COLLEGES / ALAN OTA : UCLA Softball Team Getting Ready for Title Defense

The UCLA softball team and standout pitcher Lisa Fernandez have much at stake when they open the season today by playing host to No. 14 Cal State Northridge at 1 p.m.

The top-ranked Bruins are the defending NCAA champions, having won four of the past five titles. Fernandez, a senior, has a 29-game winning streak, having not been scored on in 65 innings.

Fernandez, a three-time All-American who also plays third base, had a 0.14 earned-run average, batted .401 and led the Pacific 10 Conference in hits and runs last season.

Arizona Coach Mike Candrea, whose team lost to UCLA, 2-0, in the 1992 College World Series title game, thinks Fernandez is worth her weight in gold.

“If she was a baseball player, Lisa would go on to make millions of dollars,” Candrea said. “She’s as good as anything I’ve seen, male or female.”

Cal State Long Beach Coach Pete Manarino, who missed an opportunity to coach Fernandez at St. Joseph’s High by one season, anticipated much from the pitcher after watching her play in junior high.

“It was all there in the ninth grade,” Manarino said. “She was so much above the other players.

“Now she’s the best all-around player in the NCAA. She’s a great pitcher, a great infielder, and one of the best hitters in the nation.”

Fernandez went on to establish a Southern Section record for career shutouts with 69.

Although the Bruins return 10 starters, including All-Americans Kathi Evans, a sophomore outfielder, and sophomore utility player Joanne Alchin, Fernandez said that in order to repeat, the Bruins must overcome the loss of team batting leader Yvonne Gutierrez, a collegiate All-American outfielder from Culver City High. Gutierrez had 58 runs batted in, which was twice the total of the Bruins’ next best hitter.

“It’ll take a team effort to make up for Yvonne,” said Fernandez, who spent the off-season in a weight-training program to develop more power. “We will have to pick up the offense.”

Coach Sharron Backus, who watched Fernandez improve her hitting by 60 percentage points from her sophomore year, is hopeful the rest of the team can elevate their game.

“They’re very knowledgeable of the strengths and weaknesses this year,” Backus said. “But the team takes great comfort in knowing someone is there, like Lisa, who is that good.”

The top-ranked UCLA men’s volleyball team, which travels to Goleta to play fifth-ranked UC Santa Barbara on Friday at 7 p.m., has been led by sophomores Kevin Wong and Jeff Nygaard.

Wong, a 6-foot-7 outside hitter, led the Bruins with 19 kills in last week’s sweep of No. 2 Pepperdine. The 6-8 Nygaard, a middle blocker, leads UCLA starters with two blocks a game.

“Kevin was our offensive leader and he had a great match,” Coach Al Scates said. “Jeff was the best blocker in the country last year . . . and he’s gotten better.”

The players attribute much of their success to practice time gained as redshirt freshman.

“I had to learn to pass and hit high sets,” Wong said. “I used to rush up toward the net too fast and let the ball get too far behind me.”

Nygaard said he had a lot to learn.

“I’d never seen a quick set before or a back-row hit,” Nygaard said. “Technically, I was lost. It took me six months just to learn to block.”

The time was well-spent. Nygaard was selected by Volleyball Monthly as freshman of the year.

Cal State Long Beach Coach Ray Ratelle, whose seventh-ranked 49ers lost to the Bruins in the second week of the season, says Nygaard’s potential is unlimited.

“Jeff could be the next great volleyball player to come along,” Ratelle said. “He has all the talent and only needs experience.”