THE COLLEGES : Southern Utah Got Bad Returns on Decision to Kick to Fann

Southern Utah State was going to play it smart. The Thunderbirds already had decided not to kick in the direction of Albert Fann, the deep man in Cal State Northridge’s return formation.

It was simply too much of a chance to take with a share of the Western Football Conference on the line. Fann had led the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. Division II in kickoff returns as a freshman and was averaging more than 20 yards a return again this season.

“We talked about it,” said Jack Bishop, Southern Utah’s coach. “Then at the last minute, we changed our mind.”

Herley Marxen’s kick went to Fann, who gathered it in on the seven, broke left, cut back across the field to the right and rambled 93 yards for a touchdown.

Northridge went on to win, 41-30, Saturday and Portland State was crowned as WFC champion for the third season in a row and advanced to the playoffs. Southern Utah finished 5-5.

“Obviously it was a bad decision,” Bishop lamented.

Quadruple knot: If certain factors fall into place, four women’s volleyball teams could finish in a tie for first place in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn.

It probably will happen.

If Northridge defeats Cal Poly Pomona tonight and Chapman and Cal State Bakersfield win Friday as expected, the fate of four teams will be decided Saturday night when Bakersfield plays host to front-running UC Riverside.

Should Bakersfield win, it would have a 9-3 record in CCAA games--same as Riverside, Chapman and Northridge.

Such a finish would force a playoff Sunday at Cal State Los Angeles, with semifinal games at noon and 2:30 p.m. and the championship game at 7 p.m.

If there is a three-way tie, the games will be at noon and 6 p.m. If there is a two-way tie, the championship tiebreaker will be at 3 p.m.

The champion receives the CCAA’s automatic berth in the Division II playoffs. The other three teams more than likely will receive at-large berths. All four teams are ranked 12th or better in the Tachikara coaches poll.

Coming home: Steve deLaveaga, a former Cal Lutheran basketball standout, returned to his alma mater Tuesday and scored 30 points as a member of the Eastside Melbourne Spectres.

The Spectres have been touring throughout Southern California, playing exhibition games against various college teams. The Spectres defeated Cal Lutheran, 74-71.

DeLaveaga, Cal Lutheran’s all-time leader scorer, will play professionally in Australia’s Southeastern Basketball League this winter but not necessarily for the Spectres.

Tuesday’s game marked deLaveaga’s last appearance at Cal Lutheran for a while, but it won’t be the last time a deLaveaga plays at Cal Lutheran. Jeff deLaveaga, Steve’s younger brother, is a 6-foot-3 sophomore forward who is expected to contribute heavily.

Steve had 24 points against the Spectres.

Getting offensive: Cal State Fullerton was virtually a two-man gang this fall when it came to moving the football.

Michael Pringle, a former Kennedy High standout, rushed for 1,609 yards--all but 60 of the Titans’ total. Pringle and wide receiver Rocky Palamara, formerly of Notre Dame High and Glendale College, accounted for 67.7% of Fullerton’s total offense.

Palamara broke his own school record for receiving yardage, catching 64 passes for 958 yards. Pringle added 249 yards as a receiver, giving the Valley-area pair 2,816 of Fullerton’s 4,159 yards.

0 what a defense: When Moorpark defeated Ventura, 28-0, Saturday it marked the first time the Raiders had blanked the Pirates in the 22-year history of the series.

Ventura recorded the only other shutout when it defeated Moorpark, 27-0, in 1976. Ventura leads the series, 16-6.

Quarterback quandary: Valley College quarterback Trendell Williams, who dislocated his left shoulder in the Monarchs’ 41-35 Western State Conference victory over Santa Monica, is expected to suit up against Bakersfield in Saturday’s Southern Division title game at Valley.

Williams was injured on the game-winning drive against Santa Monica when two Corsair defenders sandwiched him as he threw a 24-yard pass to Donald Dozier. He was replaced by Mark Mengoni, who threw the game-winning touchdown pass to Todd Thompson with 1:44 to play.

“He is a little sore right now, but he’ll be ready to play on Saturday,” Valley Coach Chuck Ferrero said of Williams, who had his arm in a sling early in the week but was taking snaps by Wednesday.

However, Ferrero did not say that Williams would be his starter against Bakersfield.

“Trendell and Mark will both work during the week and then we’ll make our decision,” he said.

Fall ball: The CSUN baseball team concludes its fall schedule this week with games against UCLA, College of the Canyons and Valley.

The Matadors will resume workouts Jan. 8 in preparation for their opener Jan. 30 at USC.

“We’re far, far ahead where we were at this time last year,” said Bill Kernen, CSUN’s second-year coach. “We’ve shown a lot more power and defensively we’re better.”

Kernen has been particularly impressed with the play of sophomore third baseman Denny Vigo and sophomore shortstop Mike Solar, both of whom started last season when the Matadors narrowly missed the Division II playoffs.

Freshmen catchers Mike Sims and Eric Johnson and freshman second baseman Scott Richardson also have showed signs that they will be major contributors for a team that has only 20 players.

“The one thing we are vulnerable to is injury because of the small numbers,” Kernen said.

Gary Klein and staff writers Mike Hiserman, John Ortega and Brendan Healey contributed to this notebook.