USC Women Brace for Volleyball Test

USC’s top-ranked women’s volleyball team faces a major test tonight against defending NCAA champion Stanford in a Pacific 10 Conference match in Palo Alto.

USC (10-0, 4-0 in conference) has lost only one game in earning its No. 1 ranking by the American Volleyball Coaches Assn. and Volleyball magazine. Fourth-ranked Stanford (12-1, 3-0) lost to Florida on Sept. 14 but didn’t have outside hitter Logan Tom, who played on the silver-medal winning U.S. national team at the World Championships.

“We’ll see what we can find out about our team,” USC Coach Mick Haley said. “They didn’t have Logan for that Florida loss and I’m sure they want to see where they are. It’s kind of a fact-finding mission for us.”

The Trojans won’t have middle blocker Bibiana Candelas, who has yet to be cleared to participate. Haley said the NCAA is checking on the 6-foot-5 freshman’s eligibility.Candelas played for Mexico at the World Championships and arrived at USC on Sept. 9.

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Santa Clara, the defending NCAA women’s soccer champion, visits Southern California this weekend for games at UCLA and USC. The No. 3-ranked Bruins will host the 11th-ranked Broncos on Friday in the first night game in school history at Drake Stadium.

On Sunday, Santa Clara sophomore forward Megan Kakadelas returns to USC after being named Pac-10 freshman of the year for the Trojans last season. Kakadelas, who transferred to Santa Clara last spring, leads the Broncos in scoring with four goals and 12 points.

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UC Santa Barbara’s women’s volleyball team is ranked seventh, its highest spot since the end of the 1999 season, after defeating previously undefeated Long Beach State, 30-27, 30-26, 30-32, 15-30, 15-11, last week before 3,182 at the Pyramid. The Gauchos, led by Danielle Bauer’s 21 kills, are 13-0 and will be off to their best start if they can defeated Utah State tonight.

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Katherine Hull moved into the top spot in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, becoming the first Pepperdine women’s golfer to accomplish that feat. The senior tied for individual medalist honors at the Dick McGuire Invitational last week and was second at the NCAA Preview tournament.... Rob Friend has scored in all seven soccer matches for undefeated Santa Barbara (7-0) this season.