Struggles Pay Off for Senior Akita : Basketball: Dominguez Hills guard has played for the losing side throughout her high school and college career. But the Lady Toros are making her senior season a dream come true.

Devon Akita has seen the Cal State Dominguez Hills women’s basketball program go through many changes. As the only senior on this season’s successful team, Akita can tell stories of when she played for two of the school’s worst programs, basketball and volleyball.

She quit volleyball after a demoralizing freshman season, but stuck with basketball. She has seen Dominguez Hills struggle for the past three seasons, but this season the Lady Toros (13-3) are off to their best start since 1984 and Akita, the team’s co-captain, has played a big role.

“We’re doing so good it’s still like a dream,” the 5-foot-7 Akita said. “It’s made believers out of all of us. This is the best team we’ve had since I’ve been here and it’s exciting.”

For the first time in her basketball career, she is anxious to compete in the six-member California Collegiate Athletic Assn. The Lady Toros open the CCAA season at home on Friday against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Dominguez Hills’ preseason record is the best in the league.

“There’s an attitude to win now,” Akita said. “Now I look forward to games and practices. Before we were just going through the motions.”

Akita is referring to her freshman basketball season (1987-88) under former Coach Alice Textor. The Lady Toros finished a disappointing 10-17 and were last in the CCAA at 3-9.

The 21-year-old of Japanese, Filipino and Hawaiian descent had a similar experience in volleyball. She was a setter on a team that was 6-25 (1-11 in the CCAA) under former Coach Jennifer Gorecki.

Akita said that first year at Dominguez Hills was a rerun of her high school career. At Westminster High she competed in the powerful Sunset League, which is dominated by Marina and Fountain Valley in volleyball and Edison and Fountain Valley in basketball.

As a senior she was the team’s most valuable player in basketball and a second-team All-Sunset League selection in volleyball. But neither team did well in the tough league.

“That was pretty bad,” she said. “I tried to block all that out of my head. But then I came here and it was the same thing.”

Akita just happened to compete in the two sports at Dominguez Hills that were dominated by strong and well-established programs in the league. In volleyball the Lady Toros had to battle Division II powerhouse Cal State Northridge, which left the conference to compete in Division I this year. In basketball, Cal Poly Pomona has ruled the CCAA since it was formed in 1981. The Broncos have won three Division II national championships and 14 league titles under Coach Darlene May.

This season Dominguez Hills should challenge Cal Poly Pomona for the title. The team’s chances of reaching the four-team CCAA postseason tournament are better than ever since Northridge is gone and Pomona is rebuilding after losing three starters from last season’s 29-4 team.

Akita is ecstatic to finally be part of a team that has a great chance of making the playoffs. She attributes the Lady Toros’ success to third-year Coach Van Girard and the athletes he has recruited.

“Before Van we were a bunch of individuals,” she said. “Now we play as one and we play to win. We have runners, gunners and post players. It’s great.”

Akita is one of the runners. This season she moved from off-guard to point guard. The move has resulted in a quicker, more consistent offense for Dominguez Hills. She is also an intense defensive player who thrives on irritating an opponent.

“I love to play defense because that’s where I get energy and intensity,” Akita said. “I like to shut people out. I like to get in peoples’ face and yell ‘ball! ball! ball!’ and take them out of their game.”

Girard said Akita was a high point in the difficult task of reviving a downtrodden women’s basketball program. Before taking over at Dominguez Hills, Girard compiled a 230-48 record in 10 seasons as the Lynwood High girls’ coach.

“Devon has those traits I look for in an athlete,” Girard said. “She has good speed and quickness and she’s a great competitor. I definitely would

have recruited her.”

Girard, who is 30-37 at Dominguez Hills, said Akita is more consistent and seems to have more control than in previous years.

“In my opinion she’s playing the best basketball that she’s played at the university,” he said. “She brings the ball up and initiates the offense and she has the ability to penetrate and create openings. Defensively she’s also doing great. She always guards the other team’s point guard.”

Akita leads the Lady Toros with 3.3 assists a game and is third in scoring (12.2 points a game) behind forward Denise Slater (13.5) and center Dionne Vanlandingham (12.9). Her specialty is the short jump shot.

Cal State L.A. Assistant Coach Sarah Lewis said Akita is one of the premier guards in the league. She predicts the spunky athlete will earn all-conference honors this season. As a sophomore, Akita was a CCAA honorable-mention selection after leading Dominguez Hills in scoring (9.7), three-point field goals and free throws.

“She’s a hard-nose player and a very tough competitor,” Lewis said. “As an opposing coach you’re not real anxious to play against her. I would definitely want her on my team.”

Besides her new position on the court, Akita has taken over as a team leader and motivator. In past seasons she has been quiet and reserved, but this season she is extremely vocal. Vanlandingham said Akita is the team’s spark plug and helps other players feel confident.

“She’s pretty easygoing away from the game, but when she plays she’s very intense and very aggressive,” Vanlandingham said. “She really pumps up the team.”

Akita said she is going all-out because it is her senior season. Much like the Dominguez Hills’ women’s basketball program, her change has been a positive one.