SportsScope : Stanford Favored in Pacific-10 Swim Championships

The top-ranked Stanford men’s swim team, which has won the last five Pacific-10 Conference championships, is favored to make it six in a row this week.

No. 7 UCLA is the host team for the championships, which will be held today through Saturday at Cerritos Olympic Swim Center. Other teams in the meet include No. 4 USC, No. 5 California, No. 6 Arizona State, No. 12 Arizona and Washington. The meet starts at 11 a.m. each day.

Stanford, paced by 1984 Olympians Pablos Morales and Jeff Kostoff, is 9-1 in dual matches. Morales holds five American records, and Kostoff is one of the nation’s best distance swimmers.

California, 10-3 in dual meets, features world-class swimmer Matt Biondi, a three-time All-American. Last year Biondi set a record in the NCAA meet by winning the 50-, 100- and 200-yard freestyle events.

All-American butterflyer Dave Cademartori and distance freestyler Mike O’Brien lead USC, while UCLA’s Giovanni Minervini is the favorite in the 100 breaststroke.

The top-ranked UCLA men’s volleyball team, which handed Pepperdine its first conference loss last week, will be at USC for a Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Assn. match at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

With last week’s victories over defending NCAA champion Pepperdine and unbeaten Penn State, Coach Al Scates’ Bruins improved to 24-3 overall and 8-0 in the WIVA. Pepperdine, which lost in four games to UCLA, dropped to 8-4 and 4-1. Penn State, swept by the Bruins, fell to 13-1.

UCLA’s Jeff Williams, the former Santa Monica High School star, was named the WIVA player of the week after he had 23 kills and 15 digs against the Waves and 14 kills and 13 digs against the Nittany Lions. Williams leads the Bruins with an average of 4.73 kills a game and is hitting .382.

The UCLA men’s track team, 2-0 overall this season and winner of 22 straight dual meets since the end of 1984, will play host to Arizona in a Pac-10 Conference opener that starts with the javelin throw at 10:45 a.m. and the 400-meter relay at 11 Saturday at Drake Stadium.

The hammer throw will be held separately and starts at 9 a.m. at Cal State Los Angeles.

Coach Bob Larsen’s Bruins are 20-0 in dual meets since he took over in 1985, and their wins this year have been against San Diego State and Cal State Los Angeles.

Last week some Bruins took part in the Cal State Long Beach Invitational, and senior Jim Banich and sophomore David Wilson turned in season-best marks. Banich tossed the discus 184-4, and Wilson had a 56-7 in the shot put.

The UCLA women’s softball team, 8-0 as the week began, will compete Friday and Saturday in the Nevada Las Vegas invitational tournament.

Last week Bruin sophomores Samantha Ford and Michelle Phillips pitched shutouts and improved to 3-0 each as UCLA took a double-header from San Diego State.

Ford struck out 12 and gave up two hits to the Aztecs, while Phillips had a three-hitter and eight strikeouts. UCLA’s Gina Holmstrom went 4 for 6 at the plate and knocked in two runs in the double-header. Earlier, the Bruins swept a double-header from UC Santa Barbara.

The UCLA women’s tennis team, 11-0 at the start of the week, will play Saturday at Arizona and Sunday at Arizona State. The Bruins last week defeated U.S. International, 6-3.

The UCLA men’s tennis team, coming off a big win over No. 5 Texas last Monday, is competing in the Southern California Intercollegiate Championships, which ends Sunday at Valley Hunt Club in Pasadena.

UCLA will play host to Maryland at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on campus.

Coach Glenn Bassett’s Bruins, who had lost two in a row and three of their last five, edged the Longhorns, 5-4, in five hours. In the top singles match, UCLA’s Brett Greenwood upset No. 10 Royce Deppe, 6-4, 6-0. And with the match tied, 4-4, UCLA’s doubles team of Brian Garrow and Pat Galbraith upset the second-ranked team of Deppe and Charles Beckman, 7-6, 7-5.

The No. 1 UCLA women gymnasts, 13-0 after defeating three teams in the Southwest Cup at Arizona State last week, will compete at Cal State Northridge at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

The Bruins captured their first No. 1 ranking this week after scoring a 187.05 at Tempe to Arizona State’s 186.15, Ohio State’s 184.05 and Nebraska’s 181.10. UCLA’s Tanya Service won the all-around with a 38.00 and took floor exercise with a 9.55.

The UCLA men gymnasts (21-2) also won their portion of the cup competition, scoring a 280.40 to Nebraska’s 278.90, Ohio State’s 277.05 and Arizona State’s 274.25. Bruin All-American Tony Pineda took firsts in the pommel horse with a 9.75 and in the parallel bars with a 9.55 and finished second in the all-around with a 56.05.

The UCLA men will play host to Cal State Fullerton at 7:30 p.m. March 14 at John Wooden Center.

The UCLA women’s basketball team, 17-9 overall and 10-6 in the Pac-10 Conference, will end its season by playing host to Washington State (10-16, 2-14) at 5 this evening at the Wooden Center and to Washington (21-5, 13-3) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Pauley Pavilion.