San Diego Sports Et cetera : UCSD Advances to Women’s Volleyball Final

Janet Hughes had 18 kills and Jennifer Pettigrew added 16 Friday night to lead UC San Diego to a 15-17, 15-13, 15-11, 15-9 victory over Illinois Benedictine in a semifinal match of the NCAA Division III women’s volleyball tournament at Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, Ill.

UCSD (30-4), which is attempting to become the first Division III team to win back-to-back national championships, will meet Elmhurst or Juniata in the national final tonight.

After losing the first game to Illinois Benedictine, UCSD trailed, 12-6, in the second game before rallying. Lori Luhnow had 11 kills for the Tritons, and setter Carol Lipson had 53 assists in the match. Illinois Benedictine finished with a 42-3 record.

San Diego State defeated Central Michigan, 15-10, 15-9, 15-11, in the first round of the Ransler Tournament in Kalamazoo, Mich. Angelica Jackson, who leads the nation with an average of 5.8 kills per game, added 20 kills to increase her season total to 674. San Diego State is 15-16 and concludes regular-season play tonight against host Western Michigan, which defeated Houston, 15-5, 15-8, 12-15, 15-13, in another first-round match.

Barbara Blizzard had 11 kills and Lisa Bevington added 8 to lead Pepperdine to a 15-4, 15-12, 15-4 West Coast Athletic Conference victory over University of San Diego at Malibu. Pepperdine, ranked No. 17 in the country, improved to 18-10 overall and 13-0 in conference play. USD, which was led by Jody Connors’ four kills, fell to 6-19, 4-9.

BASKETBALL

Lorenzo Romar scored 27 points and Gib Hinz had 23 points and 15 rebounds as Athletes in Action snapped a three-game losing streak with a 100-82 men’s basketball victory over South Alabama in Mobile, Ala.

Tim Dillon added 22 points and Reid Gettys had 15 points and 12 assists for AIA, which led 51-43 at halftime. Junie Lewis led South Alabama with 20 points. AIA (13-3) plays at Alabama tonight and at Ohio State Sunday night.

Bill Gerlach scored 18 points to lead UC San Diego to a 93-74 nonconference victory over La Verne in the season opener for both teams at UCSD. Andy Jedynak added 15 points for UCSD, which led, 42-21, at halftime. Martell Johnson scored 32 points to lead La Verne.

Ann Duffy scored 19 points and Laura Mars added 15 to lead Point Loma Nazarene College to a 66-51 victory over Claremont-Mudd in a nonconference women’s basketball opener for both teams at Point Loma. Shannon Anderson added 14 points and Shelly Stokes had 11 for Point Loma Nazarene, which led 34-19 at halftime. Julia Hodgkins scored 14 points to lead Claremont-Mudd.