Toros Women’s Coach Would Like Some Tall Spikers Under Tree

Having just completed a 6-28 season which included a 0-12 conference record, the women’s volleyball team at Cal State Dominguez Hills is the athletic program’s neediest team as the holidays approach.

Santa didn’t leave the Toros any tall spikers last Christmas, and Coach Jennifer Gorecki is beating the bushes for players in an attempt to reverse the Toros’ record: 12-53 over the last two seasons, 1-23 in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn., in which time only one Toro has earned all-conference honors. Only one Toro earned even honorable mention this fall.

The CCAA is arguably the toughest Division II conference in the country in women’s volleyball, and it’s probably the toughest sport in which to recruit for Dominguez Hills because so many scholarships are available in Southern California, many of them at nationally ranked Division I schools. No Toro players have full scholarships.

Still, despite the dire proceedings of the last two seasons, Athletic Director Dan Guerrero said the volleyball program is committed to staying in the CCAA, and he thinks it can be as competitive as the Toros’ other CCAA entries--soccer, baseball and basketball, most of which have won conference titles (women’s soccer and men’s golf compete on a non-conference basis and the Toros no longer have a track team).

“Volleyball happens to be the program we need to pay attention to, to upgrade,” Guerrero said. “We need to be more successful in recruiting kids from the South Bay, which is a hotbed of talent. I think we can gradually make an impact.

“There’s no reason to think we can’t be competitive. We have been successful in recruiting in other sports. Volleyball is a sport I think we can compete for local talent--if we can show there’s some potential for growth and a commitment to being competitive.”

Gorecki--who coached two sports last season but is now concentrating on volleyball full time--returns most of her players next year, including Karen Sutherland, who earned All-CCAA honorable mention, and Devon Akita, a fine sophomore athlete who also starts on the basketball team. But Gorecki needs immediate help.

“We’ve begun the recruiting process,” Guerrero said. “We need to get back on the right track and bring in some people who can make an immediate impact.”

The entire conference will get a breather in two years when Cal State Northridge, a perennial national title contender, moves out of the CCAA to upgrade to Division I.

Guerrero, who officially became athletic director over the summer, feels the Toros can make some noise in volleyball in the CCAA. “No question,” he said. “The goal I have is to augment the ability of all the existing programs of being competitive in conference.”

The records keep coming for the Loyola Marymount basketball team, but Lions Coach Paul Westhead is more worried about the team’s health than its scoring wealth.

After Monday’s 164-138 dismantling of outmanned Azusa Pacific, Westhead seemed almost subdued. Much of his concern was with the weak knee of Bo Kimble, who scored 12 points in 10 minutes of the first half, then didn’t appear again. While the team was celebrating its record-setting opener, Westhead was conferring with team doctors and trainers.

“It was clear that (Enoch) Simmons, (Hank) Gathers and (Jeff) Fryer played strong and healthy and fit,” Westhead said after the three combined for 81 points in 51 minutes. “That’s a plus because they’ve been bothered by injuries. Bo is still a major question mark. He’s experiencing considerable fatigue in the leg. The doctors feel he’s progressed but not to the point he can play and sustain any minutes.”

The Lions struggled last season when Kimble missed the first six games with the knee injury, then won 25 in a row when he returned to the lineup.

Meanwhile, statisticians were busy tracking down the records set in Monday’s 302-point onslaught. The NCAA recognizes the total points and Loyola’s 164 as Division I records--Loyola’s 164 ties the mark set by Nevada-Las Vegas in 1975 and the 302 total shattered the 275 total run up by UNLV and Hawaii-Hilo in 1975. (It also outdistanced the 282 points UNLV and Utah State totaled in triple overtime in 1985. UNLV won that game, 142-140.) The Lions also tied a record by having seven players who made 3-point baskets.

However, the NCAA won’t list Azusa Pacific’s 138 points as the highest losing point total because the Cougars are an NAIA team. So Pepperdine’s losing total of 127 last season against Loyola remains the NCAA mark.

Loyola also set a school record for 3-pointers in a game (16) and tied the school record for points in a half (82).

The game was such a statistical gold mine that a national newspaper Tuesday morning interviewed Loyola’s official scorekeeper, Dale Marini. Let’s see, most pencils used. . . .

College Notes

Going into this weekend’s road trip to Sonoma State and San Francisco State, Dominguez Hills senior forward Anthony Blackmon has moved up to fifth in Dominguez basketball career scoring with 896 points. His next target is Kevin Burrell at 942. . . . Loyola volleyball player Leslie Wohlford led the West Coast Athletic Conference in kills at 4.7 per game, which also ranks in the nation’s top 10. The Lions finished the WCAC schedule at 4-10, and 9-22 overall. . . . Freshman Carolyn Hueth leads the Pepperdine volleyball team in digs (312) and has 138 kills. The West Torrance High graduate, who became a starter at outside hitter early in the season, helped the Waves clinch their second straight West Coast Athletic Conference title. The Waves open NCAA playoffs Saturday at Texas-Arlington. . . . Former Bishop Montgomery High basketball star Corine Sandfry is off to a fast start at Chapman College. The senior guard leads the Panthers with a 17-point average after three games and is shooting 53% from the field, including 2 for 3 from 3-point range.