Esperanza’s Nihipali Looks to Future in Sunset League : Volleyball: Aztecs’ young players are working through the rough spots of a tough move from the Empire League.

Amid Esperanza’s first season in the Sunset League, Amy Nihipali has shown the volleyball team’s future holds promise.

Her older brother Paul, a 6-foot-7 middle blocker, led the Aztecs to the Southern Section Division II boys’ volleyball championship in 1993.

Paul Nihipali was named Southern Section Division II player of the year that season, and now he plays at UCLA. He earned all NCAA-tournament team honors last season, helping the Bruins reach the NCAA championship match.

Now his little sister--make that younger sister--is a 6-2 sophomore who has stepped up her play to help Esperanza climb back into the playoff hunt after the Aztecs took some lumps early this season.

Esperanza (6-6, 4-4 in league) is tied with Marina (9-7, 4-4) for third place in league--which also carries the league’s final automatic playoff berth--and the Aztecs begin the final week of league play with a match Tuesday at Marina.

Struggling to qualify for the playoffs is a new experience for Esperanza and Los Alamitos, two teams that used to dominate the Empire League.

But since moving to the Sunset League this season, Los Alamitos, which won the Southern Section Division II championship last season, has not won a league match and probably will miss the Division I playoffs. Esperanza finished 16-3 last season, but started this season losing four of its first six matches.

“The Sunset League is forcing us to grow as a volleyball team,” Esperanza Coach Kurt Kersten said. “If we were still in the Empire League now, we might be undefeated in league and maybe ranked fourth in county.

“But I think now, playing against all of these tough teams, we’ll be more prepared for CIF . . . if we get there.”

Esperanza has rebounded from its sluggish start, and regained some confidence by defeating Los Angeles Notre Dame Academy in the championship match of the Los Angeles Marlborough tournament Oct. 22.

“The tournament helped us believe in ourselves,” Kersten said. “In the final match, we rallied from a big deficit to win, 16-14. That was the first time we came from behind all season.”

In recent league matches, Esperanza challenged Edison (14-0, 8-0), ranked second in Orange County, but lost in five games Oct. 20. The Aztecs lost another tight match, a four-game loss to fourth-ranked Huntington Beach (10-3, 6-2), Oct. 25 before defeating Los Alamitos in five games Thursday.

Nihipali’s development has keyed the Aztecs’ recent surge. She had 12 blocks in the loss to Huntington Beach.

“I think she’s one of the best middle blockers in the county,” Kersten said.

When the season began, Nihipali was only one of the team’s returning starters. Although the Aztecs lost two key starters--Lynette Anderson, who is now at Georgia Tech, and Kari Wehner, now at Santa Clara--the Aztecs weren’t short on talent.

Two senior all-leaguers, Kristy Kierulff and Laura Echolds, returned with Nihipali and setter Allison Anderson.

Kierulff, a 5-8 outside hitter who won the State high jump championship last season, is being recruited by Long Beach State, USC, Arizona State and UCLA. Echolds, a 6-foot middle blocker and three-year starter, has orally committed to Santa Clara.

Still, the Aztecs started slowly.

“We rearranged a lot of attitudes after we went to Huntington Beach and embarrassed ourselves by losing in three games the first time we played them,” Kersten said. “Amy was one player who wasn’t afraid to speak up.”

Said Nihipali: “I’m a lot more comfortable with the team this year and we’re all really good friends. I’m probably a more vocal-type, while Kristy would rather lead by example and just go up and pound the ball.

“There was a lot of frustration early and we were inconsistent. But it’s kind of hard to avoid because after club season ends, coming to your high school team with a new set of girls, it’s like starting from scratch.”

Winning was routine for Nihipali during club season. She played with the Orange County Volleyball Club’s 16-and-under team, which also featured Mater Dei standout Roberta Gehlke and Laguna Beach’s Michelle Christ, and tournament victories were expected.

“Amy wants to get a Division I scholarship, so she’s chosen one sport to focus on and played with the Orange County club last year,” Kersten said. “Right now she’s probably a lot further along than Paul was as a sophomore.”

But now, individual accomplishments and career goals are not foremost in Nihipali’s mind.

“Our team should go out and just feel like they can compete at this level,” Nihipali said. “We’ve improved so much in the last two weeks.”

Nihipali hopes the Aztecs will be playing in two weeks when the playoffs begin. But even if Esperanza misses the postseason this year, Nihipali will have two more seasons to try to match the legacy of her older brother.

“It’s a lot to live up to,” she said. “But it fires me up to try to play at that level.”