With Healthy Ross, USC Looking Good

It was a simple twist of fate. Actually it was a twist of April Ross’ right ankle.

That injury forced the USC star volleyball player to leave in Game 2 of the NCAA women’s regional final last December. Arizona then rallied to defeat the Trojans in five games and advance to its first Final Four.

While that match hasn’t kept second-year Coach Mick Haley up nights, it did leave him thinking about what might have been.

“I don’t feel bad about last year,” Haley said. “We practiced for every situation. The only thing we couldn’t do was finish.”

The Trojans figure to make another run for an NCAA title--something that’s eluded them since 1981. Ross returns and is healthy, leading a deep and talented squad that includes second-team All-American Katie Olsovsky and All-Pacific 10 Conference players Keao Burdine and Alicia Robinson.

USC won the Radisson Hotel Roberts/Nike Classic last week with victories over Ball State, Pittsburgh and Nebraska. The Trojans handed Ball State its first home loss in 42 matches, got Haley his 800th collegiate victory and dealt second-ranked Nebraska its worst defeat in five years.

The Trojans figure to be even deeper when 6-foot-5 freshman middle blocker Bibiana Candelas arrives next week after playing for Mexico in the World Championships.

Long Beach State lost its only match last season in the NCAA title game to Stanford. Duplicating a 33-1 record may be impossible without graduated seniors Cheryl Weaver, Tayyiba Haneef and Keri Nishimoto.

The 49ers were also dealt a blow when senior Lindsay Phillips, a former Southern Section player of the year at Huntington Beach Marina High, was declared academically ineligible. But senior setter Brittany Hochevar has led an inexperienced lineup to a 5-0 start.

Pepperdine entered the season with high expectations based on a returning cast led by West Coast Conference player of the year Katie Wilkins.

But the Waves, a preseason top 10 team, were stunned by losses to Minnesota and Northern Iowa. They rebounded to win their four-team tournament last week.

Pepperdine has one of the nation’s toughest schedules, playing two Final Four teams, Nebraska and Arizona, this weekend in Tucson and having nonconference matchups against Stanford, USC and UCLA.

“My goal is to get into the final eight and go from there,” Pepperdine Coach Nina Matthies said. “We actually have the horses to get there. But our players have to buy into that and perform when the pressure is on.”

UCLA appears to be in a rebuilding mode without Kristee Porter, Ashley Bowles and career Pac-10 assist leader Erika Selsor. But the Bruins defeated Colorado and 10th-ranked Ohio State before falling in four games to Hawaii.

Outside hitters Lauren Fendrick and Brittany Ringel and middle blockers Angela Eckmier and Cira Wright figure to give UCLA a more balanced look.

The biggest difference is the use of two setters: sophomore Krystal McFarland and true freshman Haley Jorgensborg. This should allow sophomore Chrissie Zartman to shine on defense.

Jeff Stork, a former Pepperdine All-American and three-time Olympian, is in his first season as coach at Cal State Northridge after spending the last four years at Pepperdine as Marv Dunphy’s top assistant with the men’s team.

Stork’s name figures to attract more talent to Northridge, allowing the Matadors to become a Big West Conference power alongside Long Beach and Pacific.

“There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be,” Stork said. “We’re in a large population base and there’s a lot of talented volleyball players in the valley.”

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Many of the Division III and NAIA college football teams in Southern California begin their seasons today.

Pomona-Pitzer visits La Verne, Azusa Pacific plays host to San Diego, Redlands plays host to Willamette (Ore.) and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps plays a nonconference game at Grinnell (Iowa) College.

On Sept. 14, Chapman is at Whittier in the teams’ season opener, while Cal Lutheran begins its year at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Penn.

Occidental, the defending Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champion, doesn’t open until Sept. 21 against Lewis & Clark (Ore.) College.

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This Week

Men’s Soccer

Sunday: Cal State Fullerton at No. 17 San Diego, 3 p.m.

Women’s Soccer

UCLA Women’s Cup at Drake Stadium--Sunday: Virginia vs. USC, noon; Penn State vs. UCLA, 2 p.m.

UC Irvine Holiday Invitational--Sunday: Montana vs. Cal State Fullerton, 11 a.m.; St. Mary’s vs. UC Irvine, 1 p.m.

Men’s Water Polo

Today: No. 9 UC Santa Barbara at No. 5 Pepperdine, noon. Sunday: No. 2 UCLA at No. 7 UC Irvine, noon.

Women’s Volleyball

Wildcat Classic at Tucson--Sunday: No. 14 Pepperdine vs. No. 11 Arizona, noon.

Loyola Marymount Volleyball Classic--Tonight: Colorado vs. Loyola Marymount, 7.