Cole to Play Volleyball for UCLA

Larry Cole, a volleyball player at Campbell Hall High, has committed to UCLA.

Cole, a 6-foot-5 middle blocker, chose the Bruins over Pepperdine and UC Irvine.

“You can’t play for four years with [Coach] Al Scates without winning a championship,” Cole said.

The Bruins have won 16 NCAA men’s volleyball titles since 1970.

Cole also said he might walk on to the UCLA football team as a wide receiver.

Jessica Mendoza of Camarillo High committed to play softball for Stanford.

Mendoza turned down offers from defending champion Arizona and UCLA, opting to play for a school with greater academic standards, she said.

“My dream as a kid was to play for UCLA, but I had to wake up and think about the rest of my life,” Mendoza said.

For Mendoza, who has a 3.7 grade-point average and was accepted into Stanford on Friday, her announcement was a relief.

“I haven’t slept or eaten for a week,” she said. “I couldn’t even go to class. Finally I was like there is no wrong decision. I just need to make a decision and stand by it.

“No regrets. Don’t look back.”

Mendoza, who missed one-third of her junior season because of a knee injury, batted .424 with four triples. She will sign a letter of intent Nov. 12, the first day of the early signing period.

Another Cardinal: Harvard-Westlake tennis standout Marissa Irvin has committed to Stanford, choosing the Cardinal over UCLA.

Irvin, who won the U.S. Open junior doubles championship and reached the semifinals of the Wimbledon junior doubles this year, is playing high school competition for the first time. She has lost only 16 games in 18 sets this season.

“I liked the players and coaches at both schools but I liked the feel and smaller amount of students at Stanford,” Irvin said.

Hitting the beach: Alemany High softball pitcher Kim Diener has committed to Long Beach State. Diener helped Alemany win the Mission League championship last season.

She went 22-4 on the mound and drove in 32 runs and was the league’s most valuable player.

PRO BASEBALL

Next option: The Boston Red Sox declined Tuesday to exercise their 1998 option on pitcher Bret Saberhagen, making him eligible for free agency.

Saberhagen, a two-time Cy Young Award winner from Cleveland High, missed all of the 1996 season because of shoulder surgery.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Appellate phase: The Ventura College men’s basketball program will appeal sanctions imposed by the Western State Conference at a meeting of conference officials today at Santa Monica College.

The WSC levied a two-year probation on Oct. 8 and revoked Ventura’s 1996 and ’97 conference titles because of numerous violations of state rules during the past two years. The probation prohibits the Pirates from participating in postseason play.

SOCCER

Daws out: Kim Daws, a former Louisville High soccer standout and a member of The Times’ 1996 all-area team, has had her sophomore season at Duke ended by a torn knee ligament, her second such injury in the past two years.

Daws, a starting midfielder, had three assists in the Blue Devils’ opener before being injured in the second match. As a freshman, she played in 20 matches and had a goal and an assist.

Come aboard: Nordhoff High has hired Greg Bayless as boys’ soccer coach and Pete Christl as girls’ soccer coach.

Bayless, 24, is a 1991 St. Bonaventure graduate who was a midfielder and the Seraphs’ most valuable player as a senior. He teaches history at Nordhoff and replaces Ronnie Schindel, who resigned after last season.