OTHER SPORTS : Gary Captures Title as Top-Ranked Pierce Dominates Santa Barbara Tennis Tournament

Pierce College sophomore Nelson Gary won the American Title Company community college tennis tournament in Santa Barbara on Sunday, defeating Bakersfield’s Scott Roberstson, 6-2, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3. The tournament annually plays host to nearly 130 of the state’s best community college tennis players.

“He had to play a lot of tennis,” Pierce Coach Paul Xanthos said, “but it was a great win for Nelson.” Gary will visit Columbia University this week on a recruiting trip, his coach said.

Pierce, ranked No. 1 in the preseason state poll, placed five players in the round of 16. Freshmen Robert Grundy, Mike Rosenthal and John Freeman and sophomore Dave Valastro joined Gary in the top 16. The season begins next week.

“When you consider that we placed five out of 128 in the top 16, that’s pretty good,” Xanthos said.

Status builder: UC Riverside has hired former USC Athletic Director Richard Perry as a special consultant as the Division II school prepares for a possible move to Division I.

Northridge also is considering such a move, but Bob Hiegert, CSUN athletic director, said the school is not yet considering hiring outside help as a consultant.

Perry was a member of an external committee studying the feasibility of Riverside moving to Division I. John Wooden, former UCLA basketball coach, and Judy Brame, CSUN women’s athletic director were among the eight-member panel that reported to UCR Chancellor Theodore L. Hullar in December.

Back in the dugout: Before devoting all of his time to his job as CSUN athletic director, Hiegert coached the Matadors baseball team to two Division II national championships. He will coach the alumni team against this season’s Northridge team Saturday at 1 p.m.

Among those who will be playing for the alumni team are Chuck Stone, the most valuable player for CSUN’s 1970 national championship team, and Mark Ban, an outfielder on the Matadors’ 1984 championship team.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if just about the whole 1984 team showed up,” Hiegert said. “Generally we have about 40 or 50 guys out there. The problem is getting them all in the game.”

Foreboding schedule: Among the 30 nonconference games the Northridge baseball team has scheduled this season, four are against Division I teams ranked in Baseball America’s preseason Top 25.

The Matadors play at eighth-ranked Pepperdine on Feb. 13, then 10 days later travel to Tempe, Ariz., for games on successive days against 25th-ranked Arizona State.

Northridge plays third-ranked UCLA on March 27.

Hafner Texas bound: Heather Hafner, a three-time volleyball All-American at CS Northridge, on Sunday leaves for Texas where she will report to the training camp of the Dallas Belles of the Major League Volleyball Assn.

Hafner, 25, was a fourth-round choice of the Belles in the fledgling league’s December draft. She was the 21st player taken overall.

Hafner was the 10th-leading money winner on the Pro Beach Volleyball Circuit last summer. Other than that, she has not played competitively since the United States Volleyball Assn. national tournament in Wichita, Kan., last May.

“It will take a while to get in playing shape but that’s why training camp is three weeks long,” Hafner said. “I talked to the coach, who said there were many players in the same position I am. They were working on their other careers and didn’t start training until after the draft.”

The team is coached by Ruth Nelson.

Eighteen players will report for camp. Each of the six teams in the league will keep nine players who will be paid from an owners’ pool of $500,000.

Players will earn a minimum of $5,000 for the 22-game season, which begins Feb. 20 and ends May 21.