Restoring the Roar to Lion Volleyball : Colleges: With an increase in funding and solid recruiting, Loyola Marymount is winning again.

In many respects, it has been a breakthrough season for the Loyola Marymount women’s volleyball team.

The Lions were ranked in a preseason national poll by Volleyball Monthly magazine and have never been worse than second place in the West Coast Conference race.

Although the Lions have had a few lapses along the way--most notably conference losses to Pepperdine and Gonzaga in the past four matches--Coach Steve Stratos says he couldn’t ask for much more.

Except maybe a conference title.

The Lions (16-10, 7-2 and in second place in the WCC) play their most important matches of the season when they play host to third-place San Diego (17-11, 8-4) at 7 tonight and first-place Santa Clara (18-9, 10-0) at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Loyola, which defeated Santa Clara in a nonconference match in September, will visit the Broncos in its next-to-last conference match Nov. 20.

Considering that his team is only two games behind the Broncos in the loss column, Stratos is optimistic about the Lions’ prospects.

“We still have a great shot to win the conference,” he said. “They still have the most difficult part of their schedule ahead of them. We’ve already played Pepperdine, so we have that behind us.”

Whether or not the Lions win their first conference title since 1986, they have already come a long way.

Senior middle blocker Dana Bragado said this year’s team bears little resemblance to the 1989 squad that finished at 8-19 in her freshman year. Stratos took over the program in 1990.

“The program has made incredible improvement in the years I’ve been here,” she said. “Steve Stratos has done a remarkable job. There’s just a huge difference between this and my freshman year.”

Deanna Doolittle, a junior outside hitter who played for Stratos at Woodbridge High in Irvine, said she is not surprised by the Lions’ development.

“When I first came here, it wasn’t that big of a program and Coach Stratos would always talk about how he was going to make this a big-time program,” Doolittle said. “I think it’s definitely on its way.”

Perhaps the biggest reason for the program’s improvement has been an increase in funding that has enabled Stratos to offer more scholarships. By next season, he said, the program will be fully funded for the first time.

“It was at eight scholarships when I entered the program three years ago,” he said. “Now we have 10 and we’re going to 12 next year.”

That has helped Stratos attract more talent and depth.

Among the players he added before last season were sophomores Robin Ortgiesen, a setter, Tahlia Wagner, a middle blocker, and senior Joli Eberhart, an outside hitter.

This season, Stratos added three freshmen, including Julie Greer at middle blocker and Amy Moeller at outside hitter. All have played significant roles.

“It’s the caliber of the freshmen he’s brought in that has definitely made the biggest difference,” Doolittle said. “I think the recruits he brought in last year set the level for players that would come here in the future.”

Doolittle said the added depth has helped develop her game.

“Nobody knows how high school recruits will come along,” she said. “But as we’ve gone on this season, we’ve seen that everyone on this team can play and be competitive. I think it makes me work harder in practice and games knowing that there are people right behind me that want to take my spot.”

Stratos also credits other factors in the Lions’ development.

“I think they truly believe they will be successful and they’ve also accepted each other as teammates,” he said. “The team concept that we’ve established has really helped us, and they get along real well. This is the greatest bunch of kids you’d ever want to have as a coach.”

Stratos has reason to be optimistic about the future. The only seniors on the 11-player team are Bragado and Eberhart, and Stratos has already received unwritten commitments from three prep players.

“We feel that we’re going to build this program into one of the best around,” he said. “We’ve had two good recruiting years in a row and the next one looks to be the best yet. So we’re really excited about where we’re going.”

Stratos said the team’s bid for a conference title will be the rule rather than the exception in the future.

“We feel that we have the talent now to compete for the title every year,” he said.