UNIVERSITY BEAT / LONNIE WHITE : Another Volleyball Sweep Puts Loyola Women in Tournament

Volleyball fans who plan to attend Loyola Marymount’s first-round NCAA tournament women’s match against Oral Roberts on Wednesday night are advised to get there on time. The quick-playing Lions don’t like to waste time.

Grambling State learned that Friday night when Loyola Marymount gained an automatic playoff berth with a three-game sweep over the Tigers in an NCAA qualifying match. It was the Lions’ 12th sweep in their last 13 matches, as they begin the tournament with a 24-4 overall record after having won the West Coast Conference title with a 14-0 mark.

Remarkably, six Loyola Marymount players were named to the eight-player WCC first team, headed by Julie Greer--conference offensive player of the year--and Kim Blankinship--conference defensive player of the year.

Joining Greer and Blankinship on the first team were Mardell Wrensch, Sarah Noriega, Karissa Meith and Tracy Holman.

“I knew that we were going to be very good, but to have so many people hitting so well is amazing,” said Loyola Marymount Coach Steve Stratos, who became the first repeat winner in WCC coach-of-the-year balloting. “To have all six players make first team is something that I’ve never heard of in my life, and the thing is that they all were very deserving.”

In WCC play, the Lions lost only two games and had a .955 winning percentage. The only conference opponent to win any games against Loyola Marymount was Pepperdine, beaten by the Lions in five games Oct. 7.

“We’re a very, very balanced team,” Stratos said. “Our attacking ability is our greatest strength.”

With 218 kills, Wrensch--the Lions’ first three-time all-WCC selection--led the conference in hitting percentage at .428. She was followed by teammates Greer, .400; Meith, .347, and Noriega, .333. Blankinship, who led the team in digs with 258, led the WCC with 63 aces.

“Right now, we are playing well in that our team chemistry is finally coming around,” Stratos said. “We started the season with three middle blockers and had to move [Meith] to outside hitter. It took a while for her to get used to the position.”

Noriega, a sophomore from Kansas, also has developed this season and has 306 kills.

“She’s been a surprise to everyone else but not to us,” Stratos said. “She already has become one of the most dominating right-side hitters in the country. But the thing is that she is still learning.”

In their first NCAA tournament appearance last season, the Lions lost at Arizona in the first round. Now, they are hoping to reach the second round and play at Washington State on Dec. 3.

“Playing Oral Roberts [27-2] in the first round is not going to be easy,” Stratos said. “They have several experienced players and they only lost two matches all season. But it sure helps to have our first one at home.”

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Three local teams join Loyola Marymount in this season’s tournament. USC (16-8) will play host to North Texas (24-9), and Long Beach State (21-9) will play host to Colorado State (21-10) Wednesday night. UCLA (21-8) will play the winner of the Chicago Loyola-Ball State match Saturday.

The Bruins, who finished tied for second in the Pacific 10 Conference, had two players on the all-conference team, senior Jenny Johnson and junior Kim Krull. Senior Kelly Kuebler was USC’s only all-conference player, although the Trojans’ Jasna Marinkovic was named freshman player of the year. USC’s Jennifer Kessy and UCLA’s Chaska Potter also were named to the all-freshman team.

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University Beat Notes

In the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation water polo tournament over the weekend, UCLA defeated USC, 9-7, in the semifinals, but lost to California in the championship game, 9-6. USC beat UC Irvine in the third-place consolation game, 9-8. Cal will receive the automatic NCAA tournament berth from the MPSF with UCLA the at-large choice.