COLLEGE DIVISION NOTEBOOK / MARTIN BECK : Sharing a Task Proves to Be Beneficial at SCC

Last summer, Southern California College Athletic Director Ron Prettyman was having trouble finding someone to coach the Vanguards’ tennis program. So he hired himself.

Rob Pearson quit his part-time position running the men’s and women’s teams because of conflicts with his job as a teaching professional. Prettyman interviewed several people, none he felt comfortable hiring.

So Prettyman called Pearson with a proposal. “He said, ‘Come on in. We’ll do it together,’ ” Pearson said. “It’s been great. I’m glad I did.”

With Pearson and Prettyman sharing the duties, the Vanguards are on the brink of their most successful season.

The men, who open the dual-match season today at Azusa Pacific, are led by No. 1 Mattias Johansson, from Sweden via Brunswick, a two-year college in Georgia, and Davey Robbins, a redshirt freshman from Sunny Hills High who was a Times first-team all-county selection in 1993. Ross Andel, who played No. 1 last season for the Vanguards is No. 3 this year.

The women, who are 1-1, are led by Quynh Le, a transfer from UC Irvine, and Wendy Andel, Ross’ wife who played No. 1 for the Vanguards last season.

“I think SCC is going to be a force to be reckoned with real quick,” Prettyman said.

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Prettyman is no stranger to SCC tennis. A standout high school player in Northern California, he came to SCC on a tennis scholarship in the mid-1970s, but transferred to Cal State Hayward when the program was disbanded in 1975. After a year at Hayward, Prettyman transferred back and played forward on the 1976-77 Vanguard basketball team.

Six years later, he returned again as athletic director. In 1989, he brought men’s tennis back as a non-scholarship sport and coached the team in its first two seasons. Last year, a women’s team was added and Prettyman has restored funding for tennis scholarships.

“I think everybody knew that tennis was a love of mine,” Prettyman said. “As an administrator I needed to make sure I wasn’t pushing this pet project before making sure the other programs were taken care of.”

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Ila update: Ila Borders’ first start of her second season didn’t go too well. Starting the second game of a doubleheader at UC San Diego, the first road start of her college career, she gave up nine hits and six runs (four unearned) in 3 2/3 innings of an 8-6 loss.

SCC Coach Charlie Phillips said hitters are adjusting to her pitches and she hasn’t readjusted yet.

“We have been trying to teach her to do some things and she’s not doing them,” he said. “She has got to pitch inside more. She had to realize that you don’t have to throw hard to pitch inside, you just have to know where to throw it.”

Borders will start Friday against Whittier at SCC.

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Tough tip: Biola’s James Williams scored on a tip-in with 10 seconds left to give Biola an 85-84 victory over Concordia Tuesday in a Golden State Athletic Conference men’s basketball game.

It was only the second conference victory of the season for Biola (8-16, 2-7) and it dropped Concordia (21-5, 5-4) out of a third-place tie.

Concordia led most of the way and was up by 10 with about 1 1/2 minutes left before Biola rallied, scoring on 10 of its final 11 possessions. Concordia point guard Danny Barajas twisted an ankle, which forced him to sit out the final couple minutes.

“Now we run into a buzz saw--our next three games,” Concordia Coach Greg Marshall said.

The Eagles play host to third-place Fresno Pacific (16-6, 6-3) Saturday before playing at Azusa Pacific (19-7, 8-1) Tuesday and Westmont (17-5, 8-1) next Saturday.

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The Chapman women’s basketball team has a breather Friday against Christian Heritage, a first-year NAIA team, but Tuesday the Panthers (11-8) have their last big test of the season against Cal Lutheran, ranked sixth in the nation in one NCAA Division III poll.

Cal Lutheran (20-0) leads the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and has a 22-game winning streak. It beat Chapman, 85-74, in Thousand Oaks Nov. 29.

The game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Hutton Center.

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Notes

Southern California College guard Chris Kostoff made a three-pointer with eight seconds left in regulation to send the Vanguards’ game at Westmont into overtime Tuesday. Westmont won, 95-89. “We weren’t tangibly rewarded for the good game we had,” SCC Coach Bill Reynolds said. “But I was really proud of how hard our team played.” . . . The Chapman softball team had the highest grade-point average of any Division II softball team in the nation last season, according to the National Softball Coaches Assn. The team had a cumulative 3.320 GPA, fourth highest on any level. The Panthers open their first Division III season Sunday at home with a doubleheader against former California Collegiate Athletic Conference and Division II rival Cal State Bakersfield. The first game starts at noon at Hart Park. . . . The Panther men’s basketball team is making an Arizona swing this week. Chapman plays at American Indian College tonight and Southwestern Baptist Bible Saturday. Both games are in Phoenix. . . . The Southern California College women’s basketball team beat The Master’s, 68-56, in a nonconference game Tuesday.