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Athlete of the Week: Kaley Nix

Steve Virgen

In basketball, a shooter’s dream is to be in the zone, where it

seems like everything thrown up goes in.

For Newport Harbor High’s Kaley Nix, the zone has come often this

season, but on field hockey grounds.

Actually, a better term for her rhythmic display would probably be “in

the circle,” because when she’s in the striking circle, actually an arc

15 yards from the goal, she takes care of business.

The junior forward has been vigorously attacking on offense this

season, including last week when she earned Daily Pilot Athlete of the

Week recognition.

She scored a goal, 66 seconds into the Sailors’ big game against

Sunset League nemesis Marina Oct. 16. Later, she played keep away in the

closing moments, dodging defenders to secure the 1-0 victory and the

inside track to Newport’s second straight league title. Two days later,

she notched another goal, providing the difference in a 1-0 win over

rival Edison.

She scored yet another goal to help the Sailors clinch the Sunset

League crown in a 2-0 victory over visiting Harvard-Westlake Tuesday.

“She has been in such a zone,” Newport Coach Sharon Wolfe said. “She’s

using more of a repertoire of skills and that has resulted in more of a

threat for us. The intensity she has is just more than last year. She has

good field awareness now.”

The Marina and Edison wins were special for Nix because she was the

key to Newport exacting revenge. Last year, she suffered an injury that

required stitches in a 2-0 loss to Edison. This season, the Sailors

opened Sunset League play with a 4-0 loss to Marina, the same team which

ended Newport’s title bid with a 1-0 overtime victory in last year’s

Tournament of Champions final.

“I wasn’t that big of a scorer last year,” said Nix, who leads the

Sailors with 14 goals this season. “I just wanted to score more goals

this year. That was our problem last year, we couldn’t score. My main

focus now is to assist or be the one to score.”

When Nix scored against Marina this year, the assist was credited to

Athena Vasquez, yet the assist could have been from other players as

well. Nix’s growing talent this year is best displayed when the circle is

crowded. She finds her way to the ball and finishes it off.

“I was just so happy after we scored (against Marina),” Nix said.

“That was really a team goal. The ball went all over the place. I just

had to tap it in. We really didn’t think we could win because we lost so

badly to them earlier in the season, so making that goal was a pretty big

deal.”

Nix credits her rapid improvement to the Futures field hockey program

she entered in January and completed in May at Moorpark College. The

training and lessons received there intensified her love for the game and

her desire to use her new skills.

“Now, I just want to get in the game and get focused,” Nix said. “It’s

my 100% when I’m in the game. There’s a different feeling when the game

is on. I’m just a very competitive person. I like applying what I learned

and what coach has taught us during practice.”

Wolfe has taken notice of Nix’s desire to improve this season.

“She has been so focused on hockey,” Wolfe said. “She has a more

intense concentration than most of our athletes and that has enhanced her

play.”

Nix plans to pick up her level of play an extra notch as the Sailors

enter the Tournament of Champions, beginning today at 9 a.m. against

Fountain Valley at Harper Community Center. She said she’s still thinking

of more payback as a possible final rematch looms with the Marina

Vikings.

“It’s still in the back of my mind, definitely,” Nix said of last

year’s title-game loss. “I think that will help us be more motivated.”

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