Daily Pilot High School Athlete of the Week:

Prom date? Check.

Cap and gown rental? Check.

CIF Southern Section volleyball championship? So far so good.

Siblings Britta and Blaine Nielsen have already followed this routine as Corona del Mar High seniors. Britta earned a section Division III-A title with the Sea Kings girls’ team in the fall of 2004, before graduating in 2005. Blaine was part of CdM’s boys’ Division II section crown in 2007, captured mere weeks before graduation.

Weston Nielsen, a senior outside hitter for the Sea Kings’ boys’ team this season, recognized that the aforementioned pattern presents no small portion of pressure on him and his teammates.

But the 6-foot-5 standout is also poised to contribute in just about any area Coach Steve Conti might need to help the Sea Kings (17-8, 8-0 in the Pacific Coast League and ranked No. 3 in CIF Southern Section Division I) add to the Nielsen family legacy of CIF title coronation before college.

Weston Nielsen, who picked up a CIF championship ring in 2007 as a late-season call-up from the junior varsity, said he doesn’t even count the trinket as a personal achievement.

“I didn’t do anything,” Nielsen recalled of his freshman season. “That team was probably the best in the nation that year and it didn’t need me one bit. It was cool having that experience, but, if anything, seeing my brother as a senior [starter] on that team, it reminds me of how special it is to win the last match of your high school career.”

Nielsen said he remembers his sister’s celebration of her team’s section title. But since the girls’ follow up section competition with state playoffs, he also remembers the pain she experienced when her team was eliminated before achieving a state crown.

“She was never so excited as when she won CIF,” Weston said of his sister, a first-team all-league middle blocker who elected not to play collegiately at UC Berkeley. “But when they lost to a school from San Diego in the [Southern California regional] semis, she was bawling her eyes out. The image of that emotional downside stuck with me too.”

Weston Nielsen will stick with volleyball at UC Santa Barbara, where he will join brother Blaine, the 2007 Newport Mesa Player of the Year and a first-team All-CIF performer who is a starter for the Gauchos.

It has been a meteoric rise from virtual volleyball newcomer as a freshman to one of the top players in his age group for Weston Nielsen. He has earned team MVP honors on the United States youth national team at an international tournament, as well as MVP laurels at the Junior Olympics for the Balboa Bay Club 16-and-under team that won the title in 2008.

“He has progressed as an overall player in three [full seasons] on the varsity,” Conti said. “He has gotten better each year and last year, he really established himself.”

Conti said Nielsen was always a powerful hitter, whose size and athleticism made him a valuable weapon. But Conti said Nielsen’s all-around improvement and team leadership has made him special.

“His ball control, service receive and defense at his position is something you don’t see in a lot of big guys,” Conti said. “And he’s one of the best pin [outside] blockers I have coached in 15 years here.”

Nielsen’s well-rounded skills helped the Sea Kings, then ranked No. 6 in Division I, knock off then-No. 2-ranked Loyola, 13-25, 25-21, 25-17, 25-21, on April 24. He had a team-best 13 kills against the Cubs and added six digs.

Nielsen had five digs and three aces in a Pacific Coast League sweep of Irvine on April 23, and led the Sea Kings with 13 kills in a league sweep of Beckman on April 20 to earn Daily Pilot Athlete of the Week recognition.

Nielsen’s refinement includes a greater repertoire of shots at the net and his jump serving is another strength, Conti said.

Conti also praised Nielsen’s ability to perform when it counts most.

“He played one of his most complete matches against Loyola,” Conti said. “He seems to really get fired up for the big matches. When we beat Newport Harbor in the Orange County Championships, he hit for one of the highest percentages he has had in a match.”

Nielsen, whose team can clinch a PCL title by winning at least one of its league matches this week, said he is already getting pumped up for the annual Battle of the Bay, Friday night at the Sailors’ gym.

“Before we even think about CIF, we need to take Harbor down,” Nielsen said. “But if we are able to win a CIF title, it would be the most awesome experience of my life. To share that with all my teammates would be cool.”

It would also be business as usual for a Nielsen.