Spiers’ Hitting Streak Grows to 42 Games

Joe Spiers of Moreno Valley Canyon Springs tied Nick Corbin of Maxwell for the second-longest hitting streak in state history when he hit safely three times in a 13-9 Ivy League victory Friday over Riverside Arlington.

Spiers has hit safely in 42 consecutive games, one short of tying Jason Kendall of Torrance (1990-92) for the state record. Spiers went three for five with a two-run home run and four RBIs in the upset of Arlington (6-3, 2-0), which is ranked No. 11 in the Southland by The Times.

Ryan Selden had a home run and double among three hits and drove in two runs for Canyon Springs (8-2, 2-1).

-- Melanie Neff

Boys’ Tennis

Two of the top four seeded teams lost in the first round, but No. 1 Corona del Mar breezed through to the semifinals on the first day of the National High School All-American tournament Friday.

Third-seeded Bethesda (Md.) Landon lost, 5-4, to La Jolla Country Day. Playing without its top two players, fourth-seeded Atherton Menlo lost, 8-1, to Newport Harbor.

Corona del Mar (10-0), The Times’ top-ranked team, defeated Carmichael Jesuit, 9-0, and Brentwood, 6-3. The Sea Kings face Calabasas (10-1) and Country Day faces Raleigh (N.C.) Broughton in today’s semifinals at 11 a.m. at Newport Beach’s Balboa Bay Club. The championship match begins at 4 p.m. at the Palisades Tennis Club in Newport Beach.

Broughton advanced to the semifinals by defeating Santa Ana Mater Dei, 5-4, in the second round. Earlier in the day, Mater Dei (6-3) avenged a March 17 loss to Irvine Woodbridge, 5-4, on the strength of victories by its top three singles players.

-- Elia Powers

Boys’ Volleyball

Once again there is anticipation when it comes to boys’ volleyball at Los Angeles Loyola.

The Cubs, ranked No. 1 in the Southland by The Times, have eight players back from last year’s Southern Section Division I championship team.

After passing their first big tests of the season, downing second-ranked Manhattan Beach Mira Costa on March 13 and eighth-ranked Santa Margarita on Tuesday, the Cubs will participate in the 35-team Goleta Dos Pueblos tournament, which begins at 9 a.m. today at UC Santa Barbara.

Other ranked teams participating in the annual tournament, which is in its 27th year, include No. 4 Westlake Village Westlake, No. 5 Valencia, No. 6 San Clemente and No. 10 Chatsworth.

Some of the state’s top teams are entered, including defending Central Section champion Fresno Buchanan and three defending San Diego Section champions.

Loyola, however, is out to prove its success in 2003 was no fluke.

“Another [section] title is definitely within our grasp,” said Jimmy Killian, a 6-foot-5 senior setter. “We may not be as flashy as last season, but we are definitely as strong.”

Senior Matt Hillier, a 6-3 middle blocker, has been the hammer so far. He put away match point with a kill against Mira Costa, stifling one of several Mustang comeback attempts. He’s got company at the net in 6-8 junior C.J. Shellenberg, who sat out most of last season because of stress fracture in his foot.

-- Paul McLeod

Boys’ Basketball

Adidas Collision VI, an all-star game matching players from the City Section against players from the Southern Section, will be held today at Gardena Serra High. The girls’ game is scheduled for 3 p.m. followed by the boys’ game at 5 p.m. UCLA-bound Lorenzo Mata of South Gate and USC-bound Gabriel Pruitt of Westchester are expected to participate.

-- Eric Sondheimer

A rally at the steps of the Compton Civic Center beginning at 1 p.m. today will honor the city’s three state championship teams.

The boys’ team from Dominguez won its sixth title in nine years and the boys’ team from Centennial won its first title this season last week. The Compton College men’s team won its fourth state championship March 13.

-- Bob Rohwer

Track and Field

A boys’ 110-meter high hurdle race matching the Nos. 2 and 3 returning performers in the state is expected to be one of the top events today in the Pasadena Games at Pasadena City College.

Seniors Marquis Profit of Pasadena Muir and Kai Kelly of Los Angeles Dorsey, who finished second and fifth in the high hurdles in the state championships last year, will renew their rivalry in that event. They will also meet in the 300 intermediate hurdles -- an event in which Profit finished second in the Southern Section Division III final last year and Kelly won the City Section title -- and could run legs on their school’s 400 and 1,600 relay teams.

The meet, which is in its 62nd year, will start with the girls’ long jump at 11:05 a.m. Running events will begin at 1 p.m.

-- John Ortega

Swimming

The Mission Viejo Invitational, featuring 15 teams from California, will take place today at Marguerite Recreation Center in Mission Viejo and be dedicated to 1983 Mission Viejo High graduate Wendy Wyland Van Der Woude.

Van Der Woude, a four-time Southern Section diving champion and the bronze medalist in women’s platform diving at the 1984 Olympics, died suddenly at the age of 38 on Sept. 27 in Rochester, N.Y.

Mission Viejo boys’ Coach Jeff Boss typically schedules the meet for the second Saturday in April, which is April 10 this year. However, Easter Sunday is the following day.

The meet still conflicts with another event, the girls’ portion of the Southern Section Relays at Belmont Plaza in Long Beach, but the Marguerite Recreation Center’s aquatics complex will be unavailable in the coming weeks because of other events.

Preliminaries will start at 9 a.m., with finals beginning at approximately 2:30 p.m.

-- Lauren Peterson