Lady Lion Spikers Sharpen Claws for First NCAA Playoffs

Loyola Marymount University will make its first appearance in the NCAA women’s volleyball playoffs, facing UCLA at 7 p.m. Saturday in UCLA’s John Wooden Center. Loyola, 23-7, automatically qualified by winning its first West Coast Athletic Conference title. The winner of Saturday’s game will play the winner of Saturday’s Stanford-Oregon match in the Western Regional semifinals. Loyola is led by the hitting of sophomores Leslie Wohlford, the final WCAC player of the week, and Tiffany Miller and junior Cathy Petrissans, and by the setting of senior Andrea Fort. UCLA features Lisa Ettesvold, Laurie Zeno and former Mira Costa High star Wendy Fletcher, a late-season sparkplug for the Bruins.

Cal State Dominguez Hills’ men’s basketball team, riding a two-game win streak, plays Biola University on Friday, Somona State on Saturday and Sacramento State on Tuesday in the midst of a nine-game homestand. All begin at 7:30 p.m. The Toros won their first two home games last week to lift their record to 3-1, shooting 55% from the field and 62% from three-point range. Senior point guard John Nojima had a career-high 12 assists last weekend against Cal Lutheran and is averaging 8.3 per game. Thanks in part to Nojima’s quarterbacking, senior William Alexander is averaging 18 points while sophomores Vico Nomaaea and Tony Akins are averaging 13.8 and 13.5, respectively. Alexander is shooting 62%.

Senior Glenn Strachan of Cal State Dominguez Hills was named co-most valuable soccer player in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. with Cal State Northridge junior Joey Kirk. Strachan scored 13 goals and added eight assists to rank third in the CCAA. The other Toro first-team selection was Mike Mullen. Named to the second team were Lucky Temisanren and James McConnachie. All are seniors. In the all-league volleyball selections, Dominguez Hills senior Samaria Niu was named to the second team.

The El Camino College men’s soccer team will make its third straight appearance in the state finals Saturday morning at Foothill College in Los Altos. The Warriors won the Southern California championship Saturday, beating Glendale College, 1-0. Foothill knocked off De Anza College, 1-0, for the Northern California title. Saturday’s 11 a.m. game will be the third straight state championship meeting between the two colleges. Foothill won on penalty kicks in 1984 after the teams had tied 1-1. The Warriors came back to win last year, 2-1. El Camino comes into the game with a record of 17-2-2. Foothill is 23-1.

The Cal State Dominguez Hills women’s basketball team, which won two games at home last weekend, will play in the Gold Classic at Sacramento State this weekend. The Lady Toros, 2-1, will open against UC Davis while Sacramento plays Humboldt State. Dominguez Hills’ victories broke a 12-game losing streak dating to Jan. 16. Junior guard Kim Williamson led a 78-76 overtime win over the College of St. Thomas last Saturday with a career-high 27 points.

The Southern Pacific Championships in Olympic weightlifting will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at San Pedro-Peninsula YMCA, 301 S. Bandini St., San Pedro. The contest, sponsored by the Southern Pacific Committee of the U.S. Weightlifting Federation, is for the Southern California championships in the Olympic lifting events, snatch and clean-and-jerk. The meet is free in the main gym.