Bruin and Wave Women Spikers Clash in Crucial Game

The UCLA and Pepperdine women’s volleyball teams, both in the final weeks of the season and hoping to tune up for the NCAA tournament, will play at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Pauley Pavilion.

As the week began, the fifth-ranked Bruins were 20-7 overall and 10-3 and in second place behind Stanford in the Pac-10 Conference. The No. 19 Waves were 13-7 overall and 8-0 in the West Coast Athletic Conference.

This weekend UCLA will travel, facing Utah on Friday and No. 3 Brigham Young (24-3) on Saturday.

Pepperdine will be at home this weekend, trying to clinch first place in the conference and a berth in the NCAA playoffs. The Waves will play host to Gonzaga (6-19, 3-5) at 7:30 p.m. Friday and to Portland (7-14, 4-4) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Firestone Field House.

Last week the Bruins lost to No. 12 UC Santa Barbara and to Arizona State and defeated Arizona. UCLA team leaders are senior outside hitter Lori Zeno, who averages 4.02 kills a game, and sophomore middle blocker Daiva Tomkus, who has 65 service aces and 147 blocks.

Last week Pepperdine defeated conference foes San Francisco and Santa Clara. Senior outside hitter Julie Evans, who has recovered from an injured hand, leads the Waves with 5.07 kills a game, and she is followed in kills by freshman outside hitter Barbara Blizzard, who is averaging 4.17 a game.

The No. 6 Pepperdine water polo team, 15-13 overall and 5-2 in the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn., will be at top-ranked California for a non-conference match on Saturday and play at conference foe Fresno State on Sunday.

Last week’s Cal State Long Beach invitational was won by Cal (20-3 overall), which defeated the 49ers, 9-8, in overtime; Pepperdine, 13-10; UC Irvine, 5-4 in overtime, and UC Santa Barbara, 7-6. Pepperdine defeated No. 2 USC but lost to No. 4 UCLA, 9-8, and to No. 5 Stanford, 11-9.

The Waves are in second place in the PCAA, half a game behind UC Irvine (5-1). Pepperdine Coach Terry Schroeder said that both of his team’s matches this weekend are important “for our postseason aspirations, but Sunday’s match with Fresno State is critical. A win at California would almost be meaningless if we lost to Fresno State.”

Junior Sasa Poljak leads Pepperdine with 67 goals, followed by junior Rafael Gandarillas with 62, senior Aaron Chasen with 54 and senior Robbie Boyer with 42.

The UCLA men’s soccer team, 11-5-1 overall, will conclude its regular season when it plays host to Cal State Los Angeles (6-7-2) at 2 p.m. Sunday at the North Athletic Field.

In last week’s UCLA/Met Life Pacific tournament, UCLA finished second to top-ranked Indiana. The Bruins defeated Notre Dame, 3-2, but lost to the Hoosiers in the final, 2-1. Jeff Hooker scored the winning goal against the Fighting Irish on a penalty kick, and other Bruin goals were by Nick Skvarna and Dana Keir. Shaun Del Grande scored for the Bruins in the Indiana match.

UCLA’s Will Steadman was named the tournament’s most valuable defensive player, and Hooker and teammate Bill Thompson were named to the all-tourney team.

Junior midfielder Mike Gregorian is the leading scorer for Cal State Los Angeles with eight goals and three assists. UCLA is 6-0 against the Diablos.

The UCLA men’s and women’s gymnastics teams will present a free exhibition at 4 p.m. Nov. 15 at John Wooden Center on campus.

Coaches and players will demonstrate routines and explain judging. Several former Olympic gymnasts are expected to appear.

The fourth-ranked UCLA women’s cross-country team finished second with 64 points to Oregon (29) in this week’s Pac-10 championships at Stanford.

The winner among individuals was Annette Hand of Washington State, who ran a 16:44. Top finishers for the Bruins were Laurie Chapman, seventh in 17:19, and Melissa Suton, eighth

In the West Coast Athletic Conference cross-country championships last week in San Mateo, Pepperdine’s women finished third and the men were seventh. Top times for the Waves were posted by Kim Hughes, who ran five kilometers in 19:27, and by John Romero, who ran a 38:01 10-K.

The UCLA women’s swim team last week defeated UC Santa Barbara, 75-57. Double winners for the Bruins were Sheri Smith, who won the 200 freestyle in 1:54.18 and the 500 free in 5:07.18, and Mindi Bach, who won the 100 butterfly in 59.37 and the 200 backstroke in 2:09.6.