Women’s Volleyball : USC Tries to Rebound From Dismal Season

Of all the rotten, crummy, hard-luck events that descended upon the USC women’s volleyball team last season, this was surely the worst: Sitting at Seattle-Tacoma Airport, waiting for luggage to arrive from Pullman, Wash., then learning that the team’s equipment and uniforms had been sent home, forcing USC to forfeit to Washington.

It was not so much that the Trojans were the ultimate out-of-towners, they couldn’t win at home, either. USC’s once-lofty volleyball program nose-dived last season. USC was 2-32 overall, 0-18 in the Pacific 10.

The dismal season was the result of Murphy’s Law, said Coach Chuck Erbe, shaking his head. “Anything that could go wrong did. Our players were getting hurt one after another. We didn’t have a setter. I know it was bad to watch, but, believe me, it was a nightmare to live.

“The hardest part of the season for me was not the injuries--it was the disrespect of our opponents toward us. The hardest thing to swallow was the lack of dignity.”

Erbe has served notice that his current team--fit and hungry for revenge--will not repeat last year’s bungles. Despite the poor season, USC had perhaps the best recruiting year of any team in the nation.

Because of the new players and the recuperated veterans, the pollsters ranked the Trojans seventh in the preseason polls.

UCLA, in contrast to USC, had an excellent season last year. Andy Banachowski’s team was 31-10 overall and 17-1 in the Pac-10, winning the conference title.

Banachowski said that with four seniors, his Bruins will have adequate leadership, but little depth.

“We’ve got 16 players,” he said. “We are prepared to defend our Pac-10 championship. With this group, we are right on the edge of getting to the final four. We have some depth problems, but we’ve been very competitive in practices.”

UCLA is ranked fifth in the polls, one of five California teams in the top 10.

Pepperdine is ranked 19th after an 18-17 season in the West Coast Athletic Conference. The Waves have everybody back from last season’s team that qualified for the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. tournament.

Coach Nina Matties is starting her fifth year and, despite the difficulty of recruiting against such powerhouse programs as USC and UCLA, she appears to have established a solid program.

Loyola Marymount, the defending WCAC champion, has a rookie coach but a veteran team. George Yamashita replaced Nancy Fortner as coach and says he is still “figuring out which keys go to which doors.”

The Lions were 24-8 last season and got to the second round of the NCAA tournament. They have lost their best setter but have four returning starters.

Here is a closer look at the Los Angeles area teams:

USC--A setter is to a volleyball team what a point guard is to a basketball team. She runs the offense. The Trojans had no experienced setter and, thus, no offense last season. The return of Christine Brigman in that position will likely settle down USC’s high-powered, quick attack. Also at setter is highly touted freshman Missy Kurt. Yvonne Lewis, an outside hitter, is back strong after recovering from various knee injuries. Freshman Antoinette White, another outside hitter, is described by Erbe as one of the team’s best athletes but a bit raw. Freshman middle blocker Megan McCallister will join junior Trisonya Thompson to shore up the middle. USC has depth at every position.

UCLA--The Trojans are thought to be a young team but the Bruins are younger. UCLA’s four returning starters will be required to carry the load. Senior outside hitter Lori Zeno was a first-team all-conference pick last season, junior setter Ann Boyer was a second-team All-American who led the Bruins in set assists and service aces, senior outside hitter Wendy Fletcher led the Bruins in kills, and junior middle blocker Sharyl Bilas led the team in blocks. Backing up Boyer is freshman Traci Broadway, a three-time high school All-American. The Bruins will have a disciplined, balanced attack, but they can ill afford injuries.

Pepperdine--Depth, experience--the Waves seem to have it all. The added wrinkle this season will be defined leadership. Lack of court leadership hampered the Waves at times last season, and Matties has named team captains to settle the matter. Powerhouse outside hitter Julie Evans returns. She led the league in kills last season. The Waves also have depth at that position, with all-league senior Pam Lawrence and perhaps the best freshman recruit, Barbara Blizzard.

Loyola Marymount--Coming off their best season since moving up to Division I in 1983, the Lions fashioned what is being called the greatest upset in collegiate volleyball history--a five-game, comeback victory that eliminated UCLA from the first round of last season’s NCAA playoffs. Middle hitter-blocker Cathy Petrissans, an All-WCAC pick last season, leads the returners.