SportsScope : UCLA Women Spikers to Battle Stanford Tonight for No. 1 Ranking in Nation

When the No. 1 UCLA women’s volleyball team meets No. 2 Stanford at 7 tonight at Pauley Pavilion, it should be a dramatic match.

On the line will be the nation’s top ranking, the Pacific 10 Conference championship and the top seed in the NCAA western regional playoffs

UCLA is 26-0 overall, a school-record winning streak, and 16-0 in the Pacific 10 Conference. Stanford (25-1, 15-1) has set a Cardinal record by winning its last 20 matches. In September, the Bruins handed Stanford its only loss of the season at Palo Alto, defeating the Cardinal in three games.

Last week on the road UCLA defeated Washington in four games and Washington State in three. Bruin freshman Elaine Youngs had 28 kills in the two matches and junior teammate Daiva Tomkus had 27. UCLA All-American setter Ann Boyer had a career-high nine blocks against the Huskies.

The Pepperdine women’s volleyball team (14-15 and 11-1 in the West Coast Athletic Conference) will try to clinch the conference title on the road at Gonzaga (16-13, 6-6) on Friday evening and Portland (9-16, 6-6) on Saturday evening.

Two victories would give the Waves the title and an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament no matter what second-place Santa Clara (19-12, 11-2) does in its last conference match at home tonight against the University of San Diego.

The Santa Monica College women’s volleyball team (15-3 overall and 14-2 in the Western State Conference will play its final conference match when it entertains Glendale at 7 p.m. Friday. As the week started, SMC was tied for first with Cuesta (14-2) in the conference. Regional playoffs begin next week.

Last week the Corsairs defeated Santa Barbara City in three games, and SMC sophomore Amy Prout had 18 kills and 15 blocks.

The Pepperdine men’s basketball team will play host to the Czechoslovakian National Team in an exhibition at 7:30 tonight at Firestone Fieldhouse. The Czechs began their national tour with losses to California, UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara and USC.

The Santa Monica College men’s basketball team, an 82-72 winner over Pasadena in its opener, will play this weekend in the Compton College tournament. The Corsairs will open against Arizona Western at 2 p.m. Friday.

Against Pasadena, Von Shuler led the Corsairs with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 4 steals.

The Santa Monica College women’s basketball team, which lost its opener to Cerritos, 71-62, on the road, will play host to New Mexico Junior College at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

SMC Coach Avie Bridges began the season with seven freshmen on her nine-player team, having lost veterans Renee Dabney and Tonya King for the season because of injuries. Sophomore forward LaVern Moore scored 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds against Cerritos.

The No. 2 UCLA water polo team (26-4 overall and 1-4 in the Pac-10) will end the regular season when it plays host to No. 4 USC (20-6, 3-2) at 10 a.m. Saturday at Sunset Canyon Recreation Center. A win would assure the Bruins of the second seed in the NCAA tournament, which begins Nov. 25 at Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach.

Senior Hank Peterson leads UCLA with 74 goals and All-American junior Alexis Rousseau has scored 67.

The Pepperdine water polo team (8-16 overall and 3-6 in the Big West Conference) will end its season against Cal State Long Beach at 7 p.m. Saturday at Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach.

Junior Rob Sutter has 46 goals to lead the Waves and senior teammate Tucker Johnston has 41.

The Santa Monica College football team (5-4 overall and 3-1 in the Western State Conference Southern Division) will conclude the regular season at 1 p.m. Friday at West Los Angeles College (0-9, 0-4).

In last week’s 48-13 defeat of Los Angeles Valley, SMC sophomore quarterback Darryl Hobbs completed 12 of 19 passes for 301 yards and 5 touchdowns.

The Pepperdine women’s swim team (1-1) will compete against Cal State Long Beach and UC Irvine in a triangular meet at noon Saturday at Long Beach.

Last week the Waves lost their opener to Cal State Northridge, 147-117 but bounced back to defeat Pomona Pitzer, 174-86. Against Northridge, freshmen Kristie Gillette and Abigail Miedler swam on the winning 200-meter medley relay team, and Gillette won the 100 butterfly in 1:01.99 and Miedler the 200 fly in 2:11.18. Chris Carrauthers, Jill Keenan and Jeryll Reed were double winners against Pomona Pitzer.