COLLEGES / IRENE GARCIA : Former El Camino Quarterback Dolce Is a Real Beaut for Utes

Frank Dolce, the former El Camino College quarterback, is as impressive at the University of Utah as he was for the Warriors. The 6-foot-1, 200-pound junior is a big hit among local media and fans.

“He is real popular,” Utah sports information director Bruce Woodbury said. “He’s usually the guy people want to talk to. Everybody talks to him after the game. He’s had lots of stories in both local papers.”

San Diego Coach Al Luginbill, whose team beat Utah, 24-21, last week, credits Dolce with turning the Utes’ program around. Luginbill says that Utah--with the exception of Dolce--is basically the same team San Diego beat, 66-14, last year.

“That kid at quarterback has brought them to a different level,” Luginbill said. “He’s hell on wheels. He’s a flat-out player.”

Dolce, who redshirted last year, has completed 146 of 262 passes for 1,971 yards and 12 touchdowns. Utah (5-3) has already won more games than it did last season, when it finished 4-7.

“His biggest asset as a quarterback is that he’s very smart,” Utah Coach Ron McBride said. “He listens to what’s being said and he makes good decisions on the field with the football.”

McBride says Dolce reminds him of Randy Wright, a quarterback he coached at Wisconsin. After a successful career at Wisconsin, Wright played seven seasons in the NFL with the Green Bay Packers.

“They both have good feet, they’re both very intelligent and they’re about the same size-wise,” McBride said. “They’re the same kind of player.”

Woodbury says coaches in the Western Athletic Conference are already talking about Dolce’s senior year.

“He’s going to be one of the best quarterbacks in the conference next year,” he said. “He will definitely end up as one of the better quarterbacks we’ve had here.”

Dolce says it is nice to be the big man in town. He says wherever he goes, he is usually recognized.

“There’s a big difference between Salt Lake City and L.A. in terms of the amount of people,” Dolce said. “Athletics are a big thing here. It’s real exciting to get all the press. It’s something I’ve never really been through before.

“I sign autographs all the time and kids wave to me on the street. People at the mall come up to me and say, ‘We’re real excited about football this year.’ Or they’ll say, ‘You’re doing a great job.’ It’s a real honor to be recognized like that.”

Dolce had a tough act to follow at El Camino. He succeeded two of the school’s best quarterbacks, All-Americans Ron Barber (1985) and Dan Speltz (1987).

But three games into Dolce’s sophomore season, El Camino Coach John Featherstone made it clear he thought Dolce was headed for stardom.

“Frank has all the best qualities of both those guys,” he said. “He does just about everything right. He’s a very well-rounded quarterback. He has great feet and he flushes out and makes things happen.”

Fullerton Coach Hal Sherbeck praised El Camino’s offense that season and credited Dolce.

“We couldn’t get to him,” Sherbeck said. “He has that presence of mind and experience to throw the ball and not take the sack. He can pull the trigger any time and he’s very smart.”

Dolce still holds the El Camino record for best passing percentage (63.2). He led the Warriors to a 10-1 record as a sophomore in 1989 and was named a community college All-American. As a freshman at El Camino, Dolce passed for 1,211 yards and 10 touchdowns, despite playing with an ankle injury.

Joli and Mary Eberhart, the sisters who play volleyball for rival schools, have much in common.

They wear the same number (1) and are the shortest players on their team. Joli, who is 5 foot 8, is Loyola Marymount’s top hitter and Mary, who is 5-4, is one of Pepperdine’s top defensive players.

When the schools played each other last week at Gersten Pavilion, Joli led the Lions with 12 kills. Mary had a kill and eight digs for the Waves, who won the match to remain undefeated in the West Coast Conference.

The sisters’ parents, Greg and Annette, were seen cheering for both teams. They sat three rows up at midcourt, in what they called “neutral” territory.

“We sat in the middle again,” Annette Eberhart said. “It’s a very difficult thing to do. There’s lots of mixed emotions. We were torn on who to root for. There’s just no feeling that you want one or the other to win.”

Annette says her daughters may be competitive, but they’re best friends. The sisters, only 15 months apart, played together at Mater Dei High in Santa Ana. Mary, 19, walked on at Pepperdine last year and earned a scholarship this season. Joli, 21, was an All-American for Golden West College’s state championship team last year.

“After the match Joli said, ‘Can you believe that mom?’ I hit that ball so well and Mary was able to dig it.’ But they understand it’s competitive out there,” Annette said.

Notes

Loyola Marymount cross-country runner Gina Eroen is expected to qualify for the NCAA Regionals by finishing in the top 10 at Saturday’s West Coast Conference championship meet. Eroen was the first athlete in school history to qualify for the NCAA cross-country meet last year. . . . El Camino strong safety Donovan Gallatin was named a Mission Conference player of the week after his 20-tackle game last week against Cerritos College. . . . Wide receiver Latario Rachal also made the weekly list with 256 all-purpose yards. The freshman from Carson High returned six kickoffs for 166 yards and caught six passes for 73 yards. He also scored on a 17-yard run.

Loyola’s golf team had one of the school’s best tournament performances last week at the Stanford Cardinal Invitational. The Lions placed ninth in the 24-team field that included college powerhouse programs such as Hawaii, San Diego State and Santa Clara. Loyola was led by junior John Chung, who finished 12th among 120 golfers with a three-round total of 219. . . . Despite missing three games with a sprained knee, Cal State Dominguez Hills soccer forward Amy Rubin leads the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. with 16 goals and 34 points.