Perkins Stands Out in the Back Row : Volleyball: Former Corona del Mar standout’s tough defense helps Long Beach State maintain its championship form.

Just how much opponents know about the Long Beach State women’s volleyball team is usually revealed on their opening serve. That’s because if the ball goes to Prentice Perkins, well, somebody hasn’t done enough homework.

Informed players know their chances are greatest against the 49ers the less Perkins gets involved. Perkins’ play often swings things in the 49ers’ favor, but some servers, to their coaches’ frustration, still opt to learn the hard way.

“(Coaches) just don’t want the ball going over there,” Long Beach Coach Brian Gimmillaro said. “The other teams won’t serve Prentice for a very good reason: because she is so good.”

A senior defensive specialist, Perkins’ presence in the 49ers’ back row is a key to success for the defending NCAA Division I champions. Intensity and confidence, with an admitted touch of cockiness, have powered Perkins to the top of her sport and, moreover, to accomplishments within an arena in which she formerly felt less at home: the classroom.

She will display some of her skills tonight when No. 9 Long Beach plays No. 10 UC Santa Barbara in a Big West Conference match at The Gold Mine. Play begins at 7:30, and Perkins couldn’t be more ready.

“I’ve never been intimidated (on the volleyball court),” said Perkins, 22. “I know cocky sounds like a bad word, but there’s nothing wrong with being a little bit cocky because it shows other people that they can’t put you down.

“I’ve excelled, so I don’t think I have anything to be ashamed of. I know I’m a good athlete, and I know I’m a good volleyball player.”

True enough.

Perkins (5 feet 4) is a two-year starter. She is charged with helping to keep the ball in play for Long Beach.

Her digging and passing sets up all those impressive spikes for the 49ers’ hitters. She also has a high-arching serve that enabled her to lead the team in aces last season with 51, which ranked second in the conference at .46 aces per game.

To the casual observer, however, Perkins’ role might not seem all that exciting or important because she isn’t making things happen at the net. Exciting? No. Important? Extremely, Gimmillaro said.

“When people see a match, they don’t understand that the person controlling the ball is the one that’s winning the match,” he said. “What they see is the explosiveness at the net and not the work to make it happen.

“In the public’s perception, her position is a thankless position. To the coaches, it’s the premier position because she enables other players to be in the headlines with her digging and passing.”

Perkins, too, is aware of public perception. However, she said her contributions are clear.

“I can dig and pass and that’s my job,” Perkins said. “But as a defensive specialist, it’s not only that you’re supposed to dig balls. You’re also supposed to come in and pump teams up, and that’s what I try to do.”

And successful she is, her coach said.

“Prentice is the type of player we’ve always wanted at Long Beach, the type of player who has always been greatly successful here,” Gimmillaro said. “She’s always been good, but she still wants to prove she’s better than anybody thought she could be.”

And not only on volleyball courts.

Perkins has dyslexia. The learning disorder was difficult for her to cope with as a child.

“Of course, there were a few kids who ragged on me about it, and some teachers even treated me like I was stupid,” she said. “I wasn’t stupid, I just learned differently.”

Perkins, then a setter, led Corona del Mar to the 1990 State Division I and Southern Section 5-A titles. The Times selected her all-county in volleyball her senior year. But she was only an average student and believed she could do better.

A history major, Perkins has proved herself right by maintaining a 3.0 grade-point average at Long Beach. She is on track to graduate in four years. Her dedication to academics paid off last season when she received Long Beach’s 1993 female Big West Scholar Athlete award.

“That is one of the truly great success stories,” said Charlie Brande, one of Perkins’ former coaches at Corona del Mar and in the Orange County Volleyball club. “She was always a tremendous athlete in everything she did, but she wasn’t the greatest student.

“She’s such a great role model. I’m so proud of her.”

Dedication to the books hasn’t slowed Perkins on the court.

Perkins started contributing to the 49ers’ good fortune as a freshman in 1991. Since she has been wearing black and gold, Long Beach is 113-10 (.918). Included in that record are three consecutive Big West titles, three consecutive trips to the Final Four and last season’s national championship.

But Perkins can’t flaunt her volleyball national championship at home because she isn’t even the first in the family to win one. That distinction goes to her brother, Jason, who played middle blocker on USC’s 1990 national title team.

“We’re really lucky because we both went to great schools with great programs and great tradition,” Jason said. “It was never a question to me that Prentice would have this kind of success because she’s very hard-driven. Nothing stops her when she decides she wants to do something.”