UC IRVINE NOTEBOOK : Minier Sets New Priorities as a Full-Time Volleyball Player

With all the dribbling, shooting, passing and pressing he has done over the past four years, Mike Minier the basketball player hasn’t had much time for Mike Minier the volleyball player.

Until now.

Minier, a senior transfer from Chapman College, is a starting middle blocker for UC Irvine’s men’s volleyball team. For the first time in his two-sport career, Minier is facing a volleyball season with more than just a few days of preparation.

In the past, when basketball and volleyball seasons overlapped, Minier gave priority to basketball. But Minier’s basketball eligibility ran out last spring, and now, with one final season of volleyball eligibility remaining, he can devote all of his attention to the sport.

That already has made a big difference for the 6-foot-6 senior from Mission Viejo.

“All this practice, it’s something I never really had before,” Minier said. “I feel like I’m just improving every day. I never even knew some stuff existed . . . footwork and different techniques. We’ve been practicing since September. That’s like a lifetime compared to what I’m used to.”

Minier transferred to Irvine after learning last spring that Chapman was planning to eliminate men’s volleyball this year because of budget problems. Normally, National Collegiate Athletic Assn. rules state that a player who transfers to another university must sit out a year. But because Chapman eliminated the sport, Minier was free to transfer and play immediately.

Minier, Chapman’s most valuable player last year, said he contacted several UC schools, but Irvine Coach Bill Ashen was the only one who seemed interested.

“When I heard that Chapman’s program was folding and that Mike might want to come here, at first his name didn’t ring a bell,” Ashen said. “But someone said, ‘You know, the big, tall guy with dark hair.’ I immediately remembered that Chapman had only one player that was any good, so when I found out it was him, I was more than happy to give Mike a call.”

Ashen could not offer Minier any scholarship funding--Irvine’s men’s team was a club sport until three years ago, so there is only a half-scholarship available to the team. But Minier was happy to walk on.

“It was either that or go to Chapman, pay about $14,000 (a year’s tuition, room and board) and not be able to play volleyball,” he said.

Minier, who in high school played basketball for his father, Mission Viejo Coach Bob Minier, didn’t start playing volleyball until his junior year. After leading the Diablo basketball team to a 22-5 season in his senior year (1985), Minier missed his senior volleyball season because of an ankle injury.

He went on to Saddleback College for two years, playing only basketball, and then accepted a basketball scholarship to Chapman. At Chapman, Minier started playing volleyball because his high school coach, John Burns, had become the volleyball coach.

Minier said he wishes he had chosen volleyball over basketball years ago.

“I think volleyball would have been a better choice,” he said. “I’m tall, but in basketball everybody’s 6-6 or 6-7. So, in that respect, volleyball’s not as competitive.”

Still, with one season remaining, Minier is not looking back.

“Right now I just want to concentrate on volleyball and school,” said Minier, a social studies major who plans to enter Irvine’s masters of business administration program after graduating in June. “I always wanted to put a full year into volleyball. I’ve always wanted to see how good I really could get.”

The Anteaters opened their Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Assn. season Wednesday night by losing, 15-1, 15-6, 12-15, 15-11, at Pepperdine.

Pepperdine (1-0) was led by Geoff Hart with 19 kills. Steve Florentine had 23 kills for Irvine.

Maria Akraka, a three-time Swedish national champion at 800 meters, said she enrolled at Irvine Wednesday with the intention of competing for the Anteaters’ track and field and cross-country teams.

Her enrollment had been pending, she said, until financial aid could be made available. That aid came through this week.

Although Akraka has been hampered by a hamstring injury, Irvine women’s Coach Danny Williams says Akraka might be ready to race in a limited capacity, such as a relay, in the Anteaters’ home opener Feb. 17 against UC San Diego and Cal Poly Pomona.

“At this time, I’d say all systems are go,” Williams said.

Anteater Notes

Bryan Dameworth, the 1989 national prep cross-country champion from Agoura High, says he is considering Arizona, Colorado, Oregon and Irvine. Said Dameworth’s stepfather and coach, Bill Duley: “We just put UCI on our list. When Bryan first started thinking about college, he had dreams of running in wide open spaces, of getting out of the Los Angeles area. Irvine’s not L.A., but it’s close. But now, Bryan’s realizing there are more important things to consider. And we’re real, real impressed with (Irvine’s) Vince O’Boyle as a coach.” . . . While the men’s and women’s basketball teams struggle, the men’s swim team (5-1 overall, 3-0 in the conference) is having a fine season. Brian Pajer is ranked fifth and 18th nationally in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke.