Making the leap from volleyball star at UCLA to ace Girl Dad

Tom Stillwell wanted his lanky daughters to play sports. His game is what they chose.

- BY ERIC SONDHEIMER

THE STILLWELL volleyball family: sophomore Lucy, left; 6-foot-8 father, Tom, a former UCLA All-American; and senior Maya. The daughters play at Harvard-Westlake, and many assume basketball is their sport.

Having earned three national championship rings playing volleyball for UCLA, 6-foot-8 Tom Stillwell knows a little bit about competition and commitment to sports excellence.

Nothing, though, compares to his joy being a Girl Dad.

“That's a full-time job, and being a volleyball dad is the best,” said Stillwell, an All-American at UCLA.

It was never planned that his two daughters, Maya, a 6-4 senior, and Lucy, a 6-0 sophomore, would become volleyball players at Harvard-Westlake. Stillwell and his wife, Julie, met at UCLA. She's 5-6 and neither was thinking how tall their kids might be. But it happened. They were raising giants.