College Review : USIU Waits for News on Playoff

These are agonizing days for Brad Buetow, the United States International University hockey coach. But he wouldn’t trade them for anything.

Buetow and the rest of the USIU hockey team must wait until Monday to find out if they will be awarded the only independent berth in the NCAA championship tournament. Six weeks ago, it looked as if the only thing the Gulls would be waiting for would be the end of the season.

“I didn’t think we had a chance,” Buetow said. “But we kept winning and winning. Now we’re a prime candidate.”

USIU put itself in contention by winning 14 of its last 16 games. The only two losses were to seventh-ranked Michigan State at East Lansing.

Included in the streak were victories over Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks, two teams also in contention.

Buetow said he thinks the berth will go to USIU or Merrimack College of North Andover, Mass. He said the criteria outlined for selection of teams to the NCAA tournament are won-lost record, strength of schedule and head-to-head competition.

Merrimack is 30-4 and USIU is 19-12. But the Gulls have played a tougher schedule--USIU is 16-12 against Division I competition; Merrimack is 7-4.

The biggest factor for USIU is head-to-head competition. The Gulls defeated Merrimack by scores of 5-3 and 3-2 in San Diego.

“We’re going to be shocked, despondent, even mad if we don’t get the berth,” Buetow said.

Making the NCAA tournament is nothing new to Buetow. When he coached at Minnesota, nine of his 11 teams made it.

But Buetow said making the tournament this year would be far more gratifying.

“We were ranked in the top five in the country when we went to the NCAA tournament,” Buetow said. “They expect you to get there.”

A trip to the NCAA tournament would have a big impact on the USIU program. For the only hockey team west of Denver, recruiting in the talent-rich Midwest and East can be difficult.

“We’re practicing and working hard,” Buetow said. “We have to wait until all the regular season is over with. We were hoping to find out this week. It’s pretty frustrating.”

The UC San Diego men’s fencing team has won its first Southern California Intercollegiate Fencing Conference title. The Tritons finished first in the seven-team conference with a 10-1 record. UCLA (9-2) was second and Cal State Long Beach (8-3) was third.

The Tritons’ Tim Ash won the individual sabre title, Arnon Friedman was second in the foil, and John Keller was second in the epee.

The UCSD men’s team will compete in the NCAA West Regional Friday and Saturday at Cal State Long Beach. The women’s team, which finished fifth in the conference, will participate in the regionals March 12-13 at the University of San Diego High School.

Colleen Suwara, women’s volleyball coach at Grossmont College who coached the team to its first state title, has been named the national coach of the year.

Grossmont’s LeAnna Hebert, who has signed a letter of intent with UC Santa Barbara, also was named to the All-American first team.

Doug Dannevik of UC San Diego was named the NCAA Division III Coach of the Year for leading the Tritons to their second consecutive national title. Janet Hughs and Carol Lipson of UCSD were named Division III first-team All-Americans, and Lori Luhnow was third-team.

Angelica Jackson, a San Diego State middle blocker, was named to the Division I All-American second team. Hawaii’s Suzanne Eagye, who played at Point Loma High School, was named to the first team, and UCLA’s Ann Boyer, who played at Poway, was an honorable mention selection.

Rob Rittgers of UC San Diego finished fifth in the nation in free-throw shooting among NCAA Division III players.

Rittgers, a junior transfer from Grossmont, finished the season 71 of 79 from the line (89.9%). Rittgers’ performance was also a school record, breaking the 89.7% (113 of 126) by Brian Backens last season.

The Tritons’ Tracy Ragatz is No. 1 in the nation among Division III players in three-point shooting. Ragatz is shooting 56.3% (45 of 80) from three-point range.