Five County Players Make Olympic Team : Volleyball: Hilliard, Briceno and Becker join gold-medal veterans Timmons and Fortune on U.S. roster.

Brent Hilliard wasn’t offered a volleyball scholarship when he graduated from Dana Hills High in 1988. And after a season with Humboldt State’s club team, he considered quitting the sport.

A year later, he transferred to Cal State Long Beach and led the 49ers to the NCAA title in 1991. The next year he was the NCAA’s player of the year.

Now, he’s an Olympian.

Hilliard was one of five Orange County players who made the U.S. Olympic volleyball team Tuesday, believed to be the most in county history.

Two-time gold medalist Steve Timmons, a Newport Beach native, and 1988 gold medalist Scott Fortune of Laguna Beach were named to the 12-player roster along with Fountain Valley’s Carlos Briceno and Newport Beach’s Nick Becker.

Timmons is attempting to become the first Olympic volleyball player to win three consecutive gold medals.

Timmons and Fortune were expected to make the team, but Briceno, Becker and Hilliard were among six players battling for the last three or four spots.

Also named were former Olympians Doug Partie, Bob Ctvrtlik, Jeff Stork and Eric Sato. Bryan Ivie and Dan Greenbaum, both former USC standouts, and former Cal State Northridge player Bob Samuelson also made the squad.

But perhaps none were as surprised, or pleased, as Hilliard.

“I’m glad I made it,” he said, “but the pressure is there to win. We’ve won two gold medals, and there’s a lot of pressure to win a third. The veteran players have put it on themselves. They have proven they’re the best in the world.

“The younger guys, like Bryan, Dan and I, want to prove we can play at that level too.”

Making the Olympic team helped ease some memories of a frustrating junior season at Long Beach. The 49ers were 31-1 before losing twice in the Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Assn. tournament and failing to reach the NCAA final four.

“I went back to college for the spring semester to get the national championship,” Hilliard said. “And it was frustrating to not even get to play in the finals.

“We were a little burned out. I couldn’t even hit the ball over the net by the end of the year. But I got over it better than my teammates. I put it behind me and went to San Diego to train with the national team.”

Huntington Beach’s Dan Hanan, a former Edison High standout, was the only county player eliminated when U.S. Coach Fred Sturm cut the roster Tuesday from 18 to 12. Hanan, a former standout at Stanford, was in his second season with the national team.

Costa Mesa’s Mark Arnold, who had played with the U.S. team since 1989, was cut before the start of the World League season in April.

Timmons, a former Newport Harbor High standout, and Fortune, a former Laguna Beach High star, are expected to start.

Fortune, an outside hitter, has been the U.S. team captain since 1989, and Timmons, who plays opposite the setter, returned recently from playing professionally in Italy with San Clemente’s Karch Kiraly. Kiraly, also a two-time gold medalist, decided to skip the Olympics to play on the pro beach tour.

Becker, Hilliard and Briceno were relative newcomers to the team.

Briceno, a former Fountain Valley High and University of Hawaii player, joined the national team last season. He and Samuelson are considered among the team’s most versatile players.

Briceno, 6 feet 4, can play outside hitter and middle blocker and is a solid passer. He had a season-high 25 kills in a victory over Italy in April.

Becker, who played at Mater Dei High and USC, joined the U.S. team this season. A 6-4 outside hitter, he played sparingly in the team’s World League matches.

Hilliard, 6-5, has trained with the national team the past two years but is in his first full season with the team. He will be Timmons’ backup during the Olympics.

Hilliard has moved in and out of the national team’s lineup but flashed his potential during a match against Japan, when he had 45 kills, a World League season-high.

“It has been off and on all summer,” he said. “I played well in Japan and thought I had clinched a spot then. But then I got sent home during a trip to Russia, when the rest of the team went on to Holland. So that was probably the low point.”

Hilliard began his volleyball career as a junior at Dana Hills, when Coach Oz Simmons persuaded him to try out for the team. He was a two-year letter-winner, an All-Southern Section selection and the South Coast League’s most valuable player as a senior.

He spent a year at Humboldt State before Long Beach Coach Ray Ratelle signed him. As a sophomore, he set NCAA records in kills for a match (53) and average kills per game (7.74).

During his sophomore year at Long Beach, Hilliard was asked if he had a future as an Olympian.

“I hope I get considered for the 1992 team,” he said. “But there are a lot of great players.

“But they might be training some of the younger players for 1996. I would hate to have to wait that long to make the team, but I will if I have to.”

Tuesday, his wait ended.