SPORTSCOPE : No. 4 UCLA Water Polo Team Meets Pepperdine

The fourth-ranked UCLA water polo team (22-7) and No. 5 Pepperdine (21-8) will meet in the first round of the NCAA playoffs at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach.

Other first-round matches Friday: No. 1 California (26-1) vs. No. 13 Brown (20-9), 3 p.m.; No. 2 Stanford (24-5) vs. No. 10 Air Force (19-6), 4:30 p.m., and No. 3 UC Santa Barbara (22-7) vs. No. 12 Navy (24-5).

Pepperdine, the only team to defeat Cal this season, and Santa Barbara tied for first place in the Big West Conference, each at 9-1. UCLA finished third in the Pacific 10 Conference at 2-3 behind first-place Cal and second-place Stanford.

The Waves, coming off a 6-5 victory over No. 7 Cal State Long Beach, are led by Geoffrey Clark, the Big West Conference Player of the Year, and Henry Rabello. Rabello leads Pepperdine in scoring with 78 goals and Clark is second at 71.

All-Big West selections besides Clark included Rabello and teammate Steve Long, both on the second team.

All-Pac-10 first-team selections for UCLA were Stefan Pollman, Javier Escobar and goalkeeper Dan Hackett. Pollman set a school single-season scoring record this year with 107 goals. Javier Escobar finished the regular season with 45 goals, 26 steals and 26 assists and Hackett had 157 saves.

The Bruins beat Pepperdine 13-3 and 10-4 earlier this season, but the Waves won the last match, 11-10, in overtime.

The tournament continues Saturday with consolation matches at 1 p.m. and 2:30 and games between first-round winners will be at 6 p.m. and 7:30. On Sunday matches begin at 1 p.m. and end with the championship at 7:30.

The second-ranked UCLA men’s soccer team (16-1-3) will play host to Southern Methodist (18-3-1) in the quarterfinals of the NCAA playoffs at 1 p.m. Sunday at the North Soccer Field on campus.

The Bruins, who had a bye in the first round, are coming off a 2-1 victory over the University of San Diego. Mike Lapper scored UCLA’s first goal, and Joe-Max Moore scored another game-winning goal, his team-high fifth game-winner of the season.

SMU opened the NCAA playoffs with a 2-1 victory over Illinois State and beat Fresno State, 2-1, in the second round.

The top-ranked UCLA women’s volleyball team (29-1 overall and 18-0 in the Pac-10), will end the regular season this weekend in the Community Banker’s tournament at Stockton.

The Bruins, who won their third consecutive conference championship this year, will play Illinois (19-10) at 5:30 p.m. Friday and No. 5 Pacific (25-5) will meet California (9-19) at 7:30. The tournament continues Saturday with the third-place match at 5:30 p.m. and the championship at 7:30.

On Friday UCLA, clinched the Pac-10 title with a four-game victory over Washington State and then closed out its conference schedule Saturday with a three-game sweep of Washington. Stanford finished second in the conference at 16-2. Earlier last week the Bruins defeated USC in three games. The Bruins have won a record 54 consecutive conference victories.

UCLA season leaders include Natalie Williams with 487 kills and Marissa Hatchett with 50 blocks and 159 block assists. Bruin Holly McPeak has 5,108 career sets and is the 13th player in the NCAA Division I to have passed the 5,000 mark.

The Pepperdine women’s volleyball team (24-5 as the week began), ranked ninth nationally by Volleyball Monthly and No. 11 by the American Volleyball Coaches Assn., is awaiting Sunday’s announcement of pairings in the NCAA playoffs.

The Waves, who finished 14-0 in the West Coast Conference, won their fourth consecutive conference title last week, defeating the University of San Francisco in three games and St. Mary’s and Santa Clara, each in four.

Pepperdine’s Nina Matthies shared WCC Coach of the Year honors with Sean Madden of second-place Gonzaga. All-conference selections for the Waves were Lesli Asplund, Cari Delson and Carolyn Hueth on the first team and Blair Noonan on the second team. Pepperdine’s Jennifer Meredith was selected to the conference’s all-freshman team.

The UCLA women’s basketball team, which finished 17-12 last season, will open the season Saturday against Iowa in the Amana-Hawkeye Classic tournament at Iowa City, Iowa. In Saturday’s other game, Kansas will meet Louisiana State. The tournament ends Sunday.

Bruin Coach Billie Moore has six letter winners returning: All-Pac-10 junior guard Rehema Stephens, the conference scoring leader last season with a 20.1 average; sophomore guard Nicole Anderson, who made the all-conference freshman team; junior center Lynn Kamrath, junior guard DeDe Mosman, sophomore forward Nicole Young and senior guard Rachelle Roulier.

Freshmen include forwards Laura Collins and Amy Jalewalia, guards Detra Lockhart and Marcy Tarabochia, center Dawn Baker and center-forward Gene VanOostveen from the Netherlands. Forward Natalie Williams, who redshirted in basketball last season, will join Moore’s team in December after she completes her season with the volleyball team.

The Pepperdine women’s basketball team (14-14 last season) will start its season Friday in the Comfort Inn Downtown tournament in Atlanta. The Waves will open against East Tennessee State. Georgia Tech will face North Carolina Wilmington in the other first-round game. The tournament ends Saturday.

Wave Coach Ron Fortner has two returning starters: All-West Coast Conference junior forward Shannon Frowiss and senior center Sharon Wilson. Other starters include guards Kathy Long, a junior, and Aimee McDaniel, a freshman, and sophomore forward Kelsey Kline.

Reserves include senior guard Trina Runge, forwards Linda Waters, a junior, and Carrie Milligan, a sophomore, and sophomore center Shannon Liber.

The Santa Monica College men’s basketball team (3-1 as the week began) will compete in the Antelope Valley College tournament, which begins Wednesday and ends Dec. 1.

Coach John McMullen’s Corsairs opened the season with a 99-98 overtime victory over Pasadena City and last week finished third in the Cypress College tournament. In the tournament, SMC beat Central Arizona, 95-82, and Cypress, 68-59, and lost to Ventura, 88-81.

Sophomore guard Donald Smith leads the Corsairs with an average of 20 points a game. Other sophomore starters are guard-forward Earic Peters, who is averaging 11 points and nine rebounds; guard Dana Harris and guard Jason Shea, averaging eight assists. The other starter is freshman forward Brandon Battle.

The American team that will compete in the world championships of foot-volleyball in Thailand in December will play in an exhibition tournament with American and Asian teams from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday at Frazer Park, Ocean Park Boulevard and Barnard Way in Santa Monica.

Foot-volleyball, known as sepak takraw in Thailand, is a combination of soccer and volleyball played by three-man teams. The game was a medal event in the 1990 Asian Games in China.

The world championships among 16 teams from different nations will be held Dec. 6-9 in Bangkok.

Three Westside high school girls’ teams won volleyball championships last weekend. Palisades won its second consecutive Los Angeles City 4-A Division title and its 15th City championship overall, defeating El Camino Real in four games. Notre Dame Academy beat Long Beach Jordan in five games to win the Southern Section 4-A title, and Windward swept three games from Desert and won the Southern Section 1-A championship.

The UCLA women’s swim team (4-0) will compete Nov. 29 through Dec. 1 in the U.S. Open, and the Bruin men (2-1) will be at the Nebraska Sprints and Invitational on Dec. 1-2.

Last week the UCLA women defeated Arizona, 147-94, and Arizona State, 146.5-96.5. Sheri Smith was a triple winner against the Sun Devils, taking the 1,000-meter freestyle in 10:06.69, the 200 butterfly in 2:05.01 and the 500 free in 4:54.18. Against Arizona, Becky Bruch won the 400 individual medley in 4:34.71 and the 200 breaststroke in 2:19.78.

The Bruin men edged Arizona, 121-119, but lost to Arizona State, 124-119. Against the Sun Devils, Andrea Cecci won the 100 breaststroke in 56.58 and was second in the 200 breaststroke in 2:02.43.