Saturday morning, hours before his TigerScots would face Portland Christian in a rematch of the 2A volleyball championship match, Weston-McEwen head coach Shawn White said he sure enjoys watching the Royals’ Kim Hill play volleyball; but the veteran coach also added, “But I can’t wait for her college career to start.”

Unfortunately for Coach White and his always tough TigerScots, Hill and her Royal team mates had one last task to finish before Kim starts her volleyball career at Division 1 Pepperdine next year. As she did in 2006, Hill led Portland Christian to a second consecutive OSAA 2A volleyball championship as the Royals beat Weston-McEwen 25-17, 25-22, 15-25, 25-16.

Saturday also marked the end of every senior’s high school career, an inevitable rite of passage that brings tears of joy and sorrow to players and parents alike. In the case of Kim Hill, Saturday marked not only the end of a remarkable individual career, but it also ended what many have known as “The Hill Era.”

The Four Sisters

Kim Hill is the last of four daughters of Bradd and Terri Hill who have attended Portland Christian schools from elementary through high school. The four Hill sisters certainly left their mark on the 2A Northwest League. But Kim’s older siblings also went on to success in college as well.

Kim’s oldest sister, Shelby, earned 12 varsity letters at Portland Christian – in soccer, basketball and softball. While Shelby did not play volleyball, she attended Biola University, where she played basketball and led the Eagles to an appearance in the 2004 NAIA tournament.

Caitlin Hill was the first Hill sister to play volleyball for the Royals. In 2002 Caitlin led PC to the state tournament, played that year at David Douglas High School. From 2002-2007, the Royals’ volleyball team had at least one Hill sister on the floor at all times. On the court with senior Caitlin was sister Kelsey Hill, a 6’3” left-handed sophomore. After earning 3rd team All-State honors her senior year, Caitlin Hill attended Azusa Pacific, where she played volleyball for the NAIA Cougars in 2004.

In an ironic twist, while PC was playing on one court in that 2002 tournament, Corbett was playing on the other. Leading Corbett that year was junior Jocelyn Edlin, now Portland Christian’s 1st-year head coach who just earned her first coaching state title after having played in the OSAA 2A tournament just four short years ago. Jocelyn and Caitlin were also team mates on the Mt. Hood Volleyball club team.

Kelsey Hill is a basketball player who played volleyball in high school, and was very good at both. In 2003, Kelsey was named to the NWL volleyball 1st team as a junior. The NWL’s POY that season was Corbett’s Edlin, who also was named 1st team All-State in 2003. In 2004, Kelsey was voted the NWL volleyball POY her senior year and earned 2nd-team All-State volleyball honors. But basketball is Kelsey’s game. The 6’3” post was named 1st-team All-State in 2005 in basketball and is now playing for NCAA Division II Seattle Pacific. In 2007, Kelsey was the first sophomore since 1991 to lead the Falcon’s in scoring (12.2 ppg) and rebounds (8.5 pg), as she led Seattle Pacific into the second round of the NCAA basketball playoffs last season.

Kim’s Volleyball Career

At the start of the 2005-06 school year, Kim Hill was a sophomore and the last of the Hill sisters still playing at Portland Christian. But volleyball coaches took notice of the skinny 6’3” freshman a  year earlier. In her freshman year 2004, Kim earned NWL 1st-team and All-State 3rd team honors. In her sophomore year 2005, Kim was named the NWL’s POY for the first of three times and made 1st-Team All-State. In 2006, Kim led the Royals to their first-ever volleyball title and was named by the state’s coaches as the 2A POY, an honor certain to be repeated in 2007.

In Kim’s four-year career, her Royals volleyball team posted a 47-1 NWL regular season record, earning league titles in each of the four seasons. Kim made four trips to the Pacific University volleyball final site – under three different coaches. In 2005, the Royals lost to White's TigerScots in the 4th-6th place match. But that 6th-place trophy was Portland Christian's best finish since a 3rd place finish in 1975. The Royal's back-to-back championships in 2006-2007 are the first in the 2A classification since two-time state POY Shawn Paulino led Amity to consecutive titles in the 1999-2000 seasons.

Answering the Critics

Some may suggest Kim Hill is a good 2A player, but may question her ability against tougher competition. The summers of 2006 and 2007 dispel that idea. In 2006, Kim led the Nike Northwest Air Elite 16U team that won the national title in the prestigious Reno Volleyball Festival. This past summer, Kim and several of her 16U team mates moved up to join the Nike 17 Air Max squad. A different year, same result: Kim’s team won the national title again.

Volleyball is obviously a team sport, and the teams for which Kim Hill plays win - a lot. Yet, some cynics, particularly those who hide behind anonymous screen names on some internet forums, suggest Portland Christian is a "one-girl" team. True, there aren't many 6'4" back row players who can dig, pass and jump serve as well as Kim Hill. But such criticism misses the fact that Kim makes her team mates - whether high school or club - better players. The late Jack Elway (d. 2001), a long time football coach and father of NFL Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway, summarized the intangible quality of some athletes who elevate those around them with, "Winners Win Because They Do."

The best 2A volleyball coaches are already planning for a first or return trip to Pacific University in 2008. Whether Portland Christian returns for a second defense of its title remains to be seen. But one thing is certain. For the first time since 2002, the OSAA 2A volleyball playoffs will not include a Hill sister from Portland Christian High School.

Finally, before heading off to Pepperdine next year, Kim Hill will first turn her attention to basketball one more time. Eight months ago, Kim led Portland Christian to the 2A basketball title and was named the state’s 2A Girls Basketball POY in the process. Some things just run in the (Hill) family.