A Proven Winner, Elliott Is Patient as USC Assistant

Jerritt Elliott is about as hot a coaching candidate as there could be in his sport.

In two years as the interim women’s volleyball coach at USC, Elliott has gone 50-13, reached the NCAA national semifinals, been voted Pacific 10 Conference coach of the year twice, and brought in the No. 1 recruiting class in the country.

So why doesn’t USC just go ahead and hire him?

Well, because USC already has a women’s volleyball coach.

Mick Haley was hired in June 1999 to succeed Lisa Love. Haley, though, was in the midst of a four-year commitment to the U.S. national team, which he coached to a surprising fourth-place finish at the Sydney Olympics.

As if those credentials weren’t strong enough, Haley won two national titles in 17 seasons at Texas.

So Haley will be taking over the program next fall and Elliott will return to his former job, assistant coach.

Elliott could take a job at a Division I school with a struggling volleyball program and bring it to prominence but volleyball isn’t basketball or football, where there is a lot of coaching turnover.

Other than to accept an opening at a powerful program out of state, Elliott doesn’t see a reason to leave.

“At this point, it would have to depend upon the situation,” he said after the Trojans’ loss to Wisconsin in the NCAA semifinals last week. “I’m from Southern California. Sure, I’d like to be a head coach but my goal as of right now is to be at ‘SC.”

Elliott, 32, is content to switch places with the 57-year-old Haley, who was on the bench in an advisory role this season, after his return from Sydney. That may be all he can do.

The successful Southland programs haven’t been open for years.

Nina Matthies has been at Pepperdine for the last 16 years. Brian Gimmillaro just finished his 16th year at Long Beach State. Steve Stratos has 11 years in at Loyola Marymount. And the dean, Andy Banachowski, is coaching in his fifth decade at UCLA.

Even if he were to leave the immediate area, Elliott would find that Kathy Gregory is still going strong after surpassing 600 victories in 24 years at UC Santa Barbara and John Dunning has two NCAA titles in 16 years at Pacific. San Diego State also has an established coach in Mark Warner.

“There just aren’t any jobs out there,” Elliott said.

Elliott is very much a Southern Californian. He went to Palisades High and played at Pepperdine and Hawaii. His first coaching job was at the school he graduated from, Cal State Northridge.

He figures he is young enough to wait and see if one of the legends decides it’s time. In the meantime, he’ll just keep stocking the Trojan roster with the nation’s best talent.

“It has to be a real special situation for me to leave,” Elliott said.

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Haley’s presence on the USC bench didn’t bother Elliott at all. In fact, Haley was welcomed.

“It’s always nice knowing that you have a legend on your staff to help you,” Elliott said. “As a coach, you always want to be able to bounce suggestions off your coaches and get feedback from them.

“We have a great staff with Mick, Paula [Weishoff], Erikka [Gulbranson] and Rob [Machan].”

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UCLA junior Kristee Porter, Long Beach State junior Cheryl Weaver and Loyola Marymount senior Sarah McFarland were named to the American Volleyball Coaches Assn. Division I All-American first team. Freshman April Ross and junior Jennifer Pahl of USC were named to the second team.

It is the second such honor for Weaver. Porter and McFarland were second-team selections last season.

NOTABLE

Two-time All-American soccer player Ruth Van’t Land-Parkes of Cal Poly Pomona was selected in the fourth round of the inaugural Women’s United Soccer Assn. draft by the Philadelphia Charge.

Van’t Land-Parkes was the 30th player picked. But she won’t be playing for her coach, even though Carlos Juarez resigned his position at Pomona to coach in the pro league. Juarez will be coaching the San Diego Spirit.

UCLA’s Tracey Milburn, the Pac-10 player of the year, was taken in the ninth round by the Washington Freedom. Milburn, a midfielder-forward, helped the Bruins reach the NCAA title game this month.

Milburn’s teammate, Oakland native Venus James, will play near her hometown, having been picked in the 11th round by the Bay Area CyberRays.

Several former area players also were selected. Skylar Little went in the fourth round to Washington, Traci Arkenberg-Gatell went in the seventh round to the Spirit, and Louise Lieberman was a 15th-round pick by Washington. All are former Bruins.

Former USC players Kim Clark and Tara Koleski were also selected, Clark in the eighth round by Bay Area and Koleski in the 11th by San Diego.

Milburn received another honor, being named to the National Soccer Coaches Assn. of America West Region first team. Junior defender Krista Boling was named to the second team and James was on the third team.

USC midfielder Isabelle Harvey capped her career with a first-team selection. Trojan freshman Jessica Edwards was named to the third team.

Loyola Marymount’s Tracy Sharp, a senior goalie, and Shari Nishikawa, a freshman defender, were named to the third team.

Kit Vela, USC women’s assistant soccer coach, was named head women’s coach at New Mexico. Vela, 32, was on Jim Millinder’s staff for five seasons. Her husband, Jorge Vela, will join her as an assistant. . . . Cal State L.A. volleyball player Kasey Jungwirth was named a first-team academic All-American by the College Sports Information Directors of America. Jungwirth, a business administration and accounting major with a 3.911 grade-point average, led the Golden Eagles to a 30-1 record. . . . UCLA, Pepperdine and USC are in the preseason women’s tennis top 25. UCLA is ninth, Pepperdine 10th and USC 12th.