Despite Its Youth, Loyola Setting Sights on Playoffs

Something is not right in the West Coast Conference women’s volleyball standings. Loyola Marymount is not in first place.

After winning the conference title the last three seasons and going undefeated in the conference the last two, the Lions are one game behind San Diego and tied with Pepperdine for second place. With three games left before the NCAA tournament, Loyola’s chances of a fourth consecutive WCC title are slim.

The reason may be youth. The Lions lost three starting seniors from last year’s team and have replaced them with a freshman and two sophomores. Nine of Loyola’s 12 scholarship players are underclassmen.

Still, Loyola (19-5, 9-2) is putting together an unexpectedly strong season. The Lions are ranked 20th nationally and probably will receive an invitation to the NCAA tournament in December.

“For us to be where we are right now, I couldn’t be more proud,” Coach Steve Stratos said.

Stratos knew things were going to be tough coming into this season. San Diego and Pepperdine were expected to improve, with the return of some key players, and the conference overall was stronger. But Loyola has found ways to win, using different lineups throughout the season.

“For the past three years, we pretty much had the same team,” senior Sarah Noriega said. “This year we have a lot of new players. So we had to make adjustments to work out the kinks.”

Stratos says the leadership of seniors Noriega and Tracy Holman and junior Cindy Weglarz have helped keep the wins coming during the growing period.

“They’ve been there before,” Stratos said. “All three are good role models for the younger players. They understand the pressure of having to lead on the court.”

The players already are accustomed to winning. In October, San Diego ended Loyola’s 34-match conference winning streak with a three-game victory. On Friday, the Lions avenged that loss, ending San Diego’s winning streak of 19 matches.

But even coming off one of its biggest wins of the season, it was business as usual for the Lions at practice Monday.

“They humiliated us in our own gym,” said Holman, who became the first WCC player to have more than 5,000 assists. “We were not ready mentally the first time we played. This time around, we knew we had to turn on some switches.”

Friday night at San Diego, Noriega had the match of her career in the four-game victory. She finished with 47 kills, breaking the NCAA record set in 1988 by Catalina Suarez of Missouri Kansas City.

“It was something that I wasn’t aware of; I found out after the match,” Noriega said. “If they told me during the game, I would have tried for 50 to round it out to a nice even number.”

The Lions are playing their best volleyball of the season with the tournament in the near future.

“With all the young players, we were scrambling around trying to get everything together,” Holman said. “I feel now, we finally have the chemistry we need to win.”

*

After winning its first Pacific 10 championship, the UCLA women’s soccer team will travel to play seventh-seeded Portland on Sunday in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The unseeded Bruins (17-2) gathered on campus for the seeding announcement Tuesday and were disappointed at not getting a chance to host a game. But Coach Joy Fawcett was optimistic about playing on the road.

“To me it doesn’t matter where we play,” Fawcett said. “In a way it’s better for us. I think we’re more focused away from home. Everybody is away from school and family, so there’s less distraction.”

The Bruins’ only other appearance in the NCAA tournament was in 1995 when UCLA lost to Washington, 2-1, in the opening round.

Portland (14-4) is coming off a 1-0 loss to Pepperdine on Friday in one of the biggest upsets of the year. Pepperdine finished 7-12-1.

After putting together its best season and finishing 16-3-1, USC was denied a bid in the 32-team tournament field.

“This is hard to believe,” USC Coach Jim Millinder said. “You look at everything we did, and I can’t believe it; 16-3-1 should be good enough to get in. I don’t know what their criteria was, but I’m going to find out.”

The Trojans had a higher winning percentage than 19 of the 32 tournament teams. Brigham Young (19-3) and Santa Clara (17-2-1) were the other Western teams selected.

University Beat Notes

The Long Beach State women’s volleyball team is No. 1 in the nation for the second consecutive week. The 49ers hadn’t been No. 1 since 1993. Senior Nique Crump leads the nation with a .452 hitting percentage. . . . USC’s Jasmina Marinkovic and UCLA’s Kara Milling, two of the top women’s volleyball players in the Pac-10, will meet head to head Friday at USC.