COLLEGES NOTES / ALAN DROOZ : Yanai Sets Sights on 200 Victories

Dave Yanai, the dean of California Collegiate Athletic Assn. coaches, opens his 14th season as coach of the Cal State Dominguez Hills men’s basketball team when the Toros play Saturday at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix.

Yanai is coming off a sub-par 10-17 season, but expects to have one of his best teams in 1990-91.

The only coach the Toros have ever had, Yanai is four victories shy of 200 for his college coaching career. According to the CCAA record book, only four conference coaches have more victories than Yanai: Bob Stull with 324 in 24 seasons at Cal Poly Pomona, Pete Cassidy with 282 in 20 years at Cal State Northridge and Don Perkins with 213 in 16 seasons at Chapman.

The telling statistic in Yanai’s career in the CCAA, where the talent level is rarely consistent, is that his 15-victory per season average is better than any of the four conference coaches with more victories.

Yanai (196-154) has five 20-win seasons, has been to three NCAA Western Regionals and one NAIA national tournament. He has had a winning record in all but four seasons.

Yanai said he has not really thought about his status in the CCAA.

“It seems like about a half-dozen years,” he said. “Every year I get excited. I hadn’t really noticed (the passage of time) unless somebody reminds me.”

Not only is this one of Yanai’s deepest teams, with a rotation of perhaps 10 solid players when Keith Billingslea becomes eligible in mid-December, but he said, “this is a bright team, very receptive. It has improved at a faster rate than previous teams.”

But Dominguez Hills will be tested as the conference looks strong this season.

“It’s a very interesting league from a coaching standpoint,” he said. “I feel very strongly about the capabilities of the guys coaching in this league. The teams in this league are very difficult to prepare for. They all pose different problems. It’s always an interesting challenge getting prepared for games.”

It is a challenge that Yanai continues to savor.

“Like they say, when you’re having a satisfying time, it goes by fast,” he said.

After his team defeated an Australian squad, 137-119, on Saturday, Loyola Marymount basketball Coach Jay Hillock was generally pleased with the effort, but is looking for tighter defense from the zone he has installed for use against opponents’ set-up offenses.

“I thought we played hard (but) I was hoping our zone might do a little better,” he said. “I hope that zone can get a little tightened up.”

With 6-foot-10 Czechoslovakian transfer Richard Petruska sidelined because of a groin injury, the players who probably helped themselves were junior John O’Connell and sophomore Christian Scott, who split time in the post. O’Connell had 16 points and 14 rebounds in 23 minutes, hitting all three three-point attempts. Scott, playing with a face mask to protect a broken nose, had 12 points and nine rebounds in 23 minutes.

“O’Connell had a good game and Scott gave us a big-time first half,” Hillock said. “Petruska will be out a few more weeks. I’d still like to get our inside game going, but in the long run (his absence) might make us a better team.”

Little Dig: Pepperdine basketball Coach Tom Asbury, the tallest coach in the West Coast Conference, got off a zinger at his more diminutive Loyola counterpart at the conference’s media day: “At point guard we’ve got a guy named Damin Lopez, little tiny guy, you can hardly see him--about Hillock’s size.”

The Loyola Marymount volleyball team, trying to secure third place in the West Coast Conference, closes out its season with matches at St. Mary’s tonight and at San Francisco Saturday. Both matches begin at 7:30. One victory would assure the Lions (15-15 overall, 7-4 in the conference) at least a tie for third. St. Mary’s (13-16) and USF (9-18) came into the week tied for last place at 2-10.

Lion senior Kerry House is ranked second in the country in digs with an average of 5.18 per game. She leads the conference with 5.8 digs and is second in kills with a 4.4 average.

However they finish, the Lions have made big gains under first-year Coach Steve Stratos. Their nonconference record is 8-11, compared to 1-12 last year, and they came into the week with seven more victories than in 1989.

Notes

Loyola Marymount baseball player Tim Williams, who suffered an eye injury in a drive-by shooting in September, is recovering on schedule and is expected to make a full recovery. Williams, an outfielder with professional aspirations, hopes to get medical clearance to return to practice after Thanksgiving. . . . Marcellus Lee, a veteran of three Loyola basketball seasons and a member of last season’s Final Eight team, makes his Division II debut tonight for Cal Poly Pomona. The Broncos will be facing Cal State Hayward in their own tournament at 7:30. The 6-foot-9 Lee will start at center. He sat out a year at Loyola, giving him a year’s eligibility at the lower level.

The Dominguez Hills volleyball team closed out its season Thursday with a nonconference match against U.S. International. The Lady Toros lost their final California Collegiate Athletic Assn. match Tuesday to finish 1-9 in the conference. Over the weekend sophomore Angela Hamer became the first player in school history to top 200 digs in a season. . . . Toro senior Martin Mira finished third in conference soccer scoring with 23 points (eight goals, seven assists), one point out of second. Cal State Bakersfield’s Jeremy Gunn was the runaway leader with 15 goals and 41 points.