Prentice Lewis

Bryce Alderton

Prentice Lewis has climbed the proverbial coaching ladder quite

quickly. That is, if your first head coaching position is at an NCAA

Division I university is any indication.

The 30-year-old former Prentice Perkins, has already achieved more

than her share of success, playing for the Long Beach State women’s

volleyball team that won the national championship in 1993.

The Fort Worth resident is the only defensive specialist ever

selected to the United States Junior Olympic Festival, where teams

from several sports traveled to different regions of the country to

compete in a selected host city.

The festival has since folded, but Lewis’ drive and effort put

into volleyball has never waned.

The former Corona del Mar High standout, who helped lead the Sea

Kings to the CIF Southern Section Division 5-A title and subsequent

state title in 1990, was hired Feb. 5, 2002, as the women’s

volleyball coach at Texas Christian University. She had been an

assistant at Oregon, Florida and UC Irvine.

Now, recruiting takes up a majority of Lewis’ offseason life.

“Division I coaching doesn’t leave time for much else,” Lewis said

with a laugh last week as she took phone calls from prospective

recruits. “We get kids from Northern California, Texas, Oklahoma,

Missouri, Ohio ... we have a transfer from the University of Florida

and a Hungarian athlete [outside hitter Dominika Szabo], who is our

best player. We have six new athletes coming in for 2003.”

TCU doubled its win total last season (12) to finish with the

school’s third-best record in the program’s seven-year history. Lewis

hopes to build a winner for a long time.

“To win a Final Four,” Lewis said when asked what her motivation

was for entering the Division I coaching ranks. “Three of my four

years at Long Beach State, we got to the Final Four and I want to

experience that as a coach.”

Upon earning a bachelor’s degree in history in 1995, Lewis coached

at UCI for three years. She credits her relationship with Merja

Connolly-Freund and longtime coach and mentor Charlie Brande as

giving her the guidance and determination to become a head coach.

“Merja and I played together at Long Beach State and she gave me

my first opportunity to experience college coaching,” Lewis said.

“She had some good ideas on how to train and what it takes to be in

the top 10.”

Connolly-Freund spent four seasons as UCI’s women’s volleyball

coach before Brande took over the reins in 1999. She now coaches the

girls and boys volleyball teams at Sage Hill School.

By her second season at UCI, Lewis knew she wanted to concentrate

more on coaching than pursue teaching.

Lewis earned her teaching certificate in 1996 and was a student

teacher at Capistrano Valley High.

“My goals had changed and I felt I could have the most impact in

college,” Lewis said. “Teaching was a stepping stone to coaching. I

was fortunate to skip a lot of steps and get involved with UCI right

out of college.”

Brande, director of the Orange County Volleyball Club since 1982

and the Balboa Bay Volleyball Club since 1976, has since become the

UCI’s Director of Volleyball.

“I coached club with [Brande] and he is like a second father to

me,” Lewis said.

Lewis and Brande will reunite again when TCU plays UCI in the Long

Beach State Tournament Nov. 29. The Horned Frogs are also scheduled

to go up against Long Beach State, coached by Brian Gimmilaro, Lewis’

former coach who recruited the setter and defensive specialist.

While at CdM, Lewis also played softball and soccer, which she

considered her favorite. But Lewis, an All-CIF selection in both

soccer and volleyball, didn’t play soccer her senior year at CdM due

to shoulder surgery. That left the door open for Gimmilaro to pursue

Lewis, who married her husband Jeff in July 2000. Lewis’ parents,

mother Michael and father Bob, live in Newport Coast.

She has played volleyball since she was in seventh grade, when she

began to play for the OCVB club.

Surrounding herself with successful coaches and players has keyed

Lewis’ ascent into the coaching ranks, where she also served as an

assistant for Newport Harbor High’s junior varsity team, which won

the Santa Barbara High School JV Tournament in 1995.

No matter the place or team, Lewis -- whose older brother Jason

Perkins helped lead the Sea Kings to the 1989 CIF Division 4-A

championship before moving on to earn All-American honors at USC --

looks for players who share similar traits she displayed time and

again on the court.

“I try to surround myself with people who are competitive and show

that fire in their work ethic,” Lewis said. “On the coaching level, I

learn a lot from the athletes and work with them on how to budget

their time and travel schedules while being good role models and

positive leaders.”

Judging by her career so far, Lewis has fit into the leadership

role just fine.