Coach of UCLA Women’s Tennis Has Seen His Team Go This Route

Two familiar opponents met No. 4 UCLA women’s tennis team in the national indoor team championships in Madison, Wis., when the Bruins defeated No. 11 Pepperdine in the quarterfinals, then lost to top-ranked Florida in the semifinals on Friday and Saturday.

UCLA Coach Bill Zaima has had enough of it.

The Intercollegiate Tennis Coaches Assn. competition marked the seventh time UCLA and Florida have met in a national tournament semifinal. They have met in the NCAA semifinals the last four years and have alternated victories, beginning when Florida beat the Bruins at UCLA in 1988. The two teams also have met in the semifinals the past two years at the national indoor championships.

Fifth-ranked Stanford, which has won the past six NCAA championships--eight in the last 10 years--was in Sunday’s final of the national indoor championships this year for its fifth consecutive appearance.

But the Cardinal lost the championship match to Florida, 5-3.

“(Florida) Coach Andy Brandi and I have made a pact,” Zaima said. “We will not meet in the semifinals of the NCAAs (May 6-10) and beat up on each other and let Stanford reap the benefits.”

UCLA missed Anne Mall, a freshman who won the 1990 National Indoor singles and doubles championships in the 18-and-under division, and who has been sidelined with a stress fracture in her left foot for the past two weeks. Jenny Hilt, a sophomore, filled in for Mall at No. 6 singles and won her first-round match, then lost her singles matches in the quarterfinals and semifinals.

Iwalani McCalla, playing No. 1 singles for UCLA, defeated top-ranked Lisa Raymond, a Florida freshman, but the Bruins lost, 5-4, in a match which lasted until 11:05 p.m.

Although UCLA defeated Pepperdine, 6-3, on Jan. 25, Waves’ Coach Gualberto Escudero was eager to meet the Bruins again, “especially knowing that UCLA was missing (Mall).” UCLA then defeated Pepperdine, 5-4.

UCLA (11-1) finished tied for third place with second-ranked Georgia (6-2), and Pepperdine finished tied for seventh with 10th-ranked Miami.

The No. 2 USC men’s tennis team finished tied for third place with No. 10 Notre Dame in the men’s National Indoor Team Championships Feb. 20-23. The Trojans, who lost in the semifinals to No. 3 Stanford, 4-2, were without Brian MacPhie, who was rehabilitating from an elbow injury.

“You take your No. 1 singles and doubles player out, and it’s going to make the difference in the match,” USC Coach Dick Leach said.

Top-ranked UCLA finished tied for fifth place with Georgia, and No. 7 Pepperdine finished tied for ninth with Kentucky.

Only 4 feet 11, UCLA freshman Kareema Marrow is causing a commotion in collegiate gymnastics, but Marrow doesn’t understand the fuss.

Marrow, who held the attention of Pauley Pavilion Saturday night in the men’s and women’s UCLA Gymnastics Invitational when she won the all-around and led UCLA to a first-place finish, has led the Bruins in every meet this season.

She was the first gymnast to perform a piked full-in during college competition when she did the floor exercise maneuver in the Bruins’ first meet against Cal State Fullerton on Jan. 18.

“To me, it’s like no big deal,” Marrow said.

Marrow ranks eighth nationally in the all-around, fourth in floor exercise and 20th on bars.

The top-ranked and undefeated Cal State Long Beach men’s volleyball team had its first test when it defeated No. 3 Stanford, 15-10, 15-10, 17-15, on Feb. 21.

Long Beach (15-0, 6-0) opened its season with a four-game victory over No. 4 UCLA in the Kilgour Cup on Jan. 17, but it did not play any other American Volleyball Coaches’ Assn. top-five team during the next month. But with its victory over Stanford and a 15-4, 15-11, 16-14 victory over No. 5 USC (6-6, 4-4) on Friday, little doubt remained about the validity of the 49ers’ No. 1 ranking.

“Unfortunately,” said Stanford outside hitter Dave Goss, “I don’t think they are playing their best volleyball yet.”

The Pepperdine women’s basketball team needed to win its final three games to have a chance to end its West Coast Conference season as one of the league’s top four teams and advance to the first WCC tournament March 13-14. Linda Waters showed up just in time.

Waters, a senior forward, scored 20 points--which was 13 more than her average--against the WCC’s top-ranked Portland (14-13 overall, 10-4 in the WCC) Friday night to lead the Waves to a 85-70 victory.

After not shooting to her potential all season, Waters recently reviewed films of the 1989-90 season when she averaged 13 points per game at Howard Junior College in Texas.

“I noticed a few things that I was doing a little differently,” Waters said, “and that made all the difference.”

Pepperdine (16-10 overall) defeated Gonzaga (7-20, 4-10 in WCC) Saturday night, 97-59, and is tied with St. Mary’s (19-7) for fourth place in the WCC. They are 8-5 in conference play.

The fourth tournament bid will be decided on Wednesday, when Pepperdine must win its season finale over Loyola Marymount (6-20 overall, 0-13 in WCC) and have San Francisco (17-9, 9-4) win at St. Mary’s for Pepperdine to advance to the tournament.

Pepperdine and St. Mary’s split their head-to-head games, and, if both win Wednesday, St. Mary’s will get the final tournament spot because of a better record against the league’s top teams.

Notes

Pete Manarino, in his ninth season as the Cal State Long Beach softball coach, got the 300th collegiate coaching victory of his career when the 49ers beat Minnesota, 8-5, two weeks ago in the San Diego State tournament. His college coaching record is 304-176. . . . The No. 4 UCLA women’s tennis team upset No. 3 Texas on Feb. 23. . . . Brian MacPhie’s singles and doubles titles in the Adidas Invitational Tennis Championships in Indian Wells, on Jan. 26, earned him wild-card entries in singles and in doubles, along with USC partner Jon Leach, in the $1,075,000 Newsweek Champions Cup, which is being held today through March 8 in Indian Wells. MacPhie is expected to be recovered from his elbow injury and to play in the tournament this week. . . . The results of the ITCA Men’s and Women’s National Indoor Collegiate Team Tennis Championships, which were held Feb. 20-23 and Feb 27-March 1, will have a heavy bearing on the next ITCA rankings, which will be released March 10.

This is a twice-monthly column focusing on non-revenue Division I sports at UCLA, USC, Pepperdine, Cal State Long Beach and Loyola Marymount.