Kuntz Is Ladies’ Man This Week

Cal Lutheran has two soccer teams and only one coach.

So Dan Kuntz had a decision to make.

The men’s team (15-2-1, 9-0 in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play) is playing Claremont-Mudd (14-4, 8-1) at 11 a.m. Saturday at Cal Lutheran in the final round of the round-robin conference tournament.

The same day at 2:30, the women’s team (15-4) is playing Gustavus Adolphus College (13-4-1) in the first round of the NCAA Division III West Regional at UC San Diego.

The men’s tournament isn’t the NCAA playoffs, but a strong finish could help the 14th-ranked Kingsmen gain a higher postseason seeding. The playoff field will be announced Sunday.

After some discussion with regional tournament officials at UC San Diego and more with his assistant coaches, Kuntz came to the conclusion that, in this case, it’s ladies first.

“We looked at it as coaches, and we said that if we play in San Diego on Saturday, then I was going to be there,” Kuntz said.

Kuntz is getting used to such conflicts. He has coached both teams for five years. When the schedules conflict during regular-season games, he coaches the men’s team, leaving the women under the direction of assistant Lisa Shattuck.

The significance of an NCAA playoff game made Kuntz’s decision more difficult this time.

“After getting this far, the women’s team wants me to be there,” he said. “They need me to be there, and I want to be there for them.”

The men’s team will be guided by Kuntz’s father, Doc.

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The 12th-ranked Cal Lutheran women’s soccer team is making its sixth regional appearance in seven years. The Regals have been eliminated from the playoffs by UC San Diego in 1991, ‘92, ‘93, ’95 and last season. Three times, the losses came in the first round.

Last month, the Regals lost a 1-0 decision to UC San Diego in a nonconference, regular-season match at Cal Lutheran.

“If nothing else, from the psychological standpoint, it’s very good for us to be playing somebody else in that first round,” Kuntz said.

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This one comes from the false and misleading advertising files.

A newly printed poster to promote what’s left of the Cal State Northridge baseball team shows a batter awaiting a pitch.

Only one problem. The guy on the picture is Terrmel Sledge, an outfielder who transferred to Long Beach State when Northridge dropped baseball and three other men’s programs in June.

The school later reinstated the programs for one year.

The Northridge marketing department produced the poster.

“I obviously didn’t have anything to say on that,” Coach Mike Batesole said.

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Batesole, in the middle of a six-week camp to evaluate the team, is hoping for a miracle from the healthy pitchers on the staff--all six of them.

“We have some major problems on the mound,” Batesole said. “We are going to have position players who are going to have to pitch.”

The Matadors open the season with five games in four days--at Arizona on Jan. 20-21 and at the Arizona State tournament on Jan. 22-23. They play a doubleheader on the first day of the Sun Devil tournament.

Talk about a Desert Swarm. But Batesole is not retreating.

“I want to give these guys the best training I can give them and let them play against the best competition,” he said.

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It could be a big weekend for Kristin Sigel, a freshman outside hitter on the Northridge volleyball team.

And the Matadors could use it.

Sigel, from Mira Costa High in Manhattan Beach, needs 44 digs to surpass Nancy Ma’s school single-season record of 456 established last year.

Sigel is averaging 5.20 digs, best in the Big Sky Conference, and could become the first freshman to lead the conference in digs.

The Matadors (12-11, 4-8 in the Big Sky) are battling for the final berth to the six-team conference tournament, Nov. 28-29. They are in fifth place going into home matches against Montana tonight and Montana State on Saturday at noon.

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Gary Victor, first-year coach of the Northridge women’s tennis squad, calls it a United Nations type of team.

He’s not off the mark.

The Matadors have players from Canada, Germany, Israel, Kenya and Sweden. And one of the American-born players is of African American and Vietnamese descent.

Leading the group is German left-hander Isabella Peintner, the No. 1 singles player who on Oct. 28 won the Cal State Fullerton invitational and has a 7-1 record.

“She has one of the best forehands in collegiate tennis,” Victor said. “It’s on a men’s level.”

The No. 2 singles player is Nely Horowic of Israel and Kendra Segura, from Dorsey High, is No. 3.

Victor, coach at Alemany High the past two seasons, believes Peintner and Horowic could be included in the next NCAA rankings, due in mid-December.

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After winning three consecutive games and four of five, Cal Lutheran is tied with Whittier for first place in the SCIAC football standings.

With one conference game remaining, against winless Claremont-Mudd on Nov. 15, Cal Lutheran (4-3, 3-1 in conference play) is in good shape to earn at least a tie for its first title.

Whittier (4-3, 3-1) also has one SCIAC game left, against Occidental. Redlands (5-2, 2-1) has two conference games to play.

Cal Lutheran, an NAIA District III independent for most of its existence, never won a title in the Western Football Conference from 1985-88 and has not won since joining the SCIAC in 1992.

“We’re going through a little bit of a maturation process that, when it’s happening, it’s been neat to see,” Coach Scott Squires said.

“The players have got a real sense of purpose. We’re at a point where we’ve got a group of kids who, they’ve heard our spiel, and now they’re doing it.”

Cal Lutheran plays a nonconference game at Chapman Saturday night at 7.

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Staff writer Fernando Dominguez and correspondent Lauren Peterson contributed to this notes column.