SportsScope : Pepperdine to Oppose U.S. International in Men’s Tennis Opener

The Pepperdine men’s tennis team, ranked fourth nationally in the preseason poll of the Intercollegiate Tennis Coaches Assn., will begin its dual-match schedule against U.S. International University at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at Pepperdine.

Seven Wave lettermen, including All-Americans Andrew Sznadjer and Robbie Weiss, are back from a team that finished last season with a 20-6 record. Sznadjer is ranked second nationally in singles and Weiss 48th.

Other returning lettermen include seniors Craig Johnson and David Smith, juniors David Klembith and Grant Saacks and sophomore David Wells-Roth. Sophomore Kevin O’Neill, a transfer from Clemson, is expected to play No. 6 singles.

Among the singles players, Sznadjer is No.1, Weiss No. 2, Johnson No. 3, Saacks No. 4 and Wells-Roth No. 5. Sznadjer-Weiss are the top doubles team, followed by Johnson-Saacks and O’Neill and junior David Klembith.

The No. 6-ranked UCLA men’s tennis team, which opened its dual-match season last week with an 8-1 victory over Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, will play host to UC Santa Barbara at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday and to Fresno State at 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 29.

UCLA Coach Glenn Bassett, in his 22nd season with the Bruins, has three returning starters in the lineup--juniors Buff Farrow and Pat Galbraith and sophomore Brian Garrow. Other starters are junior transfers Robert Bierens from Brigham Young and Paul Scholtz from Claremont Mudd and freshmen Jason Netter and Giora Payes.

Bassett said that the Gauchos upset the Bruins, 5-4, in Westwood last year and that Fresno State also cannot be taken lightly. He said that though he does not have a senior on the roster, “I believe we’ll improve steadily as the season goes along.”

He said that Scholtz “appears capable of helping us in doubles” and that he has named Farrow and Galbraith as his co-captains.

The UCLA and Pepperdine women’s tennis teams are both represented in the Riviera Country Club Tournament, which continues through Sunday in Pacific Palisades.

UCLA is 2-0 after 9-0 wins last week over UC Santa Barbara and Fresno State.

Pepperdine, which opened its season with a 5-4 victory over the University of San Diego, will play UC Irvine in a road match Tuesday.

The UCLA men’s volleyball team, 6-0 after winning the All-Cal Tournament at UC Santa Cruz, will try to extend its winning streak of 33 matches dating to last season in the UC Santa Barbara Tournament on Friday and Saturday at Goleta.

Other teams in the field besides the Bruins, defending NCAA champions, are No. 3 USC, No. 4 Hawaii, No. 8 Stanford, and Berkeley, Arizona, Arizona State, UC San Diego and Fresno State.

The UCLA women’s basketball team, 9-6 overall and 2-1 in the Pacific 10 Conference, will play conference games against Arizona (3-10, 1-3) at 7 p.m. Friday and Arizona State (5-7, 1-3) at 7 p.m. Saturday at the John Wooden Center.

Dora Dome, UCLA’s leading scorer, had 26 points and eight rebounds in a loss to USC last week that snapped the Bruins’ six-game winning streak. Arizona is led by senior center Dana Patterson, who is averaging 15.9 points and 7.8 rebounds a game, and Arizona State by senior forward Shamona Mosley, who is averaging 14.8 points and 8.7 rebounds.

The Pepperdine women’s basketball team, 8-7 overall and 1-1 in the West Coast Athletic Conference, will play host to Gonzaga (9-6, 2-0) at 7:30 p.m. Friday and to Portland (7-6, 2-0) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Firestone Field House.

Last week, the Waves won one of three road games. Pepperdine lost a non-conference game to UCLA, 77-54, and a conference game to San Diego, 62-60, in overtime but defeated WCAC opponent St. Mary’s, 62-61. Pepperdine’s Earnesta Grace had 15 points and a season-high 14 rebounds against St. Mary’s and 20 points and 11 rebounds in the San Diego game.

The No. 9-ranked UCLA women’s swim team, 7-3 overall and 1-2 in Pac-10 Conference meets, will face No. 2 Stanford (3-0, 1-0) at 2 p.m. Friday at UCLA’s Sunset Recreation Center pool.

Last week, the Bruins defeated Colorado State, 124-95, and Hawaii, 70-42, but lost to No. 4 Berkeley, 137.5 to 130.5. Against Berkeley, Bruin freshman Sheri Smith set a school record of 9:53.24 in the 1,000-yard freestyle and qualified for the NCAA meet in both that event and the 500-yard freestyle.

The Pepperdine women’s swim team (6-2) will be at Fresno State for a 3 p.m. meet today against the Bulldogs, and will play host to Cal State Los Angeles and Loyola Marymount in a triangular meet at 11 a.m. Saturday on the Malibu campus.

Last week, the Waves won a quadrangular meet in San Diego, topping Cal State San Bernardino, Mills College and UC San Diego. Jennifer Gutierrez was a double winner for the Waves in the 100-yard freestyle (56.39) and the 200-yard freestyle (2:02.16), and diver Bridget Kenehan won the 3-meter event to remain unbeaten.

Ten former UCLA baseball stars will be inducted as charter members of the UCLA Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday at Jackie Robinson Stadium in West Los Angeles during a program of baseball games and other events that starts at 10 a.m. Events include a home-run contest and games featuring alumni teams and the current varsity against major leaguers. Admission is $3.

Inductees include Jackie Robinson, American League President Bobby Brown, Chris Chambliss, Bob Andrews, Lynn Compton, Curt Counts, Moose Myers, Randy Schwartz, Ed Steward and Kenny Washington.

Former Bruins expected to play in both games include Tim Leary, Matt Young, Chambliss, Dave Schmidt, Eric Nolte and Pat Dodson.

Pitcher Bert Blyleven of the Minnesota Twins, 1987 World Series champions, will be guest speaker at Loyola Marymount’s preseason baseball banquet, which starts with a reception at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Amfac Hotel in Westchester. Tickets cost $50 for adults and $30 for children under 14.

The Pepperdine baseball team will play an alumni team at 1 p.m. Jan. 30 at Eddy D. Field Stadium on campus. The game will be part of the university’s homecoming program.

The UCLA women’s gymnastic team (1-0) will compete Saturday in a road meet at the University of Washington.