When it came to sports, Kevin and Jane Clancy didn't ask much of their daughters.

OK, there was that one thing.

"They didn't have to love it, but they were going to play volleyball," Jane Clancy said with a laugh. "Both Kevin and I played, so we wanted them to do that, too. They didn't have to enjoy it, but they had to play."

So, father and mother do know best.

Older daughter, Rebecca, took up the sport and became a player in NCAA Division III. Younger daughter, Hannah, tried volleyball and didn't have to be prompted thereafter.

"I love it," says the junior setter for the Thousand Oaks High girls' volleyball team. "I play all the time, whether it's inside a gymnasium or outside. I just love playing volleyball."

Turns out, the Lancers standout inherited her parents' skills and, yes, passion for the game.

Like Kevin, an avid beach volleyball player, and Jane, who played collegiately at Southwest Texas State, Hannah is happiest with a net in the foreground and a volleyball in the air.

"That's one of our favorite things to do as a family," said Jane. "We go to the beach and play volleyball."

Thousand Oaks is pretty happy with it, too.

Clancy moved into the Lancers starting lineup as a sophomore a year ago and was instrumental in the team's Marmonte League championship and second-round berth in the CIF-Southern Section Divsion I-AA playoffs. This year, Thousand Oaks is as close to a repeat as one of Clancy's precision passes.

Thousand Oaks stands 17-1, including a perfect 10-0 in the league race with two victories over top rival Westlake. The lone defeat came to nationally ranked Dos Pueblos in the Royal Classic.

None of this comes as a surprise to Clancy.

"We expected to be a pretty good team," said Clancy. "We figured with the players we had coming back, we should be the league champion. We were also motivated by last year's playoffs. We weren't happy about losing in the second round. We want to do a lot better this year."

Thousand Oaks and all Marmonte League entries compete in Division I-AA, a veritable melding of the superpowers. Mira Costa, Los Alamitos and Newport Harbor are among the traditional elite teams that play in the Southern Section's highest division.

That's all fine with Clancy, too.

"I wouldn't want it any other way," she said. "I want to compete against the best teams and the best players."

Of the latter category, Clancy definitely belongs.

The Lancers playmaker is adept at finding the hot hand in a balanced attack.

She notched 45 assists in a four-game victory over Moorpark, and led the four-game sweep against rival Westlake last week with 27 assists.

Clancy complemented her 24 assists in an earlier win over the Warriors with four kills.

For Clancy, her growth spurt as a player coincided with a growth spurt in stature.

When she started playing the sport at age 11, she was 5-foot-7. By the time she entered Thousand Oaks, she was 5-11. As a junior, she measures in at 6 feet, with maybe an inch or two more on the way.

"I hope so," she said with a laugh.

Since taking over as the starting setter last year, Clancy has inevitably taken over the role as team leader, too.

"That's probably been my hardest adjustment," she said. "I had played club, so I thought I could come in a play right away. It's not so easy being a leader, especially as a sophomore. It took me awhile to get comfortable with that."

Now, as a junior, Clancy hopes to lead an extended run in postseason.

"That's our goal," she said. "We know it's not going to be easy, because there are so many great teams in the division. But we're playing well, and have a lot of confidence. We're looking forward to the playoffs."