PCAA Volleyball Is Greatest but . . . : Champion UOP Coach Says Tournament Proves Nothing

How ‘bout that women’s volleyball in the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. Great players, great coaches, great competition with 6 of the top 11 teams in the country, a conference final four that figures to be even better than the NCAA tournament will offer in late December.

What a great time will be had when they get together for the PCAA tournament today through Saturday at Cal State Long Beach.

Then again . . .

“I think a lot of people are not real happy to play in this tournament because we’ve already won the conference championship, and the tournament doesn’t have anything to do with that,” said John Dunning, coach of the University of Pacific, whose Tigers are the defending national champions and will be among the favorites next month in Stockton.

“It determines an automatic bid, but that doesn’t mean anything because six teams, at least, will go to the NCAAs anyway,” Dunning said. “Because there is no final four seedings, the regional finals will be the same as the PCAA. Given those guidelines or boundaries, it’s ridiculous.

“I can see the other side. I can see that the PCAA is proud of the conference and wants to try and make it recognized as one of the toughest in all sports in the country . . . and then showcase it. And since volleyball will become a money sport--it’s getting there now--they want to have the conference finals generate funds.”

But at what price? In this, the year of its dominance of women’s volleyball, the PCAA seems to be fighting itself. Kind of like: Great to have the competition, but enough’s enough.

“We’re all real proud of the fact that this is the toughest conference in the country and we kind of like to brag to outsiders about it,” Hawaii Coach Dave Shoji said. “But when we get together it’s, ‘Oh, boy, here we go again. We have to play you guys again?’ That type of thing. On one hand, it’s very nice, and on the other it’s tough.

“When we’ve gotten together this year, some people are moaning and groaning because we knock heads all year-round. We’ve all appreciated that we’re in the best conference, but it’s not always the best thing. You just have a tough match every night.”

That, Commissioner Lewis A. Cryer claims, is a selling point.

“Maybe some say it burns them out, but I think it tests them early and puts them at tournament strength when they are ready to play,” he said. “They’ve already gone against the best competition, so there can’t be any surprises.

“Players want that competition. Coaches want that competition.”

Either way, opportunities for rest are few and far between in the PCAA, a conference that can boast of:

--Having Pacific (2), San Jose State (3), Hawaii (4), San Diego State (5), UC Santa Barbara (9) and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (11) all ranked among the top 11 teams in the country. The Pacific 10 has only two, UCLA (8) and Stanford (10).

--Having the national champion from three of the past four years, although Hawaii was an independent when it won in 1982 and ’83.

--Expecting to send six teams to this year’s NCAA tournament, probably all in the Northwest Regional. The number could grow to seven when the 32-team field is announced Sunday, Cal State Long Beach being the school on the bubble.

“They could be even stronger than the polls say,” Long Beach Coach Brian Gimmillaro said. “The problem is the people in the PCAA have to play each other.”

Indeed, Santa Barbara remains highly ranked, despite a 24-10 record, as does San Luis Obispo, despite a 21-13 mark. And Tuesday night, in a match-up between Nos. 2 and 3, Pacific defeated San Jose State, 15-5, 15-1, 8-15, 8-15, 15-13.

Not bad for a tuneup.

Volleyball Notes Today’s schedule at Long Beach has San Jose State playing Cal Poly San Luis Obispo at 2 p.m., San Diego State meeting UC Santa Barbara at 4, Pacific playing Fresno State at 7, and Hawaii playing the host 49ers at 9. The semifinals Friday will be at 7 p.m. and 9, with the championship match Saturday set for 7 p.m. . . . UCLA and Stanford will meet Friday night at 7 at the Wooden Center for the Pacific 10 championship. UCLA, 28-9 overall, is expected to beat California, 16-18, tonight at 7:30 at Pauley Pavilion, in which case both teams would take 15-1 conference records into the match. Both teams also still have to play USC, but a Trojan victory in either would be a major upset. When Stanford and UCLA played Oct. 18 in Palo Alto, the Cardinal, 19-8, won in three games. The Bruins, however, are 6-0 in home Pac-10 matches this season and 24-1 lifetime in the Wooden Center. . . . USC, in search of its first conference win, will play host to Cal Friday and Stanford Saturday. Both matches will start at 7:30 p.m. in the North Gym on campus. The Trojans, 2-27 and 0-15, got a boost last Wednesday when freshman Kathy Rich, who injured her knee before the season started, returned as setter.

COACHES’ TOP 20 VOLLEYBALL POLL

PCAA SCHOOLS SHADED

Rank School (First-Place Votes) Last Week 1 Brigham Young (27) 1 2 Pacific (12) 2 3 San Jose State 3 4 Hawaii 5 5 San Diego State 4 6 Texas 6 7 Nebraska 7 8 UCLA 8 9 UC Santa Barbara 9 10 Stanford 10 11 Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 11 12 Illinois 12 13 Arizona State 13 14 Penn State 15 15 Georgia 16 16 Oregon 14 17 Pepperdine 17 18 Western Michigan 18 19 Colorado State 19 20 Louisiana State 20