Mater Dei Players Pick UCLA, USC

Tracey Winzen and Alison Fennell, teammates on the girls’ soccer squad at Mater Dei High, will play for rival colleges next fall, Monarch Coach Austin Sharp said Tuesday.

Winzen has orally committed to attend UCLA and Fennell has chosen USC. Each will begin her fourth season on Mater Dei’s varsity next month.

Winzen is team captain and a midfielder who was a first-team All-Southern Section and All-South Coast League selection last year. Fennell, a forward/midfielder, was runner-up in the voting for South Coast League MVP and also an All-Southern Section first-team selection.

Both also play for the Southern California Blues club soccer team and were on the Olympic Development Program regional age-group team.

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Stevie Nicholas of Sunny Hills, one of the top outside hitters in the Freeway League, is the latest addition to the county’s growing list of injuries suffered by girls’ volleyball players.

According to her father, Fullerton physical therapist Steve Nicholas, Stevie Nicholas tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee when she landed awkwardly after attempting a kill toward the end of last Thursday’s three-game sweep of Fullerton.

The junior is expected to have surgery next week, her father said.

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Gretchen Maurer, a senior at San Clemente High School has committed to play volleyball at Washington.

Maurer, a setter, is a third-year starter for the Tritons and was named honorable mention All-South Coast League last season. She also played for the Saddleback Valley Volleyball Club.

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Brett Winslow, who played volleyball at University High and Long Beach State, and former UC Irvine volleyball player Chris Harger are members of the U.S. national team that will meet Brazil in a match 7 p.m. Monday at Pepperdine. General admission tickets are $10.

The teams will also meet Tuesday at Cal State San Bernardino. The two-match series is the final warmup for both teams before competition begins in the 24-team World Championships Nov. 11-24 in Japan.

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The Southern California Unsyncables won the U.S. Masters National Championships in synchronized swimming this past weekend in Beaverton, Ore.

The Unsyncables scored 181 points--the highest total ever earned by a single club in these championships.

The county is represented by five team members: Molly Baross of Santa Ana, Candy Hipp of Rancho Santa Margarita, Tami Winegarten-Huff of Laguna Hills, Jill Clarke of Huntington Beach and Becky Rudolph of Irvine.