COLLEGE DIVISION : For This Coach, Relating to Star Is No Problem

It is understandable if Gene Krieger, coach of the women’s volleyball team at Cal Baptist College in Riverside, occasionally takes his work home with him.

Krieger’s wife Donna just happens to be one of the top players on the team.

Donna Krieger, 25, is second in the National Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics’ District 3 in kill percentage, third in blocking percentage and fifth in total kills in her first year on the squad.

The couple, who have been married five years, admit the husband-coach and athlete-wife situation has been an unusual and sometimes awkward one.

Krieger, 33, says he didn’t become coach at Cal Baptist last year with the intention of having his wife join the team. That’s simply the way it has worked out.

Donna hadn’t played at the collegiate level since before she was married in 1984, when she competed for Northwest Nazarene in Idaho.

Her decision to return to the game really wasn’t surprising, since it was on the volleyball court that the pair met. Gene was coach of district rival Western Oregon State at the time and was introduced to Donna at a volleyball match.

After the couple married, Donna’s collegiate career came to a halt, although she competed for the Athletes in Action touring team the next two seasons.

But any thought of returning to collegiate competition appeared to have ended with the birth of their two children. The Kriegers have a son, Tyler, 2 1/2, and a daughter, Karlie, 1.

About the closest Donna had come to playing volleyball at the collegiate level again was in 1987, when she was Gene’s assistant coach with the women’s team at Westmont and practiced with the squad in her spare time.

When her husband was hired as coach at Cal Baptist in 1988, Donna enrolled at the school, the thought of returning as a player in the back of her mind. She discussed it with her husband, although she didn’t play last year.

“Last year I was here (with the team) on a minimal basis,” she said. “I watched . . . a lot to see if it could work out.”

“She approached me with the concept about a year ago,” the coach said. “We thought we’d test the waters (in the) United States Volleyball Assn. last spring and that worked out well. Then we took an all-star team to Indonesia this summer to see if it could work out, and half of our team (from Cal Baptist) went on the trip and it worked out.”

The only remaining concern was whether she would have any eligibility left. It was shortly before the start of the season when they learned she had two years remaining.

Since Krieger started playing again, her husband says the biggest drawback has been the monthly baby-sitting bills.

“I think we lead the conference in baby-sitting bills and we have kids running around the office here all the time,” he said, adding that the costs are about $250 to $300 a month.

“I knew he would bring that up,” Donna joked.

Krieger said he went along with his wife’s desire to play again because it has been one of her long-term goals. She also wanted to play for a nationally ranked team and Cal Baptist (24-3) is rated No. 7 in the NAIA.

“When she played before, she never had the chance to play for a nationally ranked team or a team that could make the playoffs, and now she has that chance,” he said.

Donna said: “It was always one of my goals to come back and play again, and to be 25 and have a son and daughter and play volleyball again has just been great,” she said.

Krieger has been impressed by his wife’s return.

“It’s just amazing to me that a mother of two could come back at the age of 25 and do as well as she has,” he said.

Said Donna: “I attribute my success primarily to the experience I’ve had. I’ve had a lot of experience playing overseas (with Athletes in Action) and in off-season ball. I knew I would have to work out and be prepared. So I came into training camp in good shape. As far as my body goes, I came into training camp right with everybody else.”

The coach said he was initially concerned that coaching his wife would affect their relationship.

“The main thing I was concerned about is, she’s a very competitive person and I didn’t want to be involved in a situation where we got into arguments on the court all the time,” he said.

But the disagreements on the court have been few and the Kriegers are careful not to take an argument home with them.

“I think once we get home, we get to spend time with the kids and we pretty much leave volleyball alone,” he said. “Normally, we don’t talk about it at home.”

On the court, Krieger said, he treats his wife as he would any other member of the squad.

“She gets the hook just like anyone else does if she doesn’t play well,” he said. “There isn’t any favoritism involved in this, and I think the other girls on the team appreciate that.”

Although she has another year of eligibility, Donna doesn’t think she will be playing next season. She is close to completing the requirements for her degree in speech and hearing communication.

“I think my husband has had to make a lot of sacrifices,” she said. “He’s had to baby-sit a lot more than usual and I’m not sure I’d want to put him and my family through it one more season.”

College Division Notes

Occidental’s football team may have improved its chances for a playoff berth in the National Collegiate Athletic Assn.’s Division III with a 23-17 comeback victory over the previously undefeated University of San Diego on Saturday. Occidental improved to 4-1, including a forfeit win over Azusa Pacific, and San Diego dropped to 5-1. . . . Cal State Northridge’s four-game winning streak ended in a big way with its 33-17 loss to Division II power Portland State Saturday in Portland. Portland State is 5-2 overall and leads the Western Football Conference at 3-0. Northridge is 4-3.

Southern California College is ranked No. 19 in the NAIA preseason men’s basketball poll. The Vanguards finished with a 29-5 record last season--their best record ever. . . . Juan Mondragon, who coached at Cal State San Bernardino last season, has been named women’s tennis coach at UC Riverside. Mondragon, 29, has also worked as a club pro for the last six years . . . Larry Everingham, diving coach at South High School in Bakersfield since 1976, has been named diving coach at Cal State Bakersfield. He replaces Mike Prutz, who resigned to accept a similar position at Northern Arizona.

For the fourth straight week, UC Riverside is No. 1 in the NCAA Division II women’s volleyball rankings. The Highlanders are 14-3 overall and 2-0 in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. Four other CCAA teams are also ranked in the Division II top 20. They are Northridge at No. 4, Bakersfield at No. 13, Chapman at No. 16 and Cal Poly Pomona at No. 17. . . . Point Loma Nazarene easily won its second straight men’s title and Westmont edged Azusa Pacific in the women’s division at the Golden State Athletic Conference Cross-Country Championships on Saturday in San Diego. Point Loma’s Goshu Tadese won the men’s individual title for the second straight year.