SportsScope : Top Collegiate Soccer Teams Compete in UCLA Tourney

Four of the nation’s top 20 soccer teams, including No. 1 Indiana, will compete in the third annual UCLA/Met Life Pacific Soccer tournament on Saturday and Sunday at UCLA’s North Athletic Field.

In Saturday’s first round, the Hoosiers (15-2) will meet No. 15 San Diego State (14-3) at noon and No. 17 Notre Dame (14-1-1) will face No. 19 UCLA (10-4-1) at 2. On Sunday, the Aztecs will play the Fighting Irish at noon and the Bruins will go against Indiana at 2.

Indiana, which compiled a 46-match unbeaten streak while winning NCAA championships in 1982 and 1983, has won 13 straight this season. The top scorer for the Hoosiers is freshman Ken Snow with 24 goals.

Notre Dame, unbeaten till a 3-1 loss to Portland last week, is led in scoring by junior Joe Sternberg with 12 goals and Bruce (Tiger) McCourt with 10. In September, Notre Dame defeated Indiana, 3-2.

San Diego State goalkeepers have turned in 12 shutouts in 17 games, and the scoring leader for the Aztecs is forward Kyle Whittemore with 11 goals.

UCLA, 21-0-4 at home since 1985, has won the last two Met/Life tournaments. The Bruins are coming off a 2-1 defeat of San Francisco and a 1-0 win over Santa Clara.

A free soccer clinic for players ages 16 and younger will be held at 10:30 a.m. Sunday. For tournament tickets, call UCLA-101.

The title round of the Volvo All-America Tennis Championships begins at 10 a.m. today and ends Sunday at UCLA’s Los Angeles Tennis Center. For tickets, call UCLA-101.

The field of 32 singles players includes Pepperdine’s Andrew Sznaidjer and Michigan’s Dan Goldberg. UCLA’s team of Patrick Galbraith and Brian Garrow is among 16 entries in doubles.

Pepperdine sophomores Carrie Crisell and Ginger Helgeson will compete in the All-American tennis tournament this weekend at Myrtle Beach, S. C.

In last week’s Intercollegiate Tennis Coaches Assn. Southern California tournament at UC Irvine, Wave freshman Janna Kovacevich won four singles matches before losing to USC’s Trish Laux in the semifinals, 6-2, 6-1. In doubles, Kovacevich and freshman Anna Brunstrom lost in the finals to Arizona’s Susan Russo and Betsy Somerville, 7-5, 6-7, 6-2.

Water polo teams from second-ranked UCLA (18-5 overall) and No. 6 Pepperdine (14-10) will compete Saturday and Sunday at the Cal State Long Beach invitational at Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach. The Bruins and Waves will meet at 9:15 a.m. Saturday.

Other teams in the top field include top-ranked California, No. 3 Stanford, No. 4 USC, No. 5 UC Irvine, No. 7 Long Beach and No. 9 UC Santa Barbara.

Pepperdine has won its last three matches, including last Sunday’s 7-6 defeat of UC Irvine, the first loss for the Anteaters in the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. Irvine has a 5-1 record in the PCAA; Pepperdine is 5-2.

The winning goal against Irvine was scored by junior Rafael Gandarillas with less than two minutes left.

The fourth-ranked UCLA women’s volleyball team, 19-5 overall and 9-2 in the Pacific 10 Conference as the week began, will play at Arizona on Friday and Arizona State on Saturday. The Bruins will play host to San Diego State at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Pauley Pavilion.

Last week UCLA lost to USC but defeated Oregon and Oregon State, each in three games.

Bruin senior outside hitter Lori Zeno leads the Pac-10 in hitting percentage with .373 and is fourth in kills average with 4.01 a game. UCLA sophomore middle blocker Daiva Tomkus is first in the conference in service aces with 22 in 24 matches and fourth in blocks with an average of 1.42 a game.

The Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount women’s volleyball teams will travel north this weekend to play the same West Coast Athletic Conference teams.

No. 16 Pepperdine, 11-7 overall and 6-0 in conference action, will play Friday at the University of San Francisco (11-9, 5-3) and Saturday at Santa Clara (7-13, 5-2). Loyola (9-14, 3-3) will play the Broncos on Friday and USF on Saturday.

Last week the Waves defeated Loyola in five games and lost to UC Santa Barbara in four. In the two matches, freshman outside hitter Barbara Blizzard led Pepperdine with 23 kills.

On Wednesday, Pepperdine will play host to USC at 7:30 p.m. at Firestone Fieldhouse.

The fourth-ranked UCLA women’s cross-country team will compete in the Pac-10 championships Monday at Stanford. Last week the Bruin B team finished second in the Cal Poly Pomona Invitational, won by the host team with 61 points to UCLA’s 96.

The Pepperdine women’s basketball team will play an intra-squad game at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Buena High School in Ventura.

The UCLA women’s swim team, which won its season opener over Mission Viejo, 73-42, will be at UC Santa Barbara on Saturday. Double winners for UCLA last week were Christie Smith with a 1:07.11 in the 100-meter butterfly and a 2:08.32 in the 200 freestyle and Jenny Susser with a 27.4 in the 50 free and a 59.86 in the 100 free.

Pepperdine’s Jim Johnson shot 227 for 54 holes to place sixth at last week’s Robertson Homes Collegiate Invitational at Stockton. In team play, Pepperdine was eighth with 879 to 867 for first-place Colorado. Colorado’s John Lindberg won the individual competition.

In the earlier Stanford/Pepsi Invitational, the Waves finished 13th with 919 to 873 for first-place Arizona State.