Farmer Brothers Reap Rewards

There’s no doubt who’s the best football player in the Farmer family. An All-Pacific 10 Conference receiver, Danny Farmer was a key reason for UCLA’s standing near the top of the rankings for most of the 1998 season.

But when it comes to volleyball, it’s a different story. Danny is a starter for the Bruins this spring, on one of the best teams in the nation.

But his fraternal twin, Tim, isn’t bad, either. He’s Loyola Marymount’s best weapon, and if you ask Danny, it’s obvious who’s the better volleyball player.

“Right here,” he said, pointing to Tim after UCLA’s recent match with Hawaii. “This is the guy. I’m terrible.”

Tim’s laughing response: “Shut up.”

That’s the way it is with the Farmers. Born one minute apart, they grew up not only as best friends, but as each other’s best competition. And though individuality and Danny’s desire to play football took them to different schools, they haven’t grown apart.

They talk on the phone every day, see each other almost every weekend, and last Friday were on the same court for the last time in their collegiate careers.

“I think Tim will have a very big night in that one,” Loyola Marymount Coach Rick McLaughlin said before the match.

He did, collecting 33 kills in 71 attempts as his team lost to the Bruins in five games for the second time this season, 8-15, 11-15, 15-8, 15-2, 15-12. Danny had 26 kills, but outhit his brother, .447 to .268.

But that’s how it’s been this season. Tim averages 5.54 kills a game with a .243 hitting percentage. Danny averages only 3.7 kills, but has a .436 hitting percentage.

The real domination lies in head-to-head play.

The Bruins have defeated the Lions 58 consecutive times so Tim has never defeated his brother in college. He said it bothers him, but he has found a bright side.

“To look at it positively, who would I rather have a losing streak to than my brother,” asked Tim, who played football with Danny when they were younger but quit in high school because it wasn’t fun and he was only 5 feet 5 as a sophomore.

Their first meeting of the season was even closer than the second, the Bruins beating the Lions, 17-15, in the fifth game at the Wooden Center on Jan. 30.

“My dad’s the kind of guy who never gets nervous,” Tim said. “But in that match, I saw him sitting alone in the corner of the stands. He was real nervous.”

Whenever Tim and Danny meet, it’s nervous time for their parents.

“From what I see, one parent will sit on one side, the other will sit on the other side,” UCLA volleyball Coach Al Scates said.

But regardless which team wins, playing on different teams hasn’t caused any problems for Tim and Danny.

“It’s worked out good because Tim’s had to carry the load over there,” Scates said. “I think Loyola’s a good fit for Tim.”

Said Danny, “What it’s done is, it’s made us closer. Now we know what it’s like to be apart, and we appreciate each other more.”

But that’s not to say they’ll be apart for the rest of their lives.

“I don’t think we’ll end up far apart,” Tim said. “I don’t think we’ll allow it.

“Maybe [Danny will] be doing something far away for a few years when he’s playing [football], but I just have a funny feeling.”

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Less than two weeks from the conference playoffs, Long Beach State’s men’s volleyball team, having already clinched the title in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation’s Pacific Division, dropped from first to third in the national rankings after losing two weekends ago at UC Irvine. The 49ers are 18-2 overall and 15-2 in the conference. USC is in third place, 11-9 and 7-7 with two matches left at Hawaii and an MPSF playoff berth on the line.

In the Mountain Division, Pepperdine was swept by Brigham Young late in March and fell into second place. The No. 2 Waves are 14-4 in the conference. BYU, the Mountain Division champion, also won the conference title with its 18-1 record. The No. 5 Bruins are third at 13-5 in the conference, and have joined Pepperdine in clinching a conference playoff berth. UCLA hosts Stanford in the 22nd annual Kilgour Cup on Friday night.

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USC is looking for a coach for the women’s volleyball team. Lisa Love has stepped down to concentrate on her duties as associate athletic director. Love was 205-93 in 10 years, with nine NCAA tournament appearances. Her teams finished ranked in the top 15 eight times.

Ricardo Acevedo will coach the Long Beach State men’s water polo team next year. Acevedo, who spent the last nine years coaching men and women at Long Beach Wilson High, succeeds Ken Lindgren, who retired after 24 seasons. . . . UCLA softball Coach Sue Enquist won her 500th game March 27 against California. The top-ranked Bruins, unbeaten until April 3, are 40-1, 9-1 in the Pac-10.

Long Beach State outfielder Jessica Smith set a school record with six runs batted in in an 8-4 victory over UC Santa Barbara on Saturday. . . . Long Beach Coach Pete Manarino will be inducted into the Catholic Youth Organization of Los Angeles Hall of Fame on Thursday.

Pepperdine’s men’s and women’s golf teams dominated the West Coast Conference championships two weeks ago at Paso Robles, winning by a combined 78 strokes. The men placed four players in the top five, led by sophomore Kelly Craig, who defeated Ryan Nelson of Portland by a stroke for the individual title with a five-under-par 211. The team shot 864. Portland was second with an 892.

The Wave women were even more dominating, defeating second-place San Francisco, 939-989. Pepperdine had the top four finishers and one of two players in a tie for fifth. Freshman Nadina Taylor and sophomore Rami Takahashi tied for first with a 19-over 235, Taylor winning a playoff.

The UCLA men’s track team lost to No. 4 Florida, 101-99, early in April, ending the Bruins’ home dual meet winning streak at 51, a streak that began more than eight years ago.