Small Colleges : CCAA Teams Dominate Volleyball Rankings

The women’s volleyball scene on the Division II level is basically a family affair featuring the California Collegiate Athletic Assn.

With the exception of defending champion Portland State, which is again ranked No. 1, CCAA teams have dominated national rankings and postseason play and are at it again, with four of the top 10 teams in the latest poll.

Cal State Northridge, which lost to Portland State in the national final last year, after having won the title the previous season, is ranked second despite an 8-9 record. Cal Poly Pomona (17-5) is fourth, UC Riverside (9-5) is sixth and Chapman College (14-7) is 10th.

The teams’ records are misleading because they play much of their nonconference schedules against the Southland’s powerful Division I schools. Northridge, for example, has lost to only one Division II team, Pomona, this year and to only three in the last three seasons. The Matadors have reached the NCAA final game the last three years, and also won the title in 1980.

The top-ranked CCAA foursome will get a taste of national competition this weekend in the 14-team Air Force Academy Premier Classic. Northridge, the favorite because of its No. 2 rating, will play No. 7 Central Missouri in pool play. No. 3 Sacramento State is also in the field.

“There’s no question the CCAA is the strongest Division II league in the country,” Northridge Coach Walt Ker said. “It’s a tremendous advantage to have such a strong league. The road-testing we get at places like Pomona and Riverside gets us ready for nationals. Northridge has done well the last four years in regionals and nationals. Those teams get us ready.”

Pomona Coach Paul Gabriel said: “I would say Northridge, Riverside and Pomona are better than 50% of the Division I teams. Check our records and you’ll find all three play better than .500 against Division I teams.”

Because of the conference’s reputation and tough schedules, the coaches are even able to recruit players with Division I ability--a task CCAA coaches in other sports rarely attempt.

“A lot of the girls, if they want to play Division I, they have to go out of the state,” Gabriel said. “We sell the school, the opportunity to play and get to the playoffs and see a national caliber of play.”

Ker said he avoids recruits being sought by the upper echelon Division I schools, such as UCLA and USC, but that he figures he has a chance with most others. “Look at our record,” he said. “We probably would’ve been ranked in the top 20, Division I, the last four years. For me to go out and recruit somebody, they’ve got to be very talented to start with.”

Northridge has two-time All-Americans in Heather Hafner and Shelli Mosby. The play of several underclassmen, especially junior Karen Lontka, has helped Northridge get off to a 5-0 start in league and Ker is optimistic about the rest of the season. “We could still be even better,” he said.

Freshman Anna Garcia, who was brought up to varsity when league play began, has made rapid improvement.

Pomona has two players who were named All-Americans last year--setter Terri Dantuma and middle hitter Clara Piersma, a first-teamer. According to Gabriel, both of them, as well as middle hitter Karel Davis, could play in Division I. “Dantuma and Clara could play top 10, Division I,” he said.

The Air Force tournament will end Sunday, then CCAA play will be resumed Oct. 30 when Pomona and Northridge collide at Pomona. Each has beaten the other once this season. No. 1 Portland State and No. 5 Sam Houston State are the only ones in the top six who won’t be at Air Force.

NCAA regionals will begin Dec. 6, and you’ll be able to tell most of the players with a CCAA program.

Troy Turnbull, who led Chapman College to the NCAA Division II tennis title last year, won the Western regional of the Rolex Small College Tennis Championships and qualified for the national tournament in December. Turnbull, a three-time All-American, defeated teammate John Soldat in the final, 6-2, 6-4.

Cal Poly Pomona’s Mary Holycross won the women’s title, defeating UC San Diego’s Jessica Vernon, 6-2, 6-2.

Azusa Pacific’s football team, which has scored on its first play from scrimmage against Whittier, Claremont-Mudd and Redlands, waited until its second play to score against LaVerne. The only team to cool them off for a set of downs is Occidental.

The Cougars (5-0), who will play next at UC Santa Barbara, rank third in the NAIA in total offense, averaging 462 yards a game, and are allowing only 205 to opponents. Running back Christian Okoye figures to approach Jim Farmer’s season rushing record of 1,132 yards. He has 766 yards and is averaging 7.8 a carry.

NAIA champion Linfield College of Oregon had its 15-game winning streak snapped, meaning that Azusa Pacific now has the longest streak in the country among NAIA schools at 11 straight.

College Notes Cal Poly Pomona soccer player Melinda Bowen, who was converted to a goaltender after the season began, has recorded four straight shutouts and has allowed only five goals in six games. . . . Claremont-Mudd goalie Cam Tredennick has led the Stags to first place in the SCIAC men’s soccer, posting six shutouts. . . . Cal State Los Angeles set several team records in a recent 25-18 water polo victory over Whittier. The 25 goals tied a school mark for a single game and nine goals by All-American Don Wetteland were a record. . . . In a 35-14 football loss to LaVerne, Pomona-Pitzer quarterback Rob Bristow and his receivers set several school records. Bristow passed for 447 yards and ran 94 plays, and his top three targets--Jeff Leahy, who had 11 receptions for 114 yards; Dan Daley, 10 for 110, and Tom Wardle, 6 for 110--had a combined 334 yards. . . . Northridge running back Mike Kane is listed as doubtful for Saturday’s game against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Kane suffered an ankle injury in a weekend victory over Cal Lutheran. . . . John Price has been named men’s volleyball coach at Cal State Northridge, allowing Walt Ker to devote full time to the women’s team. . . . Gary Cain has been named assistant men’s basketball coach at Cal State L.A. The former coach at Centennial High rejoins his old high school coach, Jim Newman. . . . Biola University has named Eugene Sutton its athletic trainer. Sutton attended Liberty Baptist College in Lynchburg, Va., on an athletic scholarship as a trainer, and received a master’s degree in physical education at Illinois State in 1984.