, went unfulfilled. The 49ers were three wins away from returning to Long Beach, which would have allowed the senior to play in front of a home crowd one last time.

The 5-foot-9 setter began her collegian career at Baylor before transferring to The Beach in 2003. She often reminisces on what it would have been like to start off at Long Beach State in 2001 when the team made it to the Final Four in San Diego. Despite that, Mazzarella is still jovial at the decision to transfer just for the people alone.

"The Long Beach community has so many more fans knowledgeable of volleyball compared to Texas," she said. "Playing at The Pyramid is great too."

Roommate and fellow teammate on the court and on the sand, Taylor Peyton might be the only student-athlete ever to be on a trainers' table getting her back worked on and studying at the same time. She also noted Mazzarella's leadership qualities not just between the lines, but off the floor as well.

"What more could you ask from a roommate?" Peyton said. "I'm a stressed out person and she helps balance me out. I will miss her so much."

Mazzarella's grandfather, Robert Tomlinson, was a star running back at San Diego State in his heyday. Tomlinson was the chief engineer who encouraged Mazzarella to participate in sports, but if it were up to him, she would be on the links hitting golf balls instead of lobbing assists. Somehow, the setter is quite satisfied with not taking her grandfather's advance.

A realization every senior deals with is getting entrusted into is the real world and starting a career. For some student-athletes, they go on to become professional athletes and make millions of dollars. In return, some lose touch with reality. For the majority of student-athletes however, the inevitability of an everyday, nine-to-five career beckons.

As a communications major, Mazzarella wants to go into marketing and advertising to promote outdoor and extreme sports like skateboarding and snowboarding. The senior is particularly interested in this field because she snowboards. As a kid, she rode skateboards, bikes and dirt bikes. Mazzarella also travels to Mexico in her spare time to surf the pounding aqua-blue waves.

"I believe in my ability," she said before the start of the NCAA Tournament. "I like to think my most memorable moment was yet to come."

Mazzarella's statement at the time was geared towards volleyball and sadly her goal to make it to the Final Four never materialized, yet, her most "memorable moment in life" is just beginning.