PREP SCENE:Pain not much sting for CdM’s Ellis

Steve Conti is in his 12th year of coaching boys’ volleyball at Corona del Mar High, and middle blocker Gus Ellis isn’t the first charge he’s had with diabetes.

Still, the needles required to treat Ellis’ type-one diabetes make Conti squeamish.

Ellis, on the other hand, has had plenty of time to process any early childhood aversion to needles; he’s been taking insulin shots since he was 1, and he’s been giving them to himself since he was 9.

“He’s got to monitor what he eats. This isn’t a weight thing, this is in regards to his life,” Conti said. “In the middle of team dinners or in practice, he’s got to check his blood sugar. I’m not a needle guy … How many kids are 16 or 17 and have to deal with that responsibility?”

It’s that responsibility that’s helped Ellis, 17, establish a quiet, selfless maturity that Conti admires. That maturity will be of use for the Sea Kings, who open the CIF Southern Section Division II playoffs as the top seed and will play host to Santa Ana tonight at 7.

Ellis is quick to pass praise for a win or a successful play onto his teammates when other athletes his age are more focused on themselves, Conti said.

“Gus just gets that,” Conti said. “You can’t get 12 kills just doing it on your own. You can’t do it without the passing and the setter.”

Phil Bannan, who has played with Ellis for three years said he holds Ellis’ positive attitude in high regard.

“I admire Gus for his ability to deal with the problem,” said Bannan, Corona del Mar’s setter. “He deals with it very nicely and doesn’t make a big deal at all. He’s a very humble kid.”

Ellis, a junior, is being recruited by some of the top collegiate volleyball programs including Stanford, USC and UC Irvine. He recently paid a visit to Pepperdine.

According to Conti, Ellis has good potential as a volleyball player for college and beyond if he continues to develop, especially at the middle blocker position.

Because of rule changes in collegiate volleyball, bigger, less athletic athletes can now play outside and opposite hitter because they can pass overhand.

“That’s a huge asset to him because good middle blockers seem real, real hard to come by at the college level,” Conti said.

Conti sees the same qualities in Ellis as 2000 Corona del Mar player of the year Kevin Hanson, also a diabetic.

Hanson, who played volleyball for Stanford, now coaches Ellis’ Balboa Bay club team.

“Coach [Hanson] constantly makes references to his athletic ability and his heart. Obviously, he never let that hold him back, and I want to do the same,” Ellis said. “Maybe someone will look at me the same way I look at him.”

This summer, Ellis will compete with the Balboa Bay club team in the Junior Olympics in Atlanta. A few weeks later, he will head to San Diego to train with the U.S. youth national team for the world championships in Ensenada, Baja California.

Being diabetic, Ellis said, has made him more attentive, and better able to deal with adversity.

“For me, if I have a low blood sugar, and it’s dropping, I can’t ignore that, I have to take action,” Ellis said. “It helps me realize that problems don’t just go away. You have to do something to combat the negative effects.”

SORAYA NADIA McDONALD may be reached at (714) 966-4613 or at [email protected].