Lu Gets Ringing Endorsements From Coaches

If Lian Kang Lu is as good as advertised, the Cal State Northridge women’s volleyball program might become a national power in the years ahead.

Lu, 59, was hired by Northridge last week to replace interim women’s Coach John Price, effective Jan 1. Lu is one of the founding fathers of the women’s volleyball program in China and was an assistant in the UC Santa Barbara women’s program for the past 10 seasons.

Here is what some of the nation’s most renowned volleyball coaches have said about him.

From Arie Selinger, the U.S. women’s coach in the 1984 Olympic Games:

“Mr. Lu is an outstanding volleyball technician. His knowledge of the game far surpasses any other coach that I have ever met. His keen eye for details and his analytical mind and rationale should be used in every way possible for the improvement of volleyball in our zone.”

From Marv Dunphy, Pepperdine men’s coach and coach of the U.S. men’s team that won a gold medal in the 1988 Olympics:

“We have had to learn significantly from Mr. Lu. . . . He brings new techniques and coins new phrases to help us better comprehend our sport. Mr. Lu brings advanced information and international acclaim to our program. We need people of his caliber in our national federation.”

And from Doug Beal, coach of the U.S. men’s team that won the gold medal in the 1984 Olympics:

“I have known Professor Lu for many years, and I admire his knowledge and dedication. The country would be suffering a serious setback were he to leave, losing one of the staunchest activists for volleyball and specifically girls’ volleyball.”

CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE

Brame Gets Her Man

For Judy Brame, Northridge’s senior associate athletic director, the hiring of Lu ended a courtship that began in January when Northridge was looking for a replacement for Walt Ker, who resigned after posting a 401-144 record from 1979-92.

Brame contacted Lu at the beginning of the year but he said he wasn’t ready to leave Santa Barbara.

With Lu temporarily out of the picture, Northridge narrowed its list of potential coaches to four finalists, each of whom eventually turned down the job or withdrew from the running before it was offered.

That’s when Price, the Matador men’s coach since 1986, agreed to take over the program on a one-year interim basis. “Returning some stability to the program has been a very high priority for us,” Brame said. “And I feel like we’ve done that.”

*

Lu’s hiring might change the type of player Northridge is able to recruit.

In the past, Northridge has attracted good--but not elite--high school players who were overlooked by Division I powers such as UCLA, Stanford and Long Beach State.

With Lu, it’s conceivable that the Matadors might soon be landing some of the very best players.

JUNIOR COLLEGES

Keever Takes the Fifth

Although no one on the team won an individual title, Moorpark’s fifth-place finish at the state wrestling championships Saturday was close to what the Raiders believed they could accomplish.

“We really wanted to finish in the top three, but we were hoping for at least the top five,” said John Keever, who concluded his 25th season as Moorpark coach. “If we would have been healthy, we could have been in the top three.”

The Raiders had 55.75 points and finished behind Fresno City (116.50), Cerritos (104.25), West Valley (74.25) and Sacramento (72). Their chances at one of the top three spots vanished when Jorge Ruiz, one of three Moorpark wrestlers expected to battle for an individual title, lost in the quarterfinals of the 142-pound division. Ruiz (24-8) finished fifth.

“Jorge hurt a knee in the (Southern California) regionals (Dec. 4) and wasn’t up to par,” Keever said. “That was a big disappointment to him and to us.”

Two Raiders among the nine who competed at the championships, Jason Pratt at 158 pounds and Todd Hoult at 190 pounds, advanced to the championship bouts in their classifications but lost. Hoult (28-7) lost, 4-3, to Brian Campbell (32-1) of Modesto and Pratt (30-7) lost, 12-6, to No. 1 seeded Alonzo Tucker (37-0) of Fresno. Five of Pratt’s losses this season were against Tucker.

“I knew Jason was going to be a finalist,” Keever said. “He and Todd really came on at the end of the season.”

*

When girls want to have fun, they sometimes go to the Biggest Little City in the World. And they might even play in a couple of basketball games while there.

That’s what the Oxnard women’s basketball team did last weekend.

The Condors traveled to Reno for a two-day tournament and saw more of the local scenery than they expected.

Originally, the tournament was scheduled for Sparks High, outside Reno. But the school’s gym recently burned and the games were switched to Feather River College in Quincy, Calif., about 60 miles northwest of Reno.

Since Oxnard already had booked rooms at a Reno hotel, they had to make the two-hour round-trip to Quincy the two days they played. But no problem. The Feather River coaching staff personally drove the Condors in vans from the hotel to the college and back, sometimes in rain or snow.

“They have some very nice people up there,” Oxnard Coach Alex Flores said.

Not nice enough to let the Condors win, though. Oxnard (1-8) lost to Feather River, 72-51, in the first round and to Shasta, 86-70, in the second round. But Flores said the trip was worth it.

“Some of the girls had never seen snow before,” he said.

*

The stress fracture of the right ankle suffered by Ventura’s Michael Tate on Dec. 2 has forced Coach Philip Mathews to scramble to replace the starting center. But the Pirates have not missed a beat.

Ventura (12-1) won the five games it played without Tate, a 6-foot-4 sophomore from Los Angeles High who redshirted last season.

Tate injured the ankle during an 89-67 victory over Trade Tech in the first round of the Moorpark tournament. He is in a cast and will be sidelined until Jan. 11, Mathews said.

The Pirates, ranked No. 1 in the state, open Western State Conference interdivisional play Jan. 6 at home against Valley. They begin pursuit of their eighth consecutive North Division title Jan. 19 at home against Moorpark.

*

From the Breaking It Down to a Science files: Butch Hernandez, Oxnard women’s basketball assistant, offers his own perspective on analyzing statistical sheets.

“Statistics are like bikinis,” Hernandez said. “You see a lot but not everything.”

Around the Campuses . . .

* Ventura sophomore forward Brandon Jessie has been named most valuable player in all three tournaments the Pirates have competed and won this season--Ventura, Moorpark and Santa Barbara City.

* After starting the season one for 11 from three-point range, Brooklyn McLinn of Cal State Northridge has made 14 for 25 (56%) in the last four games. McLinn, a senior guard, is shooting better on three-pointers (41.7%) than he is overall (30.8%).

* Despite losing their first two home games this season, the Matadors are 21-13 at Northridge in their four Division I campaigns. On the road and at neutral sites, the Matadors are a combined 9-47.

* The Valley football team was ranked 21st in the final J.C. Grid-Wire Top 30. The Monarchs finished 11th and Moorpark 19th in the state coaches’ poll.

* Brian Lasagna, center on the Antelope Valley football team and an administration major with a 3.3 grade-point average, made the J.C. Grid-Wire Scholar-Athlete All-American team.

Staff writers Fernando Dominguez, Mike Hiserman and John Ortega contributed to this notebook.