COLLEGES / ALAN OTA : Coach Cautions Bruins About Possible Letdown

If the UCLA women’s volleyball team is to win an unprecedented third consecutive national championship, Coach Andy Banachowski knows the No. 1 Bruins cannot look past a team they have beaten twice this season.

So when Arizona State plays Friday at 6 p.m. at Pauley Pavilion in an NCAA West Regional semifinal, UCLA will give the No. 14 Sun Devils their full attention.

“We’ve seen them play us close before and have posed some difficulty for us in bits and pieces,” Banachowski said. “They’re not a pushover by any means.”

Although the Bruins (30-0) swept the Sun Devils (23-7) in Pacific 10 Conference play, they were extended for one game in both matches, which lends encouragement to Arizona State Coach Patti Snyder.

“You have to have tough passing and serving, putting their backs to the wall early to give your team more options on offense,” Snyder said. “That’s the only way you’re going to beat UCLA.

“We just haven’t been able to do it against them throughout three games.”

According to Snyder, the most consistent Arizona State player has been 6-foot senior middle blocker Christine Everett, who leads the team with 363 digs. But the offensive leader has been 6-foot freshman outside hitter Christine Garner, who is “the big reason why we’ve done so well this year,” Snyder said. She leads the team in kills with 469, and in the two matches against UCLA had 34 kills and a .460 hitting percentage.

The UCLA offensive leaders have been 6-foot-1 senior outside hitter Natalie Williams with 402 kills and 6-foot senior outside hitter Elaine Youngs with 46 service aces. Senior Marissa Hatchett, a 6-foot-1 middle blocker, leads the team with 155 blocks.

The three Bruin players will receive plenty of attention from the Sun Devils.

“Natalie, for some reason, hasn’t had her best games against us,” Snyder said. “But Marissa Hatchett and Elaine Youngs just had field days.

“We have to neutralize all three if we expect to win. And that’s tough to do.”

Several high school seniors signed with UCLA during November’s early signing period.

Track & Field--Amy Acuff of Calallen High in Corpus Christi, Tex., established the national interscholastic record in the high jump with a mark of 6 feet 3 inches and competed in the 1992 U.S. Olympic Trials as a 16-year-old.

Baseball--Jeff D’Amico, a right-handed pitcher-shortstop from Redmond High in Redmond, Wash.; Seth Bean, a right-handed pitcher from Lompoc (Calif.) High; Benny Craig, an outfielder from Grossmont High in La Mesa; John Phillips, a right-handed pitcher from Bullard High in Fresno, and Jeff Suppan, a right-handed pitcher from Crespi High collectively represent one of the UCLA’s best recruiting classes, according to Coach Gary Adams.

“This ranks up there with the one that came in the fall of 1976, which included Tim Leary and Dave Schmidt,” he said. “Suppan is the best pitcher in the City. Bean, Phillips and D’Amico are the best in their areas. And Craig, who is a power hitter and runs well, is the best all-around player in San Diego.”

D’Amico and Phillips were members of the high school national team that played in South Korea last summer.

Men’s golf--Eddy Lee of Corona High won the Rolex Junior Championship in Tucson two weeks ago and is regarded by some scouts as the nation’s No. 1 high school prospect.

Women’s golf--Eunice Choi of Laguna Hills High won the American Junior Golf Assn. Robert Trent Jones Tournament in Ithaca, N.Y., in August by four strokes. The 1990 Southern California PGA Junior Player of the Year is considered a blue-chip recruit, according to Coach Jackie Steinmann. Debbie Kim of Poway High was the 1992 San Diego Junior Golf Player of the Year.

Men’s volleyball--Paul Nihipali, a 6-foot-7 middle blocker from Esperanza High, was a junior national All-American and first-team All-Southern Section selection. Tom Stillwell, a 6-foot-7 middle blocker from Notre Dame High in Sherman Oaks, was a member of the USA Junior National team.

Softball--B’Ann Burns of Greenway High in Phoenix, is an American Softball Assn. Junior All-American. The 6-1 right-hander led Greenway to two consecutive state championships and is regarded as the nation’s No. 1 high school pitcher. Nicole Odom, an infielder-outfielder from South Torrance High, was voted most valuable player at the ASA Junior National championships.

Alleah Poulson, a first baseman-outfielder from Irvine High, was an All-Southern Section selection and batted .422 in 1991. Kari Robinette, first baseman-catcher from Edmonds-Woodway High in Edmonds, Wash., was a first-team selection in her area and a three-year league MVP.

Swimming--Glenda Leuders of St. Joseph Academy in St. Louis qualified for the Senior Nationals in the 100- and 200-meter breaststroke. Michelle Perry of El Toro High is the two-time defending Southern Section champion in the 100-yard freestyle and qualified in the 100-meter freestyle and 100-meter breaststroke in the Senior Nationals. Suzanne Steres of McCullough High in Woodlands, Tex., qualified for the Seniors in the 200 freestyle. All three swimmers are high school All-Americans.

Men’s gymnastics-- Spencer Slaton of Marist High in Atlanta was a member of the USA Junior National Team and ranked among the top three junior gymnasts in the country.

Women’s gymnastics--Staci (Sunshine) Smith of Arlington Heights High in Fort Worth and Elizabeth Lahey of Corona del Sol High in Mesa, Ariz., are elite-level gymnasts and are ranked among the top 10 in the nation.

Men’s tennis--Eric Lin of Anaheim Canyon High won the National 18 Indoor doubles championship in Kansas City, Kan., two weeks ago and is ranked in the top 10 in 18-singles by the Southern California United States Tennis Assn.

Women’s tennis--Stacey Jellen of Calabasas High is ranked nationally in the top 10 18-singles.

Notes

Although forewarned by other coaches of how quickly game plans collapse under an attack of the UCLA women’s volleyball team, Ball State Coach Randy Litchfield was stunned by the suddenness of his team’s breakdown. The Cardinals were defeated by the Bruins, 15-1, 15-4, 15-0, in 53 minutes during the first round of the NCAA playoffs.

Ball State was making its debut in the tournament and meeting the Bruins for the first time.

“UCLA was able to dig, set and hit faster than we could align our defense,” Litchfield said. “They are perhaps the best women’s team I have seen.”

After Friday’s UCLA-Arizona State match, No. 11 USC (21-8) plays No. 8 Brigham Young (23-9) at 8 p.m. The winners will play for the NCAA West Regional championship on Saturday. The regional champion advances to the NCAA Championships at the University of New Mexico Dec. 17-19.

The Pepperdine women’s basketball team plays at UC Santa Barbara on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Waves have won their first two games and are led by junior forward Nikki Brodowy (16.5 points, 9.0 rebounds) and senior forward Barbara Tanner (12.5 points, 6.5 rebounds). UC Santa Barbara was 27-5 last season. The Gauchos defeated Houston in the first round of the NCAA tournament before losing to eventual national champion Stanford, 82-73.