SAN DIEGO SPORTS ET CETERA : UCSD’s Behrens in Division III Singles Final

Christine Behrens of UC San Diego advanced to today’s NCAA Division III individual women’s singles tennis final with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Karen Cooper of Wellesley College Friday in Trenton, N.J.

Last year, Behrens was beaten by Cooper in the quarterfinals. She will play Tracy Peel of Washington, College (Md.) in today’s finals.

“I was lucky on some of my volleys, but I think I played pretty well,” Behrens said . “Losing to her last year really gave me incentive, and I felt strong today.”

Behrens reached the semifinals with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over Amy McCrea of Gustavus Adolphus.

Behrens and Susan Carney won their doubles quarterfinal over Heidi Husner and Kate Jackson of Skidmore College, 6-4, 6-2, but were beaten in the semifinals by Leslie Gale and Marcia Hunt of Carleton College, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6).

Sig Huber and Chris Belloli of UC San Diego, seeded second in doubles, advanced to the quarterfinals at the NCAA Division III men’s championships in Swarthmore, Pa., by defeating Eric Chan and Andrew Chekian of Claremont, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.

Huber and Belloli both were beaten in the round of 16 singles Friday but were named to All-American singles and doubles teams.

SIGNINGS

The University of San Diego men’s soccer team signed four players to national letters of intent: Alex Streicek (Hemet), Toby Taitano (El Cajon), Kevin Arthur (Poway) and Jon Henning (Pleasanton).

Charlie Setzler, a senior at South Pasadena High, has signed a letter of intent with the USD baseball team. A shortstop/second baseman, Setzler hit .413 with two homers and 18 RBIs this season

TRACK AND FIELD

Two San Diego State men placed in the top six, and SDSU was sixth in the team standings after seven events of the Western Athletic Conference track and field championships in Fort Collins, Colo. SDSU’s Pat Thiss was second in the hammer with a throw of 204-feet-8, and Charles Tyler was fourth in the long jump at 23-6 1/4.

The meet continues today. Brigham Young leads with 112 points, and Texas-El Paso is second with 40. SDSU has 19.