Tomoyasu Making Difference for Cal Poly Pomona Volleyball

It did not take long for Mitsue Tomoyasu to adjust to living in the United States.

About the only difficulty for Tomoyasu, an outside hitter for the Cal Poly Pomona women’s volleyball team who is a native of Japan, was overcoming the language barrier.

Actually, Tomoyasu had arrived in the United States in 1988 with the intention of attending Cal State Los Angeles and playing volleyball for that school.

“I tried to play there and they wanted me there, but I didn’t know enough English and I didn’t stay,” she said.

So Tomoyasu wound up competing the last two years at Pasadena City College, where she earned all-state honors and was voted most valuable player of the South Coast Conference last season.

Despite her success at the community college level, Cal Poly Pomona was the only university in the state that offered Tomoyasu a scholarship.

“A couple of schools from outside the state sent me letters, but I didn’t want to go out of the state,” she said.

That was good news for Cal Poly Pomona because Tomoyasu is enjoying a banner season with the Broncos. The 6-foot junior has led Pomona in digs and kills--including a school-record 31 against Chapman last week--to help the team post a 12-3 record and gain the No. 13 ranking in NCAA Division II.

It doesn’t hurt that, at 26, she happens to be a little older and more experienced than most of her opponents.

Tomoyasu has been playing volleyball for more than 13 years including three seasons at Akashi High in Hyogo, Japan, and five with the Unitika Corp. team that competes in the highly competitive Japan League.

“After I graduated from high school, I wanted to study English because it’s an important language in the entire world,” she said. “But after high school, I also wanted to continue playing and I figured I could study after I finished playing. So I played for the company team for five years and then I came here.”

When Tomoyasu first arrived in this country in 1988, she said it was only with the intention of attending college.

“I didn’t plan to play here, but this has given me a good opportunity to play and study here, so it has been good for me,” she said.

She was also happy to get more playing time.

“I’m enjoying playing here because when I was with the company team I wasn’t even in the starting six, and here I am,” Tomoyasu said.

Tomoyasu had little difficulty breaking into the Broncos’ lineup although she acknowledged it was difficult to adjust to the team’s formations.

“Playing here is kind of different from Japanese style,” she said. “I was confused at first, but now I’m used to it.”

Tomoyasu did not have as much difficulty becoming accustomed to competing on the Division II level, which she says is a notch below playing in the Japan League.

“Compared to (community) college, it’s much better, but compared to my company team, it’s not,” she said. “My company team is almost like a pro team, so the playing level is pretty good.”

She said her experience in the sport and her age are benefits, although there are drawbacks.

“I don’t feel any different from my teammates,” Tomoyasu said. “I still feel like I’m 22 or 23, but I feel my body is getting old and sometimes I get a little frustrated. I used to be able to do some things and now I can’t.”

That may be true, but with her play so far this season, the Cal Poly Pomona coaching staff and Tomoyasu’s teammates are not about to complain.

It is not as if the Cal State San Bernardino men’s soccer team did not expect to be competitive in its first season in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. and NCAA Division II. But few would have predicted the success that the Coyotes have had so far this season.

CS San Bernardino, ranked No. 7 in Division II with an 11-1-1 record, leads the conference at 4-0. It figures to move even higher in the national rankings after defeating No. 16 Cal State Bakersfield, 1-0, at Bakersfield last week.

With its 4-0 shutout of Cal Poly Pomona last Saturday, the Coyotes also set a school record with their ninth consecutive victory. They also have a 12-game unbeaten streak and are 7-0-1 against Division II opponents.

The only team to defeat CS San Bernardino this season was Division I power San Diego State, which won, 3-1, in overtime, in the first match of the season on Aug. 30. Since its 1-1 tie with San Francisco State on Sept. 14, CS San Bernardino has outscored its opponents by a 27-2 margin.

Sophomore forward Rolando Uribe ranks among the CCAA scoring leaders with 25 points, and sophomore goalkeeper Brian McCully is listed among the Division II leaders with an 0.55 goals-against average. He has three shutouts in four CCAA contests and an 0.23 goals-against average.

Through its first four games, Occidental is the only undefeated college division football team in the Southland, but it has hardly been a cakewalk.

Since a 31-9 victory over Pomona-Pitzer in its season opener, Occidental has won by narrow margins in its last three games.

Three weeks ago, the Tigers needed an impressive defensive stand deep in their territory to hold on for a 19-14 victory over Azusa Pacific.

The next week, it took a last-second 23-yard field goal by David Glassmire to pull out a 17-14 decision over Claremont-Mudd.

Occidental cut it close again Saturday, stopping Trinity (Tex.) quarterback David Stokes on a two-point pass attempt with 1:04 remaining to post an 18-17 victory at San Antonio.

The Tigers hope their task is a little less difficult when they play host to struggling Cal Lutheran (1-5) in a nonconference game Saturday night in Eagle Rock.

College Division Notes

The Cal State Dominguez Hills women’s soccer team may have scored its biggest victory in the 1-0 upset of UC Santa Barbara, the 18th-ranked team in NCAA Division I, at Dominguez Hills Sunday. The Toros are ranked No. 5 in Division II with a 10-2-1 record and lead the CCAA at 3-0.

In a matchup of the only remaining winless college division football teams in the Southland, Pomona-Pitzer defeated its Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference rival, Claremont-Mudd, 22-9. Pomona is 1-4 and Claremont 0-5. . . . The La Verne football team matched its win total of last season with a 28-6 victory over Cal Lutheran last Saturday. The Leopards, 4-5 last season, are 4-1 under first-year Coach Rex Huigens. . . . Quarterback Jon Barnes passed for 411 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for three touchdowns, and wide receiver Amahl Thomas made 10 receptions for 206 yards and two touchdowns in UC Santa Barbara’s 42-31 victory over Cal State Hayward last week. The Gauchos are 3-2 in their first season in the NCAA Division II.

The Cal Poly Pomona and Pomona-Pitzer women’s tennis teams have each qualified two players for the Rolex National Indoor College Championships Nov. 1-3 at Corpus Christi, Tex. In Division II, Cal Poly Pomona will be represented by Julie Slattery and Rebecca Huereque in doubles and Slattery in singles. The Pomona-Pitzer doubles team of Erin Hendricks and Shelly Keeler will compete in Division III. . . . Leslie Burke, a former star at Chapman, has been named women’s softball coach at Christ College Irvine. She replaces Jack Robinson, who resigned to become coach at Saddleback College.