SPORTSCOPE : UCLA Men’s Volleyball Team Faces Stiff 3-Game Weekend

The UCLA men’s volleyball team, defending NCAA champion and ranked second nationally before the season, will play host to Hawaii in the 13th annual Kilgour Cup at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Pauley Pavilion.

The Bruins also will be the host team for the first Sweats and Surf Tournament this weekend at John Wooden Center. On Saturday UCLA will meet Cal State Northridge at 5 p.m., and USC will face the Israeli national team at 7. On Sunday the third-place match will be at 5 p.m. and the championship match at 7.

Last year’s NCAA championship was the 13th for UCLA Coach Al Scates. The Bruins tied Stanford for first place in the Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Assn. and finished 29-5 overall.

Two starters return from last year: senior Trevor Schirman, chosen the 1989 College Player of the Year by Volleyball Monthly, and junior Mike Whitcomb. Schirman was second in the nation in hitting with a .444 average and third in blocking with an average of 1.87. Whitcomb was 10th in hitting with a .420 average and eighth in blocking with a 1.68 average.

The Pepperdine men’s volleyball team, ranked sixth nationally before the season, will play a WIVA match Friday night at Brigham Young. The Cougars are fielding a men’s volleyball team for the first time.

Wave Coach Marv Dunphy has seven lettermen from a team that finished 16-14 last year.

Last week Pepperdine lost an exhibition to the Israeli national team in four games. The Waves were led by freshman middle blocker Tom Sorenson, who had 24 kills and four service aces, and junior outside hitter Geoff Hart, who had 20 kills. Wave junior middle blocker Brian Merrick had five stuff blocks.

The No. 2 UCLA men’s tennis team, entering its 24th season under Coach Glenn Bassett, will play host to Fresno State at 1:30 p.m. today at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on campus.

Bassett has guided the Bruins to seven NCAA championships and 12 Pacific 10 Conference titles. Last year the Bruins finished 26-4 overall.

Five lettermen, led by junior Jason Netter and conference doubles champions Bill Barber and Mark Quinney, both sophomores, return. Bassett has no seniors among his top six players.

No. 2 UCLA’s women’s tennis team will open its season by playing host to Utah at 1:30 p.m. Friday at the Sunset Canyon courts on campus.

Last week the Bruin doubles team of Mamie Ceniza and Stella Sampras reached the finals of the Vivitar National Collegiate tournament at Palm Desert, but they lost to Stanford’s Sandra Birch and Debbie Graham, 6-1, 6-3.

Pepperdine’s women’s tennis team, ranked fifth in the nation and led by All-Americans Ginger Helgeson, Janna Kovacevich and Noelle Porter, will play host to Utah at 1:30 p.m. today.

Last year the Waves finished 18-9 overall and ranked seventh nationally after advancing to the NCAA tournament quarterfinals.

Others who return for Coach Gualberto Escudero are Anna Brunstrom, Carrie Crisell, Julie Gaiser and Camilla Ohrman. Freshmen include Anne Lefebvre, a top junior player in France; Kirsten Smith and Amy Tortolani.

The No. 16 Pepperdine men’s tennis team, which missed the NCAA tournament last year for the first time since 1978 and finished 13-13, will play host to Fresno State at 1:30 p.m. Friday.

Allen Fox, Wave co-coach with Richard Gallien, called last season “a complete disaster.” But he added that it may have been “a good learning experience. We are working hard to regain some of the respect we lost last season. This group will sneak up on some people.”

In the midst of a four-game winning streak, the UCLA women’s basketball team (8-5 overall, 3-0 in the Pac-10) will play host to No. 2 Stanford (13-0, 4-0) at 7 tonight at Pauley Pavilion.

Last week the Bruins defeated Arizona State, 77-67, and Arizona, 82-70, and have four straight wins, all on the road. Nicole Anderson scored a career-high 22 points against Arizona State. DeDe Mosman had a career-high 17 against the Sun Devils and tied her school record with four three-point baskets. Rehema Stephens has scored in double figures in all of UCLA’s games and is averaging 19 points.

The Pepperdine women’s basketball team (11-5 overall, 2-0 in the West Coast Conference) will play tonight at Portland (4-9, 0-2) and Saturday night at Gonzaga (4-9, 0-2).

Last week the Waves opened conference play at home by defeating the University of San Diego, 76-73, and Santa Clara, 88-75.

Sophomore Shannon Frowiss, who is averaging a team-high 15.9 points and 8.1 rebounds a game, was named the conference player of the week. In the two conference games, Frowiss scored 41 points and had 16 rebounds and shot 64% from the field and 75% from the foul line.

Santa Monica College’s men’s basketball team (19-4 overall, 3-1 in the Western State Conference as the week began) will play host to Oxnard (11-8, 2-1) at 7 p.m. Saturday (1-20) at Corsair Gymnasium.

Last week Los Angeles Valley snapped SMC’s 29-game winning streak in conference play, 79-69, bumping Santa Monica from first place in the WSC. The Corsairs bounced back to defeat West Los Angeles, 75-59.

Against Valley, Mark Moton scored 16 points and Donald Smith 14, and Chris Cook had 10 rebounds, five blocked shots and eight points. Against WLAC, Cornelius Banks scored a game-high 20 points and Dana Harris 13.

The Santa Monica College women’s basketball team (16-4 overall, 3-1 in the Western State Conference at the start of the week) will play host to Oxnard (5-12, 0-3) at 5 p.m. Saturday at Corsair Gymnasium.

Last week SMC lost to Los Angeles Valley, 66-64, but defeated Pierce, 66-61.

Against Valley, Jackie Nikzad scored 14 points, CoCo Jones 13 and Crystal Nettles 10. Nikzad scored a game-high 19 points, including six three-pointers, against Pierce, and teammate Illana Mazingo had 15 points and 15 rebounds.

The UCLA men’s swim team (3-1 in dual meets) will compete against defending Big 10 Conference champion Michigan (6-0) at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Bruin men’s gymnasium.

Last week the Bruins defeated Cal State Bakersfield, 75-58. Double winners for UCLA were All-Americans Dan Kutler, Mark Dean and Rodrigo Gonzalez. Kutler won the 100-meter backstroke and 200 butterfly, Dean the 200 freestyle and 200 backstroke and Gonzalez the 100 and 200 breaststroke.

Michigan, which has seven All-Americans among 15 lettermen, finished third in last year’s NCAA championships, 2.5 points ahead of UCLA. Last week the Wolverines upset top-ranked Stanford, 61-52.

The No. 9 UCLA women’s swim team (4-0) will play host to No. 3 California (4-0) at 2 p.m. Friday and defending NCAA champion Stanford (2-0) at 11 a.m. Saturday at the UCLA men’s pool.

Stanford is led by Janet Evans, who won three gold medals at the 1988 Olympics.

The Pepperdine women’s swim team (0-5 in dual meets) will play host to Loyola Marymount and Pomona Pitzer at 11 a.m. Saturday at Raleigh Runnels Pool.

At the UC Irvine Invitational, Wave junior Kristen Berryman finished second in the 100-yard butterfly in 1:02.40 and third in the 200 backstroke in 2:20.50, and junior teammate Kristen McCary posted career-best marks of 2:22.20 in the 200 butterfly and 5:00.90 in the 400 individual medley.

UCLA’s women’s gymnastics team (2-0) will compete Friday night at Oregon State.

Last week the Bruins set a John Wooden Center record with a triangular score of 187.60, defeating Minnesota, 177.45, and UC Santa Barbara, 167.85.

UCLA senior Jill Andrews won the all-around with a 38.35, setting another Wooden Center record; tied her Wooden Center record with a 9.75 in the vault and tied for first in floor exercise with freshman teammate Carol Ulrich, each with a 9.55. Ulrich won the beam with a 9.60.