Ella Connor, Maui volleyball star, was in a mental health crisis. Herc the service dog came to her rescue

To the outside world, 6-foot-1 Ella Connor was on a great path to a bright future.

After graduating from Seabury Hall in 2021, she left Maui to attend California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo and play NCAA beach volleyball. She adapted quickly to the college game, becoming the first Mustang to win Big West Conference Freshman of the Year, going 27-12 with partner Tia Miric at the No. 1 spot — the second most wins in a single season by a Mustang pair.

But in the midst of it all, Connor suffered from severe panic attacks and other mental health issues.

Her struggles became so severe during her sophomore year that she ended up in the hospital twice — each time after a suicide attempt.

“Some of it was volleyball related,” said Connor, now 22. “Some of it was people related. Some of it was just regular mental health struggles of being in college and being an athlete at the same time. But it was just a lot of everything.”

She and her family knew something needed to change, and fast. Enter Herc, a 4 1/2-year-old golden retriever and Irish setter mix.

The service dog’s constant love and companionship turned out to be the best prescription for her.

“I’m doing absolutely amazing now,” she said. “I’m off all of my medications for all my mental health stuff.”

Connor said she has 40% fewer panic attacks because of Herc, short for Hercules, who underwent a six-month training regimen at Doggie Do Good in Arroyo Grande, Calif.

Herc senses when a panic attack is coming on. The dog judges by smell and her breathing patterns, forcing her to lay down and slow her breathing to overcome the attacks, she said. He also lays on her as a calming affect.

With Herc by her side, Connor made a quick comeback after the mental health issues forced her to redshirt as a sophomore to maintain a year of eligibility. She played so well the next season that she was named an American Volleyball Coaches Association First Team All-American. She also was half of the Big West Conference Pair of the Year with partner Izzy Martinez, who also was named First Team All-Big West Conference. 

The cute, furry dog, known at Cal Poly as “Mr. Herc,” also has become a rock-star in the world of college beach volleyball.

“People will recognize Herc, but they don’t always recognize me,” Connor said. “Most of them will be like, ‘Oh, that’s the volleyball dog, right?’ “

Herc has his own biography on the Cal Poly beach volleyball team page which says: “He enjoys watching beach volleyball, supporting the Mustangs, playing in the sand, making friends and eating peanut butter.”

Herc also has more than 300 followers on his Instagram account @Mr_Herc.

The NCAA beach volleyball format is team vs. team in five matches of pairs from each school. Coaches make out their lineups by sending out pairs ranked 1 through 5 and the team that wins at least three of the five matches is the overall winner.

During Connor’s comeback 2024 season, she and Martinez rang up a 26-10 record for Cal Poly, which advanced to the NCAA Final Four. The duo were 24-10 playing at the No. 1 spot and 2-0 at No. 2.

Martinez, who is from Winnetka, Calif., met Connor for the first time when both were playing in a youth tournament in Hermosa Beach, Calif., when both were in high school. Rain was pouring down and Martinez invited Connor under their canopy tent.

Martinez’s father told his daughter “Oh my God, that was Ella Connor and she’s committed to Cal Poly where you want to go,” Martinez said. “And then once we came to Cal Poly, we’ve been really close.”

So it came as a shock to Martinez when she received a team-wide text in January 2023.

“I just remember the night that our team captains texted the whole team and said, ‘Hey, we need to talk as a team,’ ” Martinez said. “All of us were, ‘Oh, this never happens, what’s going on?’ And then one of our teammates noticed that Ella wasn’t on the text thread.”

“Ella’s on hold right now in a medical facility to make sure she doesn’t hurt herself,” a teammate told them.

The next time Martinez saw Connor, Herc had come into her life.

“The difference was night and day with Ella and how much happier she is with Herc around,” Martinez said. “I can’t describe it unless you see it. She’s just standing more happy, more active. She just seems herself again.”

In 2025, Connor was 22-8 playing in the No. 4 spot, primarily with senior Madison Nichols, and again Connor gained all-conference honors while the Mustangs made another run to the NCAA Final Four.

“It’s remarkable,” Cal Poly Coach Todd Rogers said of Connor’s recovery. “It was difficult when she was going through it. I’ve encouraged her … maybe even pushed her to be open about it.”

Rogers, who won an Olympic gold medal in beach volleyball in 2008 and has been the Mustangs’ coach since 2016, said: “I was pretty open about it when people asked me, and basically told Ella, ‘Look, you’re a platform.’ ”

But it took an eye-opening experience for Connor to become more comfortable talking about her mental health challenges. She and Herc were at dinner with the Cal Poly team during the 2024 NCAA Tournament in Gulf Shores, Ala., when a mother came up to talk to Connor.

Herc is listed on the Cal Poly beach volleyball website as the “Director of Player Morale” and he was featured by ESPN during the 2024 NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship broadcast and on the NCAA Volleyball social media.

“The mom came up to me and said, ‘Hey, are you Ella? Are you the one with the dog?’ ” Connor said. “She said, ‘I just wanted to say your story was so inspirational. My daughter has really bad panic attacks and she struggles to leave the house and your story gave her the courage to get up and leave the house.’ So it was just something that was super cool.”

Connor said after that interaction, she decided to reach out to the NCAA and do an interview with the organization that runs college athletics. 

“I was like, ‘Well, I guess I’ve got to share all about it now,’ ” Connor said.

Connor told Susanna Weir for the NCAA story that was published in May 2024: “There were a lot of times where I felt like I was alone, and I was dealing with it on my own. I hope that (my story) inspires others to reach out for help.”

A year later, Connor says she does not feel alone with Herc in the picture “because he’s always with me.”

Rogers pointed to the interaction Connor had with the mother who approached her at the team dinner in 2024 as the turning point for Connor to become more open about her mental health struggles.

“So it’s been fun to watch Ella just embrace, ‘You know what? This happened to me,’ ” Rogers said. “It’s real. ‘I can either shun it and hide from it or I can share my experiences.’ And if it helps one person, great. So she’s embraced that.”

Connor said her openness about her mental health and other challenges reach the adolescent girls she coaches for both indoor and sand play.

“I love the girls,” Connor said. “The relationships that you can make with girls at this age is so impactful to them. … It’s just truly inspirational what you can do off the court. On the court, volleyball, whatever, but being a role model for them is so important.”

When she tells people she is from Maui, they think it is “a super cool thing. … I love representing.”

While she hopes to continue to inspire people, she doesn’t delve too far into the personal specifics of her mental health challenges because she is ready to move on and live her life. And she has.

Connor has been able to adapt to almost any partner — she is a stalwart on the summer circuit, teaming with partners from several different schools — but last weekend she was back with Martinez as they finished second in the Association of Volleyball Professionals Waupaca Open in Wisconsin.

“This is absolutely the best result for any Maui female volleyball player ever,” said Scott Zucco, Connor’s beach volleyball youth coach. Zucco has coached numerous other Maui volleyball standouts who have gone on to college and professional careers both indoor and on the beach, including Amy Ozee, Shayla Hoeft and Colton Cowell.

The result qualified the familiar pair for the main draw of the Manhattan Beach Open, which takes place Aug. 15-17 in California and is considered the most prestigious tournament on the AVP Tour.

As always, Herc will be at Connor’s side in Manhattan Beach. He rides beneath her seat on airplanes.

When Rogers saw Connor and Martinez qualify for the Manhattan Beach Open, he smiled to himself.

“It’s kind of a ‘reunited and it feels so good’ moment. A little Peaches and Herb,” Rogers said. ”I actually sent them a little gift.”

As Herc helps Connor overcome her anxiety that still can become extreme, she is able to do more things, including coaching a high school team at Mission College Preparatory Catholic High School in San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Zucco is not surprised that Connor has adapted well after Herc came to help her. He often points to Connor as an example of what is possible to accomplish for his young players coming up now, but it is her personality that comes to his mind first.

“Ella, wherever she went, she made friends with girls, guys, young, old, volleyball players, non-volleyball players,” Zucco said. “People energize her.”

One story that Zucco shares with his youngsters now is how Connor would bump the ball over the net instead of rise to spike it down when she was in eighth grade, out of respect for her opponents.

Connor, now a senior at Cal Poly, is majoring in experience industry management with a concentration in sport management. She wants to work in the National Football League doing scheduling.

First, Connor will enjoy her final season as a Mustang and then possibly give the AVP Tour a shot, quite likely with Martinez as her partner. It is not an easy road — the pair made just $2,400 apiece for their second-place finish in Wisconsin.

Connor is on a full scholarship, but does not receive any Name, Image and Likeness money that is now allowed to NCAA student-athletes.

”I’ll give it a shot, but I need to see because beach volleyball is a poor sport,” Connor said. “So it’s hard to want to keep training and playing. You’re just losing money constantly. If it works out, I’m totally down to try it.”

But for now, Ella and Herc are gearing up for one more season at Cal Poly. Martinez said they both are so important to the team.

“I cannot tell you how many people just get to practice early and sit with Herc on the ground, in the sand with him before practice,” Martinez said. “I do it all the time. All of my teammates would agree. He’s amazing.”