SPORTS BRIEFS : 49ers Hitter Named Big West Volleyball Player of the Year

Antoinnette White, a 5-foot-9 outside hitter from Cal State Long Beach, has been chosen Big West Conference women’s volleyball player of the year, and 49er Coach Brian Gimmillaro has been selected conference coach of the year.

Other 49ers selected to the first team were junior setter Sabrina Hernandez and sophomore middle blocker Danielle Scott. Second team honors went to junior middle blocker Alicia Mills.

Bellflower High School graduate Taikeasha Williams, who plays for the University of Hawaii, was chosen to the first team.

The Cal State Long Beach women’s volleyball team is ranked second in the nation with a 32-1 record and recently won its first Big West Conference title. The 49ers play host to Northern Iowa (23-7) at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the opening round of the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. tournament.

No one from Cal State Long Beach was selected to the first team all-Big West Conference football team. Senior wide receiver Mark Seay, senior offensive tackle Corey Yeager, senior defensive lineman Ed Lair and senior linebacker Calvin Thomas made the second team.

Honorable mention honors went to senior kicker Sean Cheevers, senior punter Ray Magana, senior defensive back Bingo Williams and senior linebacker Chris Tsangaris. Cal State Long Beach was 2-9 overall and 2-5 in the Big West.

Rio Hondo College cross-country Coach Fred Mascorro has been voted Foothill Conference coach of the year for leading the Roadrunner men’s team to the conference title.

Long Beach City College football Coach Wil Shaw, who coached in more games than anyone else in school history, was fired earlier this week after the Vikings finished with a 1-9 record. Shaw will remain at the school as a teacher. He was hired in 1973 as defensive-back coach and was appointed head coach in 1984. His overall record was 28-48-2.

A pair of parochial girls’ high schools will attempt to win state CIF volleyball titles Saturday at Cal State Fullerton after capturing regional titles Tuesday night. St. Joseph High of Lakewood defeated Stockton St. Mary’s Tuesday and will meet El Toro of Lake Forest at 7 p.m. in the Division I championship contest Saturday. St. Anthony High of Long Beach defeated Yosemite High of Oakhurst Tuesday to advance to the state Division IV title game at 11 a.m. against Bear River of Grass Valley.

The L.A. Greater Basketball League, which will play some of its games at South Gate High School, has room for a few more teams in its winter youth program.

The league begins play Jan. 13 and has divisions for eighth- and ninth-graders, seventh- and eighth-graders, and sixth- and seventh-graders. Games will be on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings. Other sites are Locke High and Gompers Junior High in Los Angeles. The cost is $175 per team. For information call (213) 418-8491.

A regatta featuring the Cal State Long Beach men’s and women’s rowing clubs will be held at 7 a.m. Saturday at Marine Stadium in Long Beach. Some of the teams expected to participate are from USC, the University of San Diego, San Diego State, University of the Pacific and UC Santa Barbara.