Pfau Will Miss Rest of Season

Stephanie Pfau of Cal State Northridge, who has not played since a Sept. 10 match against Hofstra, is expected to miss the rest of the volleyball season for personal reasons, first-year coach Lian Kang Lu said Tuesday.

Pfau, a 6-foot freshman from South Torrance High, was a starting middle blocker for the first seven matches of the season, but she missed the Matadors’ match against Idaho on Sept. 14 because she was said to be ill.

Lu, however, said that “personal problems with her family” have led to Pfau’s extended absence.

“We don’t want to lose her, but it doesn’t look like she’s going to be back,” he said.

Pfau had 42 kills--with a .322 hitting percentage--and 38 total blocks in 26 games for Northridge.

Cross-Country

After 35 years as a track and cross-country coach, Tuck Mason has decided to take a break.

Mason is on sabbatical from Ventura College this school year but expects to return to coaching next fall.

“I’m just taking some time off to work on a couple of projects and recharge my batteries,” Mason said. “I’ll be back next year and plan to coach for a long time after that.”

Mason has coached cross-country and track at Ventura for 18 years. He coached the same sports at Oxnard High for 14 years after a three-year stint at Palo Verde High in Blythe.

Nancy Fredrickson, a Ventura assistant for the past two seasons and No. 1 runner on the Pirate team that won the 1983 State small schools cross-country title, has replaced Mason.

The Thousand Oaks High boys’ cross-country team has retained its No. 2 national ranking in the latest poll by The Harrier magazine. Hart (No. 23) has moved into the top 25 for the first time this season.

Thousand Oaks will meet top-ranked Kingwood (Tex.) in the Southwestern University Invitational in Georgtown, Tex., on Saturday.

The Thousand Oaks girls are 18th in the national poll, four spots higher than their preseason ranking. The Lancers are the top-ranked team from California.

Soccer

Tammy Pivnick, a junior at Chaminade High, has been selected to the pool for the under-16 national team that will start training in December. Pivnick, a center midfielder, scored 21 goals and had eight assists last season for Chaminade.

Baseball

Four area baseball players will play in the Arizona Fall League, reserved for top prospects.

Erik Hiljus (Canyon), a pitcher in the Montreal Expo system, and Bobby Hughes (Notre Dame), a catcher in the Milwaukee Brewer organization, will play for the Sun Cities Solar Sox. Gregg Zaun (St. Francis), a catcher in the Baltimore Oriole system, will play for the Scottsdale Scorpions, where one of his teammates will be Michael Jordan.

Kevin Kloek (Cal State Northridge), a pitcher in the Brewer organization, will play for the Chandler Diamondbacks.

Basketball

There are two openings for teams to take part in a holiday high school tournament organized by Burbank and Hoover highs. Burbank, Burroughs, Hoover, St. Francis, Eagle Rock and Crescenta Valley are set to play in the tournament Nov. 30-Dec. 2.

Information: 818-558-4700.