UCLA Gets Volleyball Rematch With Pepperdine

UCLA will get its first chance to avenge an early-season loss to Pepperdine when it plays host to the Waves on Thursday night in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men’s volleyball match.

The top-ranked Bruins have won seven in a row since the three-game loss to Pepperdine on Jan. 12 in the UC Irvine Wyndham Hotels Classic. The teams figure to meet at least two more times this season, with one matchup March 30 at Pepperdine and another likely meeting in the MPSF tournament.

UCLA Coach Al Scates is impressed with the Waves, ranked fourth by Volleyball Magazine.

“They are a good passing team and a good serving team,” Scates said. “I thought they served extremely well when they beat us. When you have six jump servers and they’re all on in the same match, it’s tough to beat any team.”

UCLA also plays host to USC on Saturday in the 25th annual Kilgour Cup, named in honor of the former Bruin great whose spinal cord injury left him a paraplegic. Kirk Kilgour has been in failing health in the last few months and is in critical condition at Swedish Hospital in Denver.

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Curtis Slaughter is a starter once again, only this time it is for the Cal State Northridge men’s basketball team and not Loyola Marymount’s. As far as situations go, the two couldn’t be more different.

As a sophomore at Loyola, he played on a 2-26 team that was perhaps the worst in school history. He started all but two games and averaged 10.2 points. Months later, he was academically ineligible.

After sitting out a season because of his transfer, Slaughter is beginning to show the kind of talent that made him an All-City Section player at Washington High.

The 6-foot-7 junior forward has been a key to the Matadors’ surge to third place in the Big West Conference.

Since joining the starting lineup on Jan. 2 against San Diego, Slaughter has scored in double figures in all nine games. For a team that needed a reliable scoring option other than point guard Markus Carr, Slaughter is just that.

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Pepperdine ran its winning streak to 10 games with two victories over Loyola Marymount last week. The Waves also remained undefeated in the West Coast Conference and sit one game ahead of Gonzaga, which moved up to ninth in the top 25 rankings.

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Cal State Fullerton lost its baseball opener and suffered its worst loss in history the following day, but the Titans won the final game of a three-game series at top-ranked Stanford on Sunday to avoid what would have been only the second series sweep in George Horton’s six seasons as coach.

“We survived the weekend--that’s the best way to put that,” Horton said.

Stanford beat the No. 15 Titans, 7-4, on Friday then walloped Fullerton, 17-1, the next day. Fullerton had twice lost by 14 runs in its 27-year Division I history, most recently last season in a 15-1 defeat at Cal State Northridge. Fullerton sophomore Darric Merrell pitched 5 1/3innings on Sunday in the 6-3 victory that improved his road record to 6-0.

Fullerton plays host to Fresno State in a three-game series beginning Friday. This is the final season for longtime Fresno State Coach Bob Bennett.

Horton and Cal State Northridge Coach Mike Batesole are rumored to be in the potential pool of candidates to succeed him. Horton said he has not applied for the job, but would not turn a deaf ear if approached.

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USC’s baseball team, ranked No. 3, opens its season Friday with a three-game series at Long Beach State.

The Trojans are playing 22 consecutive road games as Dedeaux Field undergoes renovation. Junior right-hander Anthony Reyes, a potential first-round draft pick expected to be the Trojans’ ace, will not pitch this weekend because of a sore right elbow.

On Sunday, Long Beach will retire the jersey of former coach Dave Snow, who retired after last season with a record of 510-291-4 in 13 seasons with the 49ers.

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EVENTS TO WATCH

* Men’s basketball, Utah State at UC Irvine, 7 p.m., Saturday: Providing both teams win on Thursday, this game will be for first place in the Big West Conference. Jerry Green gave Irvine a 67-66 victory with his jump shot at the buzzer at Logan, Utah, on Jan. 10.

* Men’s tennis, USC, Pepperdine and UCLA at National Team Indoor Championships, Louisville, Ky., Thursday-Sunday: UCLA is coming off a 7-0 victory over rival USC. The Bruins are the defending Team Indoor titlists. Other top squads include defending NCAA champion Georgia, Stanford, Tennessee and Southern Methodist.

* Men’s volleyball, Pepperdine at UCLA, 7 p.m., Thursday: Both teams are rolling as they come into this key Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match. UCLA and Pepperdine have each won seven in a row.

* Baseball, USC at Long Beach State, Blair Field, 6 p.m., Friday, 1 p.m., Saturday; 1 p.m., Sunday: The Trojans begin the season ranked fourth by Collegiate Baseball. USC has an improved lineup featuring junior catcher Alberto Concepcion, senior first baseman Bill Peavey and senior outfielder Brian Barre. Long Beach is picked to finish second in the Big West Conference this season.

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Staff writers Eric Stephens and Gary Klein contributed to this report.