THE TIMES 1995 FALL ALL-COUNTY TEAMS : She Takes Oilers to New Level : Athlete of the year: With her dominating style, Wendt led Huntington Beach to an undefeated regular season and No. 1 national ranking.

All season, Melissa Wendt’s name was the first to pop up when anyone discussed the best volleyball players in Orange County.

Wendt, a 6-foot-2 outside hitter, led Huntington Beach to the championship of the Orange County tournament in September, a 17-0 record in regular season and a No. 1 national ranking.

But then the top-seeded Oilers were upset by Newport Harbor in the quarterfinals of the Southern Section Division I tournament, fell to No. 11 in the national poll and the whispers started floating around the county’s volleyball community--maybe she’s not really that good.

Maybe not. After all, she hasn’t won a state high school or national club title.

“Everything happens for a reason,” Wendt said. “[The quarterfinal loss] is just another loss that is going to add to my excitement when I win.”

Although the Oilers were eliminated early in the postseason, Wendt’s status as the county’s best player never actually changed--she is no less dominating, her kills are no less thundering and her block is no less towering than it was all season.

What’s more, Wendt led the Oiler program to new heights during her career. Last year, Huntington Beach appeared in its first state final in school history, losing to Mountain View St. Francis in the Division II title match.

“Her sophomore and junior year, if she [wasn’t] there, we would have had a lot of trouble,” Oiler Coach Rocky Ciarelli said.

Wendt had hitting skills when she first arrived at Huntington Beach, but over the past four years she also has developed passing and defensive skills.

“Each year she would get something else, one part of the game that she hadn’t had before,” Ciarelli said.

Wendt was one of the nation’s top recruits and narrowed her choices to Stanford, UCLA and USC before orally committing to UCLA last month.

Maybe at UCLA, the team titles will finally catch up with her individual accolades.