In almost any sport these days, the bigger the numbers, the better.

Archbishop Mitty (San Jose, Calif.) senior middle blocker Amanda Gil certainly produces those big numbers.

She walks around with one every day of her life. She stands a legitimate 6’6” in shoes—6’5” without.

And on the court she throws up even bigger outputs, whether in statistical categories alone or by her sheer presence altering the strategy of the opposition.

But in terms of the true big number for Gil, it adds up to a five-letter word.
Randy.

Randy Gil, Jr., is Amanda Gil’s 8-year-old brother who was born with autism and is one of the true joys of the UCLA-bound standout’s life.

“He is my hero,” said Gil. “I’ve seen him go through a lot of hard stuff for things like just saying a sentence. He gives everything he has to learn how to do things that come easy to you and I. He gives out everything he has to do what he does. It’s inspiring and encouraging.”

Gil’s great grandparents, Russ and Sophie Nation, sent this writer a letter that included a powerful and moving essay Gil wrote about her brother.

“I feel like I would be cheating my brother and myself if I took a lazy attitude toward life and didn’t work as hard as I possibly could to be an elite athlete,” Gil wrote in the essay. “God has given me my health, athleticism and height and I am going to thank him by working hard, being a good teammate and making my brother proud. Even though my brother may not understand what it means to be a hero, he is a hero to me. This I believe.”

By looking at the relationship Gil shares with her brother, it’s easy to see why she is held in such high regard in the volleyball arena, again skills and statistics aside.

“She’s the sweetest kid,” said Mitty coach Bret Almazan-Cezar, who just finished his eighth season at the San Jose Catholic college prep school. “When you are as tall as she is it can be intimidating sometimes. She doesn’t intimidate people because she’s got such a warm personality. She’s a diligent worker on the court and in the classroom and is a great representative of Archbishop Mitty.”

Almazan-Cezar has seen a dramatic transformation in Gil over the years. He first started coaching her in eighth grade.

“She would stand on the court and make circles,” said Almazan-Cezar. “She scored points because she intimidated teams with her size. The skill wasn’t there yet. Over the years, her volleyball IQ has increased dramatically.”

Gil’s initial sports foray came, naturally, via basketball.

“I wasn’t really a volleyball player,” said Gil, who also stars on the club level for Los Gatos, Calif.-based Vision Volleyball. “I played volleyball when I was in seventh grade. I did not like volleyball at all. I was horrible. I had no idea what I was doing. I was running around in circles. But once I got the hang of it, I started to love it instead of basketball.”

And now Gil has taken her game to the elite national level—earning a top 10 ranking among this year’s senior class from Prep Volleyball.com. Gil was a first-team Mizuno/Volleyball All-American pick as a junior as well and was named to Volleyball’s 25 Underclassmen to Watch list last spring.

“Amanda is always hungry to learn and is always willing to do what it takes to be the best,” said Almazan-Cezar. “Skill-wise she moves fast and moves very well laterally. She’s very coordinated for being as tall as she is.”

Vision 18 Gold assistant coach Gwen Hubbard, who played collegiately at Cal Poly, says all the hype and press clippings have gone nowhere near Gil’s head.

“No matter how good she is or how much people tell her how good she is, Amanda is always driven to be better,” said Hubbard. “She’s a very special player.”

While much has been made about Gil’s presence at the net, she’s also a fierce a terminator, counting a shot off of one foot as the favorite tool in her repertoire.

“She hits the ball really fast and very vertical off one foot behind the setter,” said Almazan-Cezar.

That one-foot hammer Gil traces back to her basketball days.

“With a lay-up you would go off of one foot,” said Gil, whose father, Randy, Sr., stands 7’ (played basketball at St. Mary’s) and mother, Michelle, stands 5’3”.

“It’s really easy to transition hit off one foot. It gets you up faster than the block. You are beating the block that way.”

Being 6’6” is something Gil has embraced.

“I love the attention you get when you walk in the room,” admitted Gil. “People always say, ‘I’ve never seen a tall female,’ or ‘You are really tall.’ I love everything about being tall.”

Gil says the requisite teasing when she was younger about her height rolled right off her shoulders.

“Every kid gets teased about something,” said Gil. “It doesn’t happen anymore. People come up to me now and say they wish they were taller. It’s a more positive thing. The only horrible thing is finding clothes that fit and shoes for dances. It’s not hard finding tops to wear, it’s the jeans. My inseam is really long (38). I have to order them online.”

Gil, who won her third conference player of the year honor this year, will leave Mitty as the all-time winningest girls volleyball player in the program’s history. That’s pretty impressive stuff considering she attends the same school that produced 2004 Olympic gold medalist Kerri Walsh and her sister, K.C. (who now plays at Oregon State).

“I’m so honored to even have a chance to be able to do that,” said Gil. “Not many people can say they had the most wins at their high school. It’s a great honor.”

Gil played with K.C. Walsh one year at Mitty and was able to meet Kerri Walsh.

“To see your role model in person, wow,” said Gil. “You realize that good things can actually happen and if I keep on doing what I’m doing, I can be where she’s at. Meeting her was a real eye-opener.”

Looking at her career progress, Gil said her height has certainly come in handy. But she knew back in those circle-walking days it would take something more to realize her athletic dreams.

“My height helps me tremendously,” said Gil. “I already have the height. All I have to do is keep working on my skills and improving my game. I work really hard. Practice is going to get me better and improve my game. Practice makes perfect. I want to be a great volleyball player and I’m going to do everything I can to be that.”

Gil was a Mizuno/Volleyball Girls High School All-American selection as a junior and was also named to the 2007 Volleyball Underclassmen to Watch list.