COLLEGE NOTES : Loyola Hitter House Makes WCC All-Star Team

Outside hitter Kerry House of Loyola Marymount is one of seven players named to the All-West Coast Conference women’s volleyball first team.

House, a junior, joins Tami Seidenberg and Carolyn Hueth of Pepperdine, Erica Cordy and Lisa Petticord of Gonzaga, Melanie Kaiser of San Francisco and Julie Sinclair of St. Mary’s on the first team. Seidenberg, the only senior in the top seven, was named WCC Player of the Year. St. Mary’s Jim Cherniss was named Coach of the Year, and Debbie Merandi of Pepperdine was Freshman of the Year.

The only other Loyola player honored was freshman outside hitter Raquel Glenn, who received honorable mention and was named to the all-freshman team. The six-member second team included Santa Clara junior setter Julie Jamile, a former Torrance High star.

In the final West Coast Conference standings, Pepperdine was the runaway winner at 14-0 while three other teams had their best seasons ever: Gonzaga (20-10 overall, 9-5 in WCC), St. Mary’s (18-12, 8-6) and Portland (16-15, 8-6). Loyola lost its last five WCC matches and finished fifth at 7-7, a three-game improvement over last year.

Overall, the news wasn’t so hot for the Loyola Marymount volleyball team. The Lions ended the season on a downturn, losing their last eight matches to finish at 8-19. Coach Mike Normand had said a measure of his team would be how it improved from a three-game loss to UC Santa Barbara in early September to this week’s season-ending match against the same opponent. As yardsticks go, the Lions may have lost ground: They fell at Santa Barbara on Tuesday, 16-14, 15-5, 15-0.

Thud.

The Lions graduate only Tina Hammers and Jennifer Kruse and look for Normand, who also coaches the men’s team, to beat the bushes for more talent. He took over the program too late last spring to do much recruiting.

More Awards: Dominguez Hills dominates the Far West Regional soccer team, placing four players on the first team and four more on the second. The Toros’ Marine Cano was named West regional Coach of the Year. First team players, all seniors, are Lynor Johnson, Kristi White, Conni Cowman and Laura Moses. Second teamers are junior goalkeeper Chris Pezzulo, senior Jeanine Charroux, freshman Jenny Grasso and junior Donna Robertson. The Lady Toros went 18-3 and represented the Western region in the Division II final four. They were ranked No. 3 in the final national ratings.

Dominguez Hills Athletic Director Dan Guerrero noted that although the Lady Toros lost in the semifinals of the Division II soccer championships, there was a different attitude than in the past when other Dominguez Hills teams have gone to the playoffs. Said Guerrero: “We’ve gone to tournaments before but there was always this feeling like, ‘Hmm, do we really belong here?’ This time we knew we were as good as any of the teams there. I think we’ll be back.”

The Toro men’s basketball team will probably take its lumps for a while as Coach Dave Yanai works several freshmen into the lineup, but the future looks solid in the hands of freshmen Vincent Washington and Raymond Bennett from Carson High. Washington, a 6-foot-5 forward, is starting and has scored 12 points in each of the last two games. Bennett, a 6-foot point guard, does not start but was the ball handler in the closing minutes of Tuesday’s 70-67 loss to LaVerne. Both appear confident, Bennett even taking a three-pointer in the closing seconds Tuesday as the teams traded leads. Another freshman, forward Norman Francis, was in the game for much of the stretch.

This is the first time since the early 1980s that Yanai has not had a front-line star to carry the load. William Alexander became the all-time conference scoring leader, then passed the mantle on to Anthony Blackmon, the Toros’ leader the last two years. Yanai has generally been patient about breaking in freshmen, but with junior guard Robert Barksdale his only returning all-leaguer, Yanai’s youthful roster is forcing his hand. It will probably mean a slow start--the Toros are 0-3--but look for the talented freshmen to make noise by the time conference play starts in mid-January.

The Dominguez Hills women’s basketball team showed signs of improvement in its opener Tuesday, beating visiting Point Loma Nazarene, 68-56. Although both teams shot poorly in the first half, the Lady Toros pulled away in a 42-32 second half.

Coach Van Girard may have found his point guard in freshman Allison Krause, who played 38 minutes and produced 11 assists plus six points. Junior Devon Akita and freshman Denise Slater chipped in 12 points apiece, and center Khyra Anderson, in foul trouble much of the game, managed 14 points and 11 rebounds in only 14 minutes. Senior Julie Scott added 10 points in what appears to be a much more well-rounded offense than last season.

College Notes: Loyola forward Per Stumer took most of a week off from school to go to his native Sweden and play in the Swedish national basketball team’s qualifying game for the European championships. He was expected back in town in time for Loyola’s home opener Saturday . . . When Loyola lost to Nevada-Las Vegas last week, it was the first time in Paul Westhead’s five years as Lions coach that they had lost their opener . . . Santa Clara’s Carroll Williams, the dean of WCC coaches as he begins his 20th season, is 14-5 in openers . . . Santa Clara volleyball setter Julie Jamile of Torrance led the West Coast conference in ace average (.566) and was third in assists per game (9.55) . . . The WCC announced 20 early basketball signings, among them guard Darrell Daniel of Bishop Montgomery High by St. Mary’s . . . The Dominguez Hills women’s volleyball team was shut out for conference honors. California Collegiate Athletic Assn. champ UC Riverside dominated the selections, with hitter Sheri Benson winning the most valuable player award and Sue Gozansky the Coach of the Year . . . Former Gardena High basketball player John Jackson is a starting guard at La Verne.