She’s Setting Herself Up for Success : Volleyball: Battles with dyslexia and tough practice sessions have fortified Prentice Perkins, helping her lead Corona del Mar to within a step of the state final.

On the few occasions the Corona del Mar High School girls’ volleyball team hasn’t played well this season, Prentice Perkins knows she’s probably going to get blamed for it.

Perkins, the team’s 5-foot-5 setter, expects the criticism. After all, it’s the nature of her job.

“No matter what happens, it’s always my fault,” Perkins said. “Whenever everything goes wrong, I’m the first person taken out of the game. As the setter, you get blamed for the majority of mistakes. If you’re not prepared for it, it can really work you.”

And Perkins has been preparing for 18 years. She knows all about dealing with stressful situations.

You want mental toughness?

Try having your second-grade classmates laughing at you as you struggle with your daily reading assignment. Try looking at the word CAT and seeing TAC.

What Perkins’ classmates didn’t understand is that she has dyslexia, an impairment of the ability to read that medical authorities say could affect between 10% and 15% of the population. To Perkins, many letters of the alphabet look alike or are out of order.

“When I was little I got razzed about it a lot,” she said. “The kids would say, ‘You can’t read.’ But I’m a pushy person, and it’s hard for me to fail at anything. I set goals so high, even if it’s impossible for me. I won’t let myself lose at anything.”

That attitude has helped Perkins on the volleyball court and in the classroom. She maintains a 3.0 grade-point average, and is being recruited by USC and UC Santa Barbara for volleyball.

“School is not the easiest thing for me,” she said. “I’ve taken all this step by step. I’ve overcome it (dyslexia) in a way. But it’s something I still have.

“I try so hard to beat it. I know I have to work really hard.”

Perkins learned more about hard work when she started playing with the Orange County Volleyball club teams as a sixth-grader. Former Corona del Mar Coach Charlie Brande, who oversees the program, is known for his intense practices. Perkins would often go home in tears.

“I’m very critical of all my setters,” Brande said. “It’s like Lou Holtz is with his quarterbacks.”

Despite the demands, Perkins never let her emotions show. At least not during practice.

“I would never cry in front of Charlie,” Perkins said. “But when I got home, I would tell my mom (Michael), ‘Oh my God, I have to quit. I can’t take it.’ I would come home crying all the time.”

But Perkins always went back. She had been through worse.

“The kids giving me a hard time gave me that toughness,” Perkins said. “When they made fun of me about reading, I asked myself, ‘What’s wrong with me, am I retarded?’

“It’s the same thing with Charlie pushing me in volleyball. I push back and do better. I wanted to prove all of them wrong. I’m just a hard-headed person. And I hate to lose more than anything.”

Those six years of “hell,” as Perkins describes the practices, are paying off.

Perkins played one of her best games of the season in Corona del Mar’s three-game sweep of Mira Costa in the Southern Section 5-A finals Nov. 17.

Brande, who was suspended as the Sea Kings’ coach in the wake of an investigation into his club teams by the Southern Section office, watched from the stands.

During the post-match celebration, Perkins and her teammates gave Brande the championship plaque.

“It was hard to look over and see Charlie in the stands,” Perkins said. “He put us through hell but he has been such a good friend to us, too. That’s the reason we ran to Charlie after the match.”

There is one more championship remaining that Perkins and the Sea Kings want to win for their former coach--the state title.

Perkins had eight kills and ran the offense in a five-game victory over Poway in the second round of the Southern California Division I regional Saturday night. The Sea Kings play San Jose Lynbrook in the regional final Tuesday night at Corona del Mar. The winner advances to Saturday’s state final.

“She’s a very determined kid,” said Dale Flickinger, who replaced Brande as Corona del Mar’s coach. “She struggled (against Poway) but when she had to get it done, she delivered for us. She can elevate her level of play when she has to.”

Perkins, a three-year starter, runs one of the most complex offenses of any high school team. When a back-row player passes her the ball, she has 13 different options for setting.

“She’s very good,” Flickinger said. “She runs a more diverse offense than most. Sometimes she’s not as consistent, but one great attribute is that she’s very fearless. Some setters get conservative in a close game. She knows this system, and she’s not afraid to quick set to the middle (blocker) in a close game.”

Perkins comes from a family rich in volleyball experience. Her father, Robert, played on the beach and her older brother, Jason, was a freshman starter on USC’s national-championship team last season.

The family regularly plays two-on-two at the beach. So how does Prentice do against her brother, who, at 6-4, has an 11-inch height advantage?

“Jason’s better, but only because he has the height,” Prentice said. “My parents messed up and gave the height to the wrong person in our family.”

Perkins said her height gives her an advantage. Opponents tend to underestimate her.

“They look at me and say, ‘Let’s hit the ball at her,’ ” she said.

Opponents make the same mistake on the soccer field. Perkins was the Sea View League’s most valuable player last season at sweeper, a defensive position.

“I like it (soccer) because it’s physical,” Perkins said. “Volleyball is more of a thinking sport. Soccer it’s whoever is stronger.”

And who’s tougher . . . physically and mentally.