COLLEGE NOTES / ALAN DROOZ : Lions Looking Like Tigers in WCC Volleyball

Don’t look now, but the Loyola Marymount volleyball team may be sneaking up on the rest of the teams in the West Coast Conference.

This weekend could be the chance the Lions have been waiting for when they play host to San Francisco and highly regarded St. Mary’s.

Coming off a 3-1 week in which their only loss was a stubborn defeat to top-ranked UCLA, the Lions are 8-9 overall and 1-0 in the WCC under new Coach Steve Stratos. They face USF (5-8) at 7:30 tonight and St. Mary’s (10-4) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.

The Lions have already matched last year’s victory total, but this week’s WCC release features only the matches of Pepperdine, Gonzaga and St. Mary’s. Pepperdine, ranked 14th, is the only WCC team in the Top 20.

“It seems like other teams have more big-name players who have established themselves in the conference,” Stratos said. “But that’s OK--being the underdog is something I feel comfortable with.

“Our 8-9 record is a little deceiving because six of the losses have come to teams in the Top 20. I think the only (WCC) team that’s played as competitive a schedule as ours is Pepperdine. I think we’ve been hardened and we’re ready to go. . . . The thing about a small team like ours, though, is we have to go out and execute or we can lose to anybody.”

Several players opened the season with injuries, but Stratos’ team is finally at full strength. The early injuries gave some backup players a chance to develop.

Senior middle blocker Stacy Trapp has become a key part of the lineup. Last week she became the third player in Loyola history to record 100 block assists in her career. The school record belongs to Cathy Petrissans with 169. Trapp’s emergence has allowed outside hitters Kerry House and Deanna Doolittle to be more effective. In September, House averaging 4.58 kills per game, 14th in the nation, and she leads the WCC in digs.

“Stacy’s been kind of a surprise to the staff,” Stratos said. “At 5-9 she’s small--you don’t find many 5-9 middle blockers in Division I. She is right now our most dominant middle blocker. Last week she was 12 for 21 against San Diego and eight for 19 against U.S. International.

“Her advantage is she’s quicker than most of the people she plays against and she’s very intelligent. We certainly don’t see her as a backup anymore. She has taken pressure off our two big guns (House and Doolittle). It makes defenses more honest when we’re starting to attack the middle.”

By Division I standards, Loyola is a smallish team, making for an interesting matchup with St. Mary’s, which features the attack of 6-foot-3 Kirsten George and 5-11 Julie Sinclair, as well as four other 6-footers. USF depends on 5-7 star Melanie Kaiser plus 6-1 blocker Lisa Tschannen.

“We match up better with San Francisco,” Stratos said. “What we have to do with St. Mary’s is serve very well and try to throw them off what they want to do, then get some blockers at the net. Conversely, we need to get some one-on-one situations to be successful.”

With a good weekend effort, the Lions’ secret could be out.

Photogenic: Thanks in large part to Loyola Marymount’s recent basketball notoriety, the WCC has finally gotten a television deal to broadcast weekly games.

The WCC announced Thursday that SportsChannel Bay Area will produce a WCC game of the week, plus the first two rounds of the WCC tournament. With television deals Loyola already had planned, the Lions will appear in seven of the 14 SportsChannel games. The majority of the games will be shown on Fridays and Saturdays in January and February, with two Thursday telecasts as well.

One of the attractive aspects of the package to the conference is that SportsChannel will distribute the telecasts to stations in Portland, Ore., Spokane, Wash., and San Diego, where there are member schools but no SportsChannel outlets. The length of the contract is still being negotiated.

With network deals as well, the Lions are now scheduled to appear on television at least 15 times.

Loyola basketball Coach Jay Hillock continues to search for a No. 1 assistant, but is finding few takers this close to the start of the season. Several people he approached have turned him down.

Athletic Director Brian Quinn is encouraging Hillock to be cautious. “I told him it’s like a marriage--don’t jump into something just to get somebody. Make sure it’s somebody you can live with,” Quinn said. “He’s being patient, even if it means going a year without.”

The Loyola soccer team is struggling through a six-game losing streak under a double whammy--problems scoring goals and a rash of penalties.

Sophomores Eric Hill, with four, and Tom Stevenson, with three, have scored most of the Lions’ goals, but last year’s leading scorer, Ken Warcholik, has not yet gotten into the flow. The Lions play at Cal State Los Angeles at 4 p.m. Saturday.

Said assistant coach Jay Simon: “It’s tough putting an offense together against teams that recruited (star players). Eric understands the game and Tommy’s starting to develop into a scoring (threat). We need to hear from Kenny Warcholik.

“He’s in a serious dry spell, partly because he’s a senior and he’s concerned with school and graduating so he’s missed some practices, and also he’s battling serious knee problems. He says he’s getting ready for conference games. We want to see him get on the board.”

Simon would also like to see less borderline penalties called. Opponents have gotten five penalty kicks in the past three games.

“I’d say three of them have been rotten (calls),” Simon said. “We’re really gonna try to control that the next couple games and see if we can’t pop a few.”

The UCLA soccer team, which vaulted to No. 1 in the national rankings this week, will play in its South Bay home, Murdock Stadium at El Camino College, on Tuesday as part of Torrance American Youth Soccer Organization Day. The Bruins will face Southern California College of Costa Mesa at 8 p.m. UCLA is 2-0 at El Camino this year and 8-0 in two seasons.

Tickets for Tuesday’s game are available through the South Torrance AYSO Regional Office at (213) 791-0890, or at Murdock Stadium an hour before game time.

The Bruins (8-0-3) start the week’s action by playing host to Nevada-Las Vegas at 2 p.m. Sunday on the Westwood campus’ North Field.

Notes

The Cal State Dominguez Hills men’s soccer team plays Cal Poly San Luis Obispo at 1 p.m. Saturday in its California Collegiate Athletic Assn. home opener. The women’s volleyball team, 0-1 in the CCAA, plays its first conference home match tonight against Cal State Los Angeles. The 7:30 p.m. game will be telecast live on Paragon Cable. . . . The Dominguez Hills women’s soccer team returned to the Division II Top 20 this week. The Lady Toros play at Cal State San Bernardino at 11 a.m. Sunday. The offense got going in two victories last week, scoring eight goals. Amy Rubin collected three goals and two assists.

The Loyola Marymount basketball team has become the first in the nation to sign a shoe contract with L.A. Gear. The Lions got shoes from Reebok during Paul Westhead’s tenure. . . . Santa Clara setter Julie Jamile of Torrance set her second West Coast Conference volleyball record last week when she recorded 71 assists in a five-game match against Portland. Earlier this season she set a three-game record of 53 assists. . . . Another Torrance native, Pepperdine outside hitter Carolyn Hueth, leads the Waves with 164 digs.