Q&A: Head coach Nabil Mardini e mastermind behind three consecutive championships for the women’s volleyball team

Nadine Gostantian Roundup Reporter

After three seasons of winning state championships, head coach Nabil Mardini suffered setbacks in the 2013 campaign and it resulted in the Brahmas being ousted in the first round.

For Mardini though he is in a new era with a blend of seasoned sophomores as well as some talented young freshmen. Hopefully this year will be different for Pierce as the women’s volleyball team tries to reestablish supremacy in the state.

Mardini sat down for a Q & A with the Roundup to discuss the future of his team and what he expects for the upcoming fall season.

Roundup: For this year’s Hall of Fame, your first team to ever win the state championship, the 2010 team is going to be inducted into the Pierce College Hall of Fame. What made them so great and why were they so special?

Nabil Mardini: They were not the biggest roster, they were not a most athletically gifted and they played teams that I thought were more talented. But they played like a team and like one cohesive unit. Just to see them play and the group of people that I got to coach was extraordinary. We had players that just gave themselves for the team.

Lindsay Kuramoto even though she tore her ACL playing basketball and was a redshirt freshman played a huge contribution because she had no car and commuted all the way from Pasadena to Pierce just to help out this team. Another was Julianna Hicks was is the toughest player I ever had to coach. She played the whole season through a fractured tibia. You just don’t see that every day. She was one in a million and it is very rare to have a player like her in any sport or organization. The team overall was just blue collared, just a bunch of individuals who came together as a team. As a coach it is flattering to see that kind of effort that was put out by this team.

RU: What is this team doing to prepare for the upcoming season and what are you excited about?

Mardini: They’ve been working really hard this offseason. The

Lofrano does good with Hall of Fame

Ethan Hanson Sports Editor

Sports Column

With the last week of school, finals and fellow Brahmas graduating, it begs the question who will these Brahmas be in years to come? Will they move on to be successful? What will these people accomplish and what lies ahead for the future?

With many former Brahmas moving on to bigger and better things, the school is in debt to Pierce Athletic Director Bob Lofrano, who will be putting on the second Pierce College Sports Hall of Fame induction ceremony this week at the Woodland Hills Country Club. With Lofrano at Pierce, it has allowed the school to maintain its heritage and honor the past and present in sports.

Athletes from the past who attended Pierce in its humble beginnings are able to come back and see what they did and reminisce about their accomplishment while they were at school. By Lofrano maintaining a Hall of Fame it allows Pierce to have merit and to have a history that has long been forgotten. It is very rare these days to hear the stories or even a mention of what someone did in the past from Pierce.

sophomores are getting better and their volleyball I.Q. is improving massively. We are also getting a lot of size this year with our freshman. We are picking up Chelsea Lawrence a 6’3 freshman who is from Palmdale as well as Ashanti Barnes who is 6’1 also from Palmdale. We’re getting a new libero Bianca Pattani from Visalia who is pretty solid. A lot of size with the new freshman along with the development of our sophomores, I’m excited.

RU: What are the sophomores doing that are helping them earn the moniker of contenders?

Mardini: They are playing together in practice and I am watching the team spirit unfold before my eyes. This team right now is worried less about the individual effort and worried more about the success of the team. You can see it and you can feel it. That talent has to show through the effort of the team but I am seeing it unfold. But the togetherness gets better and I feel like this team has a good shot of doing some great things this year.

RU: Who is going to be the toughest team you’ll play and why?

Mardini: We played a lot of good teams. But usually our competition is Bakersfield college. But they’re not going to be in our conference anymore although we play them. They moved to the south from the north. We used to be in the south but we’re in the north now.

RU: Why are they the toughest team?

Mardini: They’re very well coached. It’s a good program, good coach. He does an excellent job coaching them.

RU: What do you think needs improvement the most in the team?

Mardini: We just need to be regrouped in terms of talent. Make sure we’re all healthy. But in terms of improvement we were always looking to improve every time we stepped on the court. If I had to pick one thing I would say our left side attacking or hitters have to better. But we do have some key players coming. Its not official until August 15. So that’s why I don’t want to put their names until its official.

RU: What will this team need to do in order to play at an elite level?

Mardini: We need good left sides. Obviously the girls are working hard trying to get ready. I think we have a lot. Like I said, with the returning players that we have, and with the freshman and the incoming class I think we’re going to be a force to be reckoned with.

RU: Who is the most exciting freshman that you are going to have this season?

Mardini: It’ll probably be Autumn Russell. She is a 5’11 outside hitter from Templeton, Calif. She is dynamic. She can play all six rotations. She is a good blocker, has a tremendous jump serve. There are a lot of things she can do. “

RU: What does it take to be a champion and win a state title?

Mardini: That can take a book with a lot of chapters in it but obviously it takes a bunch of individuals, in a nutshell, who can elevate the play of their teammates around them. In my opinion, a group of individuals who don’t care who gets the credit in the end. All on the same page. All for one goal, one purpose, one reason. And a good old fashioned hard work. That’s all it takes.

RU: So does this team have what it takes?

Mardini: Absolutely. We’ll be back. The Brahmas will be back, I can promise you that.

Brahmas to be honored in 2014 Hall of Fame class

16 former athletes om Pierce will be inducted into the Pierce College Athletic Hall of Fame

Pierce College will have a new class to add to its Athletic Hall of Fame as 16 former Brahmas will be immortalized on Wednesday, May 28.

The event will take place at the Woodland Hills Country Club. The event will feature some of the members of the new class.

The person in charge of making the selections was Athletic Director Bob Lofrano.

Each athlete to be inducted have made an impact in their time at Pierce. Some of the inductees are from the 90’s and earlier. Only three of the 16 inductees are from the turn of the millennium. Here is the list for the third class of the Pierce College Athletic Hall of Fame:

Rich Auerbach (‘68) - Baseballplayed 10 years in the MLB

Kevin Barnett (‘94-’95)

Volleyball - 2 time All American at Pepperdine and part of the 2000 and 2004 U.S. olympic Team.

Joe Cascione (‘90-’91) - BaseballLed Cal Lutheran to back to back Division III College World Series. Current baseball head coach at Los Angeles Mission College.

Gary Comer (‘60-’61)

Track&Field - All American at Pierce in 200 yard and 400 yards. In the 400 yards he was also state champion. All American at USC in 4 x 100 relay in ‘64.

Jim Fenwick (‘70-’71) - Football - Over 30 years as football coach at college level. Current athletic director at Los Angeles Valley College.

Jamie Flynn (‘09-’10) - Diving - Flynn won a state diving championship in 2010.

Steve Hertz (‘69) - Baseball - 26 years as baseball head coach at Division I level. Hertz has 697 wins and spent 24 years at Gonzaga University.

Marian McWilliams (‘78) - Tennis

- Voached the Pierce College women’s tennis team to state title in 1978. McWilliams was also the Pierce College athletic director from 1978-1996.

Tony Oddo (‘63-’64) - Basketball

- Made the All Conference team at Pierce and spent two years at USC. Oddo coached over 30 years.

Eldin Onsgard (‘70-’72)

Swimming & Water polo - All American in diving and water polo. Coached at Pierce from 1979-1986.

Bob Samuelson (‘85-’86) Volleyball - Won player of the year while at Pierce. Spent two years at CSUN and was part of the 1992 US Olympic Team.

Bill Spooner (‘75-’76) - Football - following his playing career as a wide reciever. Spooner is currently in his 25th season as an NBA official.

Neal Sweeney (‘63-’64) - Football - All American wide receiver at Pierce. Played two years at Tulsa University and then played for the Denver Broncos in the NFL.

Erica Vangsness (‘09-’10) - Soccer - Western State Conference player of the year. Spent two years at USC.

1992 Men’s volleyball team - 20-2 record as state champion.

2010 Women’s volleyball team29-3 record as state champions

At least with Bob Lofrano’s Hall of Fame it allows students to identify with NCIS actor Mark Harmon who played football at Pierce before moving on to play football at USC and then later become successful in Hollywood with one of the most recognizable shows on television. With Lofrano setting up the Hall of Fame, students know that current professional baseball players like Barry Zito and Coco Crisp used to roam the hallways at Pierce. By honoring the past, Lofrano is helping preserve at least some piece of heritage with the school. While the rest of the school seems to forget about the potential impact by people that attended school, Lofrano makes sure that recognition is given where it is due.

Wouldn’t it be great if the rest of the school followed suit? To not just have a sports Hall of Fame but a Pierce College hall of fame? Where the famous people who supposedly went to Pierce and then went on to do great things whether it was a pioneer in the medical field or being a famous actor were honored for their work and for their fame?

That is ultimately what needs to change at Pierce and follow Lofrano’s example. It is not merely putting a name up on a wall to last a lifetime, a decade or maybe even a year. It is about providing recognition for the school. The reason why Pierce is so good at sports is in part due to how players are recruited and the quality of coaches that are at Pierce. But it also has to do with the fact that players recognize names. They recognize the fact that if they work hard enough, like Crisp and Harmon, they too can move on to a four year school or potentially even play at the major leagues.

In terms of the rest of the school and the administration, they should look at Lofrano as an example of what happens when you honor the past. By honoring the past you can create a heritage. Students shouldn’t be having to go on wikipedia to find out that Joseph Gordon-Levitt from Inception went to Pierce.

Wouldn’t it be great if students knew that famous people actually went to Pierce and moved on to greater and better things? Incoming freshmen could use these people as motivation to make themselves better, noting that if this person can do it so can they. It is not merely about throwing reputable names out there, it is about trying to make the school a viable place to go to where the most talented and hardworking students can come and learn and be successful.

The Hall of Fame provides perspective, it provides history and an identity of heritage. Wouldn’t it be great if other aspects of Pierce could be associated with the same?