Moorpark to Play in Orange County Bowl

Moorpark College will meet Rancho Santiago in the Orange County Bowl--formerly the PONY Bowl--at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, and Valley will play host to Santa Barbara in the Western State Conference Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 2.

Both games will start at 1 p.m.

The Orange County Bowl is a rematch of the 1988 PONY Bowl in which Rancho Santiago defeated Moorpark, 17-10.

After the Moorpark-Rancho Santiago game--in the second game of a bowl doubleheader--a pair of undefeated teams, Riverside and El Camino, will play at 7 in a game that could decide the national championship.

Moorpark (9-1, 8-1 in conference play, 5-0 in division play) was a co-champion of the Western State Conference and outright winner of the Northern Division. Valley (5-5, 5-4) was runner-up in the Southern Division of the WSC.

Initially, it looked as though Valley would play Northern Division runner-up L. A. Southwest in the WSC Bowl, but the Cougars instead accepted a bid to the Southern California Conference Bowl. That left the door open for Santa Barbara (6-4, 5-4), which tied for third in the Northern Division.

Tickets for the Orange County Bowl are available at the Moorpark business office, and WSC Bowl tickets can be purchased at the Valley business office starting Monday.

Cal State Northridge will play at Cal State Bakersfield in the first round of the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. Division II volleyball playoffs Friday, Dec. 1, at 7:30 p.m.

Northridge (26-10), which tied Chapman for second in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn., is ranked fourth in Division II; Bakersfield is ranked 12th.

Steve Gazzaniga of Pierce was named Western State Conference volleyball Coach of the Year, and outside hitter Anna Suarez was runner-up in balloting for most valuable player.

Suarez was joined on the 10-woman all-conference first team by teammate Amy Sodek and Fatima Jose of Glendale.

Andrea Banducci, Carina Sailer and Alissa Levisohn of Pierce were selected to the 12-woman second team. Gina Johnson and Shawn Davidson, also of Pierce, received honorable mention.

Moorpark placed Julie Piantek on the first team, Jennifer DeMontes on the second team, and Monique Henga and Kellee Roe on the honorable-mention list.

Keira Middleton and Kathleen Dixon of Cal State Northridge were first-team selections on the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. women’s volleyball team.

Teammate Marianne Dixon was named to the second team, and Alissa Evans was honorable mention.