A Roaring Success : In 2 Years, Stratos Has Transformed the Lions Into a Volleyball Winner

Loyola Marymount women’s volleyball Coach Steve Stratos remembers the horror stories he used to hear about the program.

“Honestly, when I first got the job, they were not successful, and friends of mine tried to prepare me for losing,” he said. “So when I first got here, I talked to the team and told them what people were saying about them, and I think we used that in our favor.”

Stratos took over a program in 1990 that had won only 17 matches the previous two seasons. His first team finished 21-16 and last year’s squad was 17-12.

With five starters returning and several talented newcomers, it appears the Lions are ready for bigger and better things.

Junior outside hitter Deanna Doolittle says the Lions are capable of becoming an NCAA Division I top 20 team.

“Even after the first couple of days of two-a-day practices, we all noticed that there was quite a change in the team from last year,” Doolittle said. “We saw that we could do a lot more (in practice) than we could do last year. (Stratos) also showed us that we were listed as a team in Volleyball Monthly and we’ve never been close to that before.”

Loyola is ranked 29th in the nation by Volleyball Monthly.

It may not take long for the Lions to find out where they stand. They open the season against fourth-ranked Stanford at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Gersten Pavilion.

Also on the schedule are nonconference matches against ranked opponents UC Santa Barbara and USC and two matches against West Coast Conference rival Pepperdine.

Despite the challenging schedule, Stratos likes the Lions’ prospects.

“We’ve scheduled a lot of top 20 teams because we feel we have a team that’s capable of playing at that level,” Stratos said. “We have a tough preseason schedule and we may take a few lumps, but the hope is that the team will learn from it and develop by the time we head into conference play.”

This will be one of the youngest teams in Loyola history. There are only two seniors--outside hitter Joli Eberhart and middle blocker Dana Bragado--and one junior--Doolittle--on the 11-player roster.

“In the next two years, we’re going to be very young,” Stratos said. “But I think our younger people will have a big influence in our success. A lot of our positions are going to be held by young players, but the thing about that is they’re also very experienced. I think that’s a good combination.”

Besides the eight returning letter winners, the Lions have added three highly regarded prospects: 6-foot-1 middle blockers Julie Greer and Mardell Wrensch and 6-0 outside hitter Amy Moeller. Greer is from Anaheim Esperanza, Moeller from Santa Ana Mater Dei and Wrensch from Monta Vista of Cupertino.

“I think the best thing we’ve done is brought in strength in numbers,” Stratos said. “They’ve also all had success at the high school or club level, and those are the kind of things you just can’t teach.”

Not to mention the impact of having increased size on the front line.

“That allows us to do things on the court that we couldn’t do before,” he said. “From a recruiting standpoint, we went after people with a little more size and I think that will help us right away.”

With the added depth, Stratos said Loyola’s lineup will be more interchangeable.

“I think for the first time we feel like we’re solid at every position,” he said. “The only weakness is we feel like we have only one true setter (sophomore Robin Ortgiesen).”

Sophomore outside hitter Mary Strong is currently the backup to Ortgiesen at setter.

Stratos is sold on his team’s depth at outside hitter and middle blocker.

“In the past two seasons, if we lost a player on the outside, we were in trouble,” he said. “That’s not the case anymore. We’ve also added two middle blockers who we feel can help us right away.”

The added depth has also made for spirited competition for starting positions.

“You can see it in the practices that we’ve had,” Eberhart said. “There’s just so much more intensity. You don’t know if you’re going to play, so it makes you work harder all the time.”

She thinks that will make a difference during the season.

“That’s just because every player we have can play well, and if you don’t contribute on every play, you can be sure that you’ll be subbed out in a minute,” Eberhart said.

With the increased competition in practices, Eberhart said the team is eager to start the season.

“We’re all just looking forward to playing a game against somebody already,” she said. “You can see it whenever we go into our scrimmages.”

Never mind that the opening opponent is Stanford.

“That’s a no-lose situation for us because if you get beat by the No. 4 team in the country, it’s expected,” Stratos said. “But if by some miracle we win, it lifts us up to a whole new echelon.”

Although the Lions are hopeful of earning their first NCAA playoff berth since 1986, Eberhart said the team is simply looking forward to playing Stanford.

“We’re excited about the game,” she said. “We’re planning to rise to the occasion, that’s for sure. I have a lot of friends I know on their team, and I’m really looking forward to playing them.”

With Loyola’s prospects on the rise, the Lions would like nothing better than to make the Stanford match a coming-out party.