LONG BEACH STATE NOTEBOOK / JASON REID : Men’s Volleyball Team Has Shot

Progress appears in many forms, which is why men’s volleyball Coach Ray Ratelle isn’t ready to end his hopes of a national championship just yet.

Yes, the 49ers did lose to top-ranked UCLA in the UCLA Classic on Saturday at Pauley Pavilion. OK, they’ve lost to the Bruins in both meetings this season.

And true, failing to beat a powerful rival is not the best way to make a strong impression heading into the postseason.

Still, Ratelle likes what the 49ers have done lately. The payoff, he said, will come.

“The big thing is we’re showing improvement all the time,” Ratelle said. “The first time around against UCLA, I thought some of the guys were intimidated. That was not the case this time. (The coaches) felt we could have won the match and our kids did too.”

UCLA won, 12-15, 15-10, 15-10, 15-11. Ratelle’s optimism is easy to understand, considering what happened the last time the 49ers met the Bruins. UCLA cruised to a 15-12, 15-4, 15-6 victory Feb. 17 at Pauley Pavilion.

Obviously, the loss didn’t help the 49ers’ record. As for team confidence, however, it didn’t hurt.

“We know now that we can definitely play with them,” Ratelle said. “We can beat them. We definitely feel good about the way we’re going.”

The team is 17-8, 11-7 in the Pacific Division of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Long Beach finishes its regular season April 19 at USC and begins the MPSF playoffs April 22.

Junior middle blocker Tom Hoff is the main reason Ratelle feels so good. Hoff leads the team with 533 kills, an average of 7.3 per game.

“Mentally, he just makes our team real tough,” Ratelle said. “He doesn’t feel like we should be losing to anybody.

“Obviously, he does it with his play too. Teams are putting two and three blockers on him anywhere he goes, but he’s still doing it.”

The setting of junior Steve Walker is another key. Walker is among the nation’s assist leaders with 1,705, an average of 18.53 per game.

“He’s improved tremendously,” Ratelle said. “He’s one of the most improved in the program.”

The youngsters are providing a boost too. Freshmen middle blocker Gaby Amar and sophomore outside hitter Geoffrey Cryst are playing major roles.

“Gaby Amar just turned 18,” Ratelle said. “It’s absolutely amazing what he’s been able to do. Geoff stepped in as one of our outside hitters and has been great.”

With only three seniors on the team, the 49ers should be even more formidable next season. Fine, Ratelle said, but he’s thinking more about the immediate future.

“Who knows about next year,” Ratelle said. “We’ve got to worry about right now, and that’s what we’re doing.”

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Positive thinking II: The baseball team defeated top-ranked Cal State Fullerton, 8-1, in the opener of a three-game Big West Conference showdown at Fullerton on Friday, then lost the series’ final games, 6-5 and 5-4.

However, Coach Dave Snow found a bright side.

“As difficult as it was to lose those two games, the positive part of it was that we were very close to sweeping the No. 1 team in the country,” Snow said. “Right now, we’re trying to look at positives. I think our team will get better as a result of last week’s competition if we keep the right frame of mind.”

Long Beach is 19-15-1, 6-3 in the Big West. The 49ers, ranked No. 22 entering the series, dropped out of Baseball America’s Top 25.

Don’t blame the starting pitchers, who have been strong. All-American junior right-hander Scott Rivette has reverted to form after a slow start. He is 5-3 with a 2.99 earned-run average. Also important is the development of Kyle Wilson and Rocky Biddle.

Wilson, a junior right-hander, is 7-2 with a 2.84 ERA. Biddle, a freshman right-hander, is 1-1 with a 5.34 ERA, but is making steady improvement.

“Rocky Biddle is taking a step forward and starting to settle in,” Snow said. “Scott Rivette is pitching consistently up to form and Kyle Wilson has emerged.”

Now, if only Snow could figure out how to make everything else work.

“We need to settle down defensively and become a little more consistent offensively,” Snow said. “That’s what we have to do to make a run.”

Long Beach plays host to USC at 7:05 tonight.

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Meeting the challenge: The men’s and women’s track teams fared well in the Big West Challenge Cup on Saturday at Cal State Fullerton.

The men’s team won with a score of 184. The women tied UC Irvine for second place with a score of 140.

For the men, Jaime Barragan set a school record in winning the 200 meters in 20.72 seconds. He broke the record of Anthony Ford, who ran 20.93 in 1988. Barragan also holds the 49ers’ record in the 100 at 10.30.

Gary Cablayan won the 110-meter hurdles (14.99), Jason Frudakis won the long jump (23 feet 0) and Damon DeVault won the discus (167-3). Le Gretta Hinds won the 400-meter hurdles (58.83). Hinds, Ericka Gist, Angel Mosley and Shannon Chapman won the 400 relay (49.28) and the 1,600 relay (3:56.61).

49er notes

Athletic Director Dave O’Brien said the school’s search for a women’s basketball coach isn’t moving as quickly as he would like. “We’ve talked to one person but, quite frankly, it is moving a little slowly,” said O’Brien, who spoke at the NCAA Title IX seminar Monday in Dallas. O’Brien said discussions will continue with candidates this week. He hopes to announce the hiring of a coach April 17 or 18. . . . The softball team is 22-19, 7-7 in the Big West. Long Beach swept UC Santa Barbara, 4-2, 2-0, in a doubleheader Tuesday and was swept by New Mexico State, 4-3, 3-0, in a doubleheader Friday. . . . The women’s tennis team (7-12) travels to Loyola Marymount on Wednesday.