COLLEGE DIVISION NOTEBOOK / MARTIN BECK : SCC Women Hoping for a Big Finish This Year

After a season of near misses, the Southern California College women’s volleyball team returned with a new attitude.

“If we have to suffer to win, we will,” SCC Coach Becky Pines said. “If we have to battle five hard games to win, we will do that.”

More often than not last season, the Vanguards suffered in defeat. After starting the season with a 12-5 record, SCC won only four of its last 18 matches.

SCC won only two Golden State Athletic Conference matches and finished second to last. Frustrating for Pines was that the Vanguards weren’t playing poorly, just inconsistently. They defeated Fresno Pacific, then the defending National Assn. of Intercollegiate champion, but weren’t able to break through in other conference matches.

“We had some really brilliant moments, but we lost too many of the five-game matches,” Pines said.

The Vanguards’ season-ending slump began during a trip to Hawaii, in which the team lost four matches in four days. Pines had hoped the trip would help prepare her players for the conference season, but instead they may have lost their competitive edge.

“I think we were more in the tourist mode than the volleyball mode,” Pines said.

SCC has a 12-4 record going into its conference opener against Point Loma Nazarene at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in Costa Mesa, and Pines says she believes her team is ready to win.

Point Loma (6-5), ranked 13th in this week’s NAIA poll, is the defending champion of the conference, which again should be one of the strongest in the nation. Four teams--Fresno Pacific (No. 3), Azusa Pacific (No. 9), Point Loma and Westmont (No. 23)--are ranked in the top 25 nationally.

SCC received no votes in the poll and was picked to finish sixth in the conference again in the preseason coaches’ poll, but Pines says she believes her team will surprise the prognosticators.

“Our conference is definitely the strongest in the country,” Pines said. “The competition will be great, but I think this time we could go to nationals.”

One of the reasons Pines is bullish on the Vanguards’ conference season is the addition of two talented freshmen.

Genevie Wright, a middle blocker from Ganesha High in Pomona, had 26 kills in a victory over Colorado Christian, and Simone Burgesmeir, an outside hitter from Johannesburg, South Africa, plays aggressively.

“I think she sparks the whole team,” Pines said. “Spectators like it when she’s playing because she’s all over the floor.”

Three key returning players from last season’s team are outside hitters Krista Hoover and Leslie Lastrapes, and setter Julie Jones, who was named to the all-tournament team after the Vanguards’ second-place finish at the Whittier Tournament.

The Vanguards are also helped by the addition of Eric Boyles, an assistant coach who is also a professional beach volleyball player.

Due date: If the Vanguards are one of the five conference teams to qualify for the district playoffs in early November, they may be without their coach. Pines is pregnant with her first child and her due date coincides with the district playoffs, Nov. 12, 15-16.

If she is unable to coach, Boyles will take over the team.

After being shut out in three consecutive games, the Christ College Irvine men’s soccer team finally broke through Tuesday. The Eagles, who had scored four goals in their first five games this season, scored six in their sixth--a 6-1 victory over La Verne.

Freshmen Dan Smuts and Brian Beaman each scored two goals in the victory. Beaman, who played at Laguna Hills High, has four goals and shares the team lead in scoring with Aaron Clasen.

College Division Notes

A few spots still remain for the Chapman Athletic Foundation Golf Tournament Oct. 14 at Newport Beach Country Club. The $250 entry fee includes greens and cart fees, lunch and refreshments on the course, an awards dinner and an auction that includes Super and Rose bowls. There will also be a putting contest with men’s basketball Coach Bob Boyd and hole-in-one awards of an automobile and $10,000. The fee is tax deductable and proceeds help pay for scholarships for Chapman athletes. . . . Christ College Irvine women’s volleyball player Tami Johnson was named to the all-tournament team at the Whittier Tournament after helping the Eagles win four of their six matches. The Eagles were swept, 15-10, 15-11, 16-14, by Biola Tuesday night and are 9-9. . . . SCC cross-country runner Amber Coley finished fourth at the Whittier Invitational Saturday with a 5-kilometer time of 19 minutes 45 seconds.