OTHER SPORTS : Pierce Tennis Team Gears for Playoffs

The Pierce College men’s tennis team won the Western State Conference championship last week on a forfeit by Bakersfield. John Freeman, Robert Grundy, Alex Olaya, Mike Rosenthal and Dereck Messama all were undefeated in WSC matches as were the doubles teams of Olaya-Grundy and Freeman-Rosenthal.

Pierce (17-3, 16-0) will open play in the eight-team Southern California Regional next week at a neutral site. Four Pierce players will tune up for the regional with matches at the Ojai Valley Invitational today. Freeman, Grundy, Olaya and Dave Balastro will play singles and Grundy and Olaya will team for the doubles. Pierce finished third in the state last season and is among the teams expected to return to this season’s state championship at West Valley College in Saratoga in May.

Softball: Canyon’s Lisa Von Nordheim has 10 hits in her past 14 at-bats to raise her average from .237 to a team-leading .365. . . . Regina Aguirre has pitched every inning this season for Cougars (10-14, 3-7 in conference).

Golf: College of the Canyons is in second-place at the halfway point of the 36-hole WSC Tournament. The Cougars registered a score of 430 in high winds at Saticoy Country Club last Monday and trail host Ventura by 21 strokes. The eight-team tournament will conclude Monday at the Simi Hills Golf Course, Moorpark’s home course. Cuesta is in third place at 436. For Canyons, John Taylor of Verdugo Hills and Saugus’ Jim Pirtle each shot 84, five strokes behind leader Frank Gibbs of Ventura at 79.

Swimming: Coach Bill Krauss and his Valley Monarchs left Wednesday for the Western State Conference Championships at Cuesta College in San Luis Obispo on Thursday-Saturday. The men’s team finished second at 6-1 in the seasonal dual meets, while the women were fifth at 3-4. Top men’s swimmer Geremy Bauman (1650 freestyle and 400 individual medley) and top woman Shawna Sacks (500 freestyle) have qualified for next week’s state tournament at Merced.

Jeff Kubiak is on the rebound after a disappointing performance at the NCAA Division I swimming and diving championships April 3-4 in Austin, Texas.

After taking two weeks off, Kubiak, a seven-time Division II champion, is training again in the Cal State Northridge pool. His goal is to make one of the United States’ teams that will compete in the Pan American Games or Pan Pacific Games this summer.

Within the next week, Kubiak will decide where he will train after school ends in June. He is considering going to Concord, Calif., to train with Coach Mitch Ivy, or to Boca Raton, Fla., to train under Mark Schubert, former coach of the Mission Viejo Nadadores.

He won’t race again until the end of May in the senior nationals in Clovis, Calif.