Recently in University of La Verne Category
The University of La Verne women's team set an NCAA Division III record for 3-pointers with 26 in a 113-61 rout of Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday.
The previous mark of 24 came earlier this season by Sewanee against Judson (Ala.) on Nov. 19. The 113 points also was the most in a game in school history.
The Leopards went 26 for 63 (41.3%) beyond the arc, easily eclipsed their month-old mark of 18 set against the Sagehens in Claremont on Jan. 21. Sophomore guard Kelly Kika also set a single-game school record for treys with 9 to break the old mark of Lindsey Shiomi, who totaled 8 against Pomona-Pitzer in 2007. Kika finished with 32 points.
A total of 10 different Leopards made at least one three-pointer, led by Kika's nine. Freshman Brittni Tapia totaled four triples. Raphaelle Buenafe, Megan Musashi, Amanda McGinnis, Riki Murakami and Chantal Crouzet had two each with Amanda Copas, Michelle Webb and Mia Roseboro each adding one.
There were just two players on the roster that didn;'t figure into that total.
Unfortnately the success hitting from long distance hasn't translated into wins as the Leopards are just 6-17 overall and 4-8 in SCIAC play.
With spring sports in full swing now, there are a lot of sporting events in the area from which to choose. Here's the rundown on what's going on locally . . .
WEDNESDAY
Men's basketball
Chaffey at College of the Desert, 7 p.m.
San Bernardino Valley at Rio Hondo, 7 p.m.
Barstow at Mt. San Jacinto, 7 p.m.
Antelope Valley at Victor Valley, 7 p.m.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at La Verne, 7:30 p.m.
Occidental at Redlands, 7:30 p..m.
Pomona-Pitzer at Caltech, 7:30 p.m.
Women's basketball
San Bernardino Valley at Rio Hondo, 5 p.m.
Chaffey at Desert, 5 p.m.
Antelope Valley at Victor Valley, 1 p.m.
Barstow at Mt. San Jacinto, 5 p.m.
Baseball
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at Azusa Pacific, 5 p.m.
THURSDAY
Women's basketball
Redlands at Whittier, 7:30 p.m.
La Verne at Occidental, 7:30 p.m.
Caltech at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 7:30 p.m.
Cal Lutheran at Pomona-Pitzer, 7:30 p.m.
Baseball
Azusa Pacific at Cal State San Bernardino (at Fiscalini Field), 2 p.m.
FRIDAY,
Men's basketball
Cal State Dominguez Hills at Cal State San Bernardino, 7:30 p.m
Cal Poly Pomona at Chico State, 7:30 p.m.
Women's basketball
Cal State Dominguez Hills at Cal State San Bernardino, 5:30 p.m.
Cal Poly Pomona at Chico State, 5:30 p.m.
Baseball
Whitworth (Wash.) at Pomona-Pitzer, 2 p.m.
St. Martin's (Wash.) at Cal Poly Pomona, 2 p.m.
Cal State San Bernardino at Azusa Pacific, 2 p.m.
San Bernardino Valley and Chaffey at College of the Desert Tournament
Victor Valley at Grossmont, 2 p.m.
Softball
Cal Baptist at Cal State San Bernardino (DH), noon
Redlands at Azusa Pacific, 5 p.m.
SATURDAY
Men's basketball
Cal State Los Angeles at Cal State San Bernardino, 7:30 p.m.
Cal Poly Pomona at Cal State Stanislaus, 7:30 p.m.\
Victor Valley at Chaffey, 3 p.m.
Antelope Valley at San Bernardino Valley, 3 p.m.
Rio Hondo at Barstow, 3 p.m.
La Verne at Cal Lutheran, 7 p.m.
Redlands at Pomona-Pitzer, 7 p.m.
Whittier at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 7 p.m.
Women's basketball
Cal State Los Angeles at Cal State San Bernardino, 5:30 p.m.
Cal Poly Pomona at Cal State Stanislaus, 5:30 p.m.
Antelope Valley at San Bernardino Valley, 1 p.m.
Victor Valley at Chaffey, 1 p.m.
Cerro Coso at Barstow, 1 p.m.
La Verne at Cal Lutheran, 5 p.m.
Whittier at Clarmeont-Mudd-Scripps, 5 p.m.
Redlands at Pomona-Pitzer, 5 p.m.
Baseball
La Verne at Biola, 1 p.m.
St. Martin's at Cal Poly Pomona (DH) 11 a.m.
Azusa Pacific at Cal State San Bernardino (at Fiscalini Field) , 1 p.m.
San Bernardino Valley, Chaffey at College of the Desert Tournament
Victor Valley at Southwestern, noon.
Softball
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at Azusa Pacific, noon
Pomona-Pitzer at vanguard, noon.
Swimming and diving
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at Redlands, 10 a.m.
Caltech at La Verne, 10 a.m.
Pomona-Pitzer at Occidental, 10 a.m.
SUNDAY
Baseball
St. Martin's at Cal Poly Pomona, 11 a.m.
Chaffey at Desert Tournament
Softball
Redlands at Concordia-Irvine, 11 a.m.
Want to check out some of the local college sports action? Well there are a lot of contests to choose from!
MONDAY
Women's basketball
Cerro Coso at Chaffey, 5 p.m.
WEDNESDAY
Men's basketball
Chaffey at San Bernardino, 7 p.m.
College of the Desert at Barstow, 7 p.m.
Rio Hondo at Victor Valley, 7 p.m.
La Verne at Caltech, 7:30 p.m.
Occidental at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 7:30 p.m.
Pomona-Pitzer at Whittier, 7:30 p.m.
Women's basketball
Cal Lutheran at Redlands, 7:30 p.m.
Chaffey at San Bernardino, 5 p.m.
Rio Hondo at Victor Valley, 5 p.m.
College of the Desert at Barstow, 5 p.m.
THURSDAY
Men's basketball
UC San Diego at Cal Poly Pomona, 7:30 p.m.
Cal State San Bernardino at San Francisco State, 7:30 p.m.
Women's basketball
UC San Diego at Cal Poly Pomona, 5:30 p.m.
Cal State San Bernardino at San Francisco State, 5:30 p.m.
Redlands at Occidental, 7:30 p.m.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at Pomona-Pitzer, 7:30 p.m.
Whittier at La Verne, 7:30 p.m.
FRIDAY
Baseball
Westmont at Pomona-Pitzer, 2 p.m.
SATURDAY
Men's basketball
Cal State San Bernardino at Cal Poly Pomona, 7:30 p.m.
Barstow at Chaffey, 3 p.m.
Mt. San Jacinto at San Bernardino, 3 p.m.
College of the Desert at Victor Valley, 3 p.m.
La Verne at Redlands, 7 p.m.
Pomona-Pitzer at Occidental, 7 p.m.
Cal Lutheran at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 7 p.m.
Women's basketball
Cal State San Bernardino at Cal Poly Pomona, 5:30 p.m.
Mt. San Jacinto at San Bernardino, 1 p.m.
Desert at Victor Valley, 1 p.m.
Barstow at Cerro Coso, 1 p.m.
Cal Lutheran at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 5 p.m.
Pomona-Pitzer at Occcidental, 5 p.m.
La Verne at Redlands, 5 p.m.
Swimming and diving
La Verne at Pomona-Pitzer, 11 a.m.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at Cal Lutheran, 11 a.m.
Redlands at Whittier, 11 a.m.
Here's what's happening in local college sports this week
MONDAY
Women's basketball -
San Bernardino Valley at Cerro Coso, 6 p.m.
Chapman at La Verne, 7:30 p.m.
TUESDAY
Men's basketball
San Francisco State at Cal Poly Pomona, 7:30 p.m.
Women's basketball
San Francisco State at Cal Poly Pomona, 5:30 p.m.
WEDNESDAY
Men's basketball
Rio Hondo at Chaffey, 7 p.m.
San Bernardino Valley at Barstow, 7 p.m.
Victor Valley at Mt. San Jacinto, 7 p.m.
Whittier at La Verne, 7:30 p.m.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at Pomona-Pitzer, 7:30 p.m.
Redlands at Occidental, 7:30 p.m.
Women's basketball
San Bernardino Valley at Barstow, 5 p.m.
Rio Hondo at Chaffey, 5 p.m.
Victor Valley at Mt. San Jacinto, 5 p.m.
THUSRDAY
Women's basketball
Occidental at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, 7:30 p.m.
La Verne at Caltech, 7:30 p.m.
Cal Lutheran at Redlands, 7:30 p.m.
Pomona-Pitzer at Redlands, 7:30 p.m.
FRIDAY
Men's basketball
Humboldt State at Cal State San Bernardino, 7:30 p.m.
Cal Poly Pomona at Cal State Dominguez, 7:30 p.m.
Women's basketball
Humboldt State at Cal State San Bernardino,5:30 p.m.
Cal Poly Pomona at Cal State Dominguez, 5:30 p.m.
SATURDAY
Men's basketball
Sonoma State at Cal State San Bernardino, 7:30 p.m.
Cal Poly Pomona at Cal State Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m.
Antelope Valley at Chaffey, 3 p.m.
San Bernardino Valley at College of the Desert, 3 p.m.;
Barstow at Victor Valley, 3 p.m.
Clarmeont-Mudd-Scripps at Whittier, 7 p.m.
Redlands at Caltech, 7 p.m.
La Verne at Pomona-Pitzer, 7 p.m.
Women's basketball
Sonoma State at Cal State San Bernardino, 5:30 p.m.
Cal Poly Pomona at Cal State Los Angeles, 5:30 p.m.
Antelope Valley at Chaffey, 1 p.m.;
Victor Valley at Barstow, 1 p.m.
La Verne at Pomona-Pitzer, 5 p.m.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at Whittier, 5 p.m.
Redlands at Caltech, 5 p.m.
Each week the Sun and Daily Bulletin newspapers run student-athlete profiles as part of a Tuesday local colleges packages. It's a fun Q & A with one girl and one boy recommended by their coaches or athletic directors. Last Tuesday the girl feature was cross country standout Micaela Castillo of University of La Verne.
On the question "Person you would most like to meet" she listed Louis Zamperini, a former American distance runner and WW2 Prisoner of War survivor. That's the nice thing about athletes from the SCIAC schools. There is usually some depth to their answers.
So I come into the office on Thursday and have a message from Steve Wallace, a marketing rep for the Plane of Fame Museum in Chino. Turns out Zamperini is going to be a guest speaker at a fund-rasier the group is having on Saturday in Chino. Wallace talked to Zamperini and told him about Castillo and he was willing to spend some time with her.
So after a few phone calls the meet and greet has been set up for an hour before the event on Saturday. I'm sure it will go well. Zamperini has to be flattered that a young athlete know hims and wants to meet him and Castillo has to be thrilled with the opportunity.
I like to think we helped!
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps chalked up a 20-17 win over University of La Verne in the SCIAC opener for both teams on Saturday. But it wasn't without a cost as senior quarterback Patrick Rooney sustained a broken leg and it lost for the season.
Coach Kyle Sweeney said the injury occured in the first quarter when a La Verne played jumped offside and slammed into his quarterback before the offical blew the whistle.
The Stags have used two quarterbacks the last three years with Rooney noted as the batter passer and junior Peter Kimmey more of a weapon in the rushing attack.
Ironically, Rooney was also hurt last year which left Kimmey as the sole signal-caller for the last four games. The Stags should be able to draw upon that experience and proceed the same way.
"They won games with him so he can do the job," Sweeney said.
CMS will play at Chapman at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
Practice begins this week for most area college football teams. It should be quite an interesting season in the SCIAC. There are plenty of story lines.
Cal Lutheran is a heavy favorite. The Kingsmen are looking for a third straight conference title. They return 18 starters and will be playing in a brand-spanking new facility so the program has considerable momentum.
After that it will be a crapshoot. The University of Redlands is always in contention but the Bulldogs did finally graduate quarterback Dan Selway as well as their "quarterback" on the other side of the ball in defensive back-kick returner extraordinaire in Mike Nicolini.
The Bulldogs open the season a week earlier than usual and will have a tough first-week foe in North Central (Ill.) which is the favorite in its conference. Beating that team might be a tall order with question marks in such key positions.
There are three new coaches - Kyle Sweeney at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Chris Krich at La Verne and Kirk Jellerson at Whittier. Sweeney is in the best situation with a lot of returning starters from a team that went 7-2.
For Krich and Jellerson a three-win season would mean progress.
Then there is Occidental, looking to bounce back from an uncharacteristic losing season.
If that weren't enough, Chapman joins the SCIAC this year although the Panthers won't be eligible for a conference title in the first year. They play the SCIAC schools anyway so they may as well be in the conference.
On a sad note - condolences go out to the family and friends of former Occidental quarterback Andy Collins who collapsed and died while running on a treadmill in Florida. He was just 27 and had been married one week earlier. He was a three-time SCIAC Player of the Year.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Pomona-Pitzer are hosting the NCAA Division III national tennis championships all week. While the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps teams didn't fare well, individuals are more than holding their own.
Sophomore Alex Lane of CMS just steamrolled past his two foes, losing a grand total of three games. Have you ever watched a sporting event and one side was playing so well you felt sorry for the other? That was the case. Lane said after his second match he was playing with a chip on his shoulder after a loss in the team competition earlier in the week.
He looks like he is going to be hard to beat now.
Tommy Meyer of Pomona-Pitzer also advanced to the qaurterfinals with a pair of straight set wins.
Sophomore Kristin Lim of CMS has been the star on the women's side. She too is in the quarterfinals.
All the action today is at Pomona-Pitzer beginning at 9 a.m. There is no charge and its a great venue to wander around and watch competition on different courts in a relaxed atmosphere.
For the second straight year Claremont-Mudd-Scripps will host the SCIAC's post-season softball tournament.
The Athenas (32-8, 19-5) and the University of Redlands (31-9, 19-5) finished tied for first in the regular season but CMS gets the top seed and right to host based on its 4-0 record against the Bulldogs.
Action begins at 9 a.m. on Firday with CMS squaring off against No. 4 seed Whittier (23-17, 11-13), whom they just swept to complete the regular season. Then at 11:30 a.m. Redlands faces off with No. 3 La Verne (25-14, 18-6).
It is a double elimination event so the winners of the first two games will play at 2 and the loser's will play at 4 in an elimination game.
Play also starts at 10 a.m. on Saturday with an elimination game. The championship game is set for 12:30 p.m. with the if necessary game to follow.
Last season the Leopards won the tournament as the No. 3 seed, the same scenarion they face this year.
The winner gets the conference automatic playoff berth. Last year CMS and Redlands were both granted at-large bids despite not winning the conference tournament.
There are six games left in the SCIAC baseball regular season and a couple of contenders have fallen by the wayside. A week ago five teams were still in the hunt. None of those have beem mathematically eliminated but both Pomona-Pitzer and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps suffered losses on Friday that will make it difficult for them now.
The defending champion Sagehens were dealt a 5-1 loss by the University of La Verne while CMS fell to Cal Lutheran 12-4. It is unlikely that either of those can leapfrog enough teams in front of them now.
Pomona-Pitzer and CMS play each other on Saturday, so the loser of that can definitely mail it in.
Redlands survived against a lower-tier team in Occidental 13-9. The Bulldogs trailed 8-0. So give them credit for having the guts to come back. But it shouldn't have been that hard.
In other games today La Verne will battle Whittier and Redlands will travel to Cal Lutheran. Its a chance for the Bulldogs to put a dagger in the Kingsmen.
A VERY big game looms on Sunday when Redlands travels to La Verne. Stay tuned!
| Redlands | 22 | 17-5 | 23-8 | |||||||||
| La Verne | 22 | 16-6 | 21-12 | |||||||||
| Cal Lutheran | 21 | 14-7 | 20-13 | |||||||||
| Pomona-Pitzer | 22 | 13-9 | 23-10 | |||||||||
| Claremont-Mudd-Scripps | 22 | 13-9 | 19-15 | |||||||||
| Whittier | 22 | 8-14 | 16-17 | |||||||||
| Occidental | 21 | 6-15 | 10-22 | |||||||||
| Caltech | 22 | 0-22 | 0-25 |
The SCIAC baseball race just a got a whole lot closer.
Not only did Pomona-Pitzer defeated Redlands 4-2, but Claremont-Mudd-Scripps upset University of La Verne 7-6. So now the four teams are separated by just two games. Redlands and La Verne remain tied for first with Pomona-Pizter one gane out and CMS two out,
The Bulldogs and Sagehens played one of the best games I have seen since I started covering colleges full-time in 2004. It was a great pitching matchup with Pomona's David Colvin opposed by Redlands's Derek Johnson.
The Bulldogs got to Colvin early and were up 2-0. But they didn't maximize their opportunities. Twice they had runners at third with one out and couldn't get another run home. They had a runner gunned down at the plate trying to score on fly ball to shallow right.
The Redlands defense was nothing short of spectacular in the first six innings, making several highlight-reel plays. They had two in the fifth, the first coming when shortstop Chase Tucker leaped as high as humanly possible to come down with a line drive off the bat of Nick Gentili that appeared headed into left field.
One batter later Teddy Bingham hit a line drive to second that was nabbed by Cameron Lowe who threw to first to double up a runner there.
The Sagehens fimally broke through with one in the seventh, then manufactured three in the eighth. There were four hits and a walk in the inning. A double down the left field line by Kyle Pokorney tied the game at 2 and a single by Timonthy Novum snapped the tie.
It was a little bit of redemption for Johnson, although his team came out on the losing end. The last time he was on the mound against the Sagehens he gave up seven hits and six runs and lasted two innings in a game that was pivotal down the stretch last year.
Colvin was Mr. Steady. In the games I have witnessed this season he seems to give up a couple early, but the later it gets, the tougher he gets. Get to him early or you won't get to him at all.
This race is going to go down to the final game!
It's the last week of play for area college football teams but only a couple have anything on the line.
The most important game will have San Bernardino Valley College (6-3, 4-0) traveling to East Los Angeles (4-5, 3-1) for a 6 p.m. showdown with a win bringing the Wolverines an American Division Mountain Conference title. Coach Kevin Emerson's squad is already guaranteed its first winning season since 1998.
Emerson inherited an 0-10 team in 2009 and went a respectable 5-5 last year in his first at the helm. Now he's on the brink of a conference title. That's a quick turnaround.
The other team with something on the line is the University of Redlands. The Bulldogs (7-1) will be hosting nonconference foe Chapman at 1 p.m.
Coach Mike Maynard's team can not earn a SCIAC automtic bid because of its head-to-head loss to Cal Lutheran. So Maynard is hoping for an at-large berth. It's a stretch though. A SCIAC runner-up hasn't gotten one in at least the last 20 years. I have a hard time believing it will happen this year either.
The Peace Pipe game will see Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (6-2, 3-2) cross the street to face Pomona-Pitzer (1-7, 1-4) for a 1 p.m. neighborhood tussle. It's all about bragging rights.
The University of La Verne (0-8, 0-5) will face Whittier, also at 1 p.m. If the Leopards don't pull it off they're going to have to go through another off-season thinking about an 0-9. La Verne has lost 19 straight games but maybe there is something in that fact that the last time the Leos one back in 2008, Whittier was also the foe.
Chaffey rounds out the regular season by hosting Antelope Valley at 6 p.m. I am guessing this goes down to the wire. It shouldn't. The Panthers have way more talent. But every other Chaffey game has followed that pattern.
Victor Valley (2-7) will be at Mt. San Jacinto. Coach Dave Hoover is just happy this season is about over.
It was good news and bad news for the Cal State San Bernardino men's soccer team.
The Coyotes (13-5-1) made the postseason for just the third time in history. The bad news, though, is losses in the last two matches cost the Coyotes the right to host a game, so they'll be hitting the road.
Chico State will host the Super Region 4. The Coyotes will be facing Pacific West champion Grand Canyon (14-2-2) at 4 p.m. Friday in the first round while the host Wildcats (13-6) will play CCAA North foe Sonoma State (14-5-1) at 7 p.m.
"Our guys are excited about the opportunity," said Cal State San Bernardino coach Noah Kooiman, this year's CCAA Coach of the Year. "It's a little disappointing we're not hosting, but it's the playoffs. "We got a taste of it last year, so we're better prepared this time around."
The Coyotes have been ranked as high as No. 3 in the country and were No. 1 in the West Region the last three weeks, but Cal State lost its regular-season finale to Cal State Dominguez Hills 1-0 and its CCAA tournament semifinal to Sonoma State 1-0.
Sonoma State won the event by beating Dominguez in the final. Kooiman thinks Sonoma State winning tipped the hosting right to Chico. Had Dominguez gotten in, the South would have had two teams and the Coyotes likely would have been the host team.
"We'll never know, but that's how we think it would have worked out," Kooiman said.
It will be the third playoff berth for the Coyotes, who were beaten last year by Cal State Los Angeles 5-3. The previous berth was in 1991, when the school was competing at the Division III level.
The Coyotes haven't played Grand Canyon this season. They defeated Chico State 2-1 and lost to Sonoma State twice, 3-1 and 1-0.
Division III women's soccer
Surprise SCIAC tournament winner University of Redlands has drawn a first- round playoff matchup against Chapman on Thursday.
The Bulldogs (10-9) were seeded fourth for the SCIAC tourney but earned the conference playoff berth by upsetting top- seeded Cal Lutheran and No. 2 Occidental in the conference tournament.
Redlands hasn't given up a goal in more than 285 minutes dating back to its 5-0 victory over Whittier on Oct. 30. It has seven shutouts.
Chapman (12-6), which competes as an independent, gained one of 21 Pool B/C bids to the NCAA tournament. It defeated Redlands 3-2 in nonconference play earlier this season.
Division III men's soccer
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (14-3-2) will be the SCIAC's lone postseason representative and compete in a four- team sectional. The Stags will play host team Texas-Tyler University (12-3-1) on Saturday.
The winner of that game will face the winner of the game between Trinity-Texas and Pacific.
Claremont-Mudd finished second to the University of Redlands in the regular season but upended the Bulldogs 1-0 in the SCIAC tournament to earn the automatic bid.
Division III volleyball
For the first time since 1999, the University of La Verne will not be participating in the postseason.
Regular-season champion Cal Lutheran won the SCIAC's automatic bid by also winning the conference tournament.
The Leopards (19-11) were 11-9 in mid- October but went 8-2 over their last 10 matches to make a push for an at-large bid, then lost the tournament finale to Cal Lutheran.
West Region representatives Cal Lutheran, Colorado College and Whitworth each received automatic bids into the 63-team field by virtue of winning their respective conferences. Puget Sound (18-6) earned the West's lone at-large berth.
The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps football team had a chance to make the playoffs if it could run the table and win its last three games. That won't happen.
Cal Lutheran (6-1, 4-0) took it to the Stags, winning 41-14 at Zinda Field today. The Stags had two big problems. The first problem was they couldn't throw the ball, not even a little. Cal Lutheran put nine men in the box and dared them to do so and they could not.
That also made it hard for CMS (5-2, 2-2) to run the ball which is traditionally a strong suit.
The second problem was on defense they couldn't cover anyone. That is an equally big issue. The Stags had two starting safeties out with injuries and their absence was exposed early as Cal Lu receivers were wide open all day.
CMS is a good football team. But this makes losses to two of the top tier teams in Cal Lutheran and Redlands. So maybe it is not quite at that level yet.It has a game left with Occidental next week. A win in that game will be evidence the Stags are making strides and getting close to shrinking the gap between the top teams and middle teams. A loss and they're relegated to second-tier status.
Also in SCIAC play Redlands beat La Verne 27-7. The Bulldogs likely experienced a letdown after last week's emotionally and physically draining 51-7 thrashing of Occidental.The Bulldogs could still make the playoffs but they need help.
Pomona-Pitzer faltered at Whittier, losing 37-17. That sets up a battle of winless teams next week as the Sagehens will play at La Verne.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps had a surprisingly tough time with Whittier but prevailed 30-27, the difference being a Chet Corcos field goal with 4:05 left.
There are a lot of games to choose from for area college football enthusiasts.
Cal Lutheran (1-1) at Redlands (2-0), 7 p.m.
Transfer U comes in to take on the Bulldogs in what should be one of the biggest games in the SCIAC this season. Cal Lutheran has looked more potent on offense than Redlands which tends to start slowly but wake up in the third quarter. The Bulldogs can't afford a slow start in this one. The running game must also do better than it has in the first two games. Slight edge to the visiting Kingsmen in this one.
La Verne (0-2) at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (2-0), 7 p.m.
A turning point game for both programs. CMS has played considerably weaker foes than the Leopards to this point. La Verne has lost 13 straight games and this a foe that shouldn't be out of its class if it wants to make a leap to respectability, CMS has looked solid but they haven't played anyone yet. Have to call this one for the Stags.
Pomona-Pitzer (0-2) at Chapman (0-2), 7 p.m.
Two teams still looking to get into the win column. The Sagehens need to improve on defense because Jake Caron and R.J. Maki can't carry the team. Chapman can also be a tough place to win. We're probably looking at a Panther victory.
In the community college ranks . . .
Riverside (2-1) at Chaffey (3-1), 6 p.m.
The Panthers have been lucky. Coach Carl Beach is the first to admit that and in this one he doesn't have room for error. Riverside is back on the way up and has some talented game-breakers. Chaffey has won some low-scoring games so trading touchdowns with the Tigers might be tough. Give RCC the edge, based on previous results.
Citrus (1-2) at San Bernardino Valley (1-2), 6 p.m.
The first Emerson Bowl with SBVC's Kevin Emerson facing his former team. He wants this one bad. His team wants it too. If Kristin James hangs on to the ball, it shouldn't be a problem. I'll go with the Wolverines at home.
Victor Valley (0-3) at Desert (1-3), 6 p.m.
The Rams have been beaten up physically by top-notch nonconference foes. They have the talent to win this one but coach Dave Hoover is worried about his team's mental state after the tough start. If the Rams lose this one it's going to be a very long season. If they can pull one out, it should them some momentum heading into conference play. Because of uncertainty at the quarterback position I have to go with Desert.
Three of the seven area college football teams are off this week and one that is playing will be on the road. So there aren't many games to choose from.
Linfield, Ore. (0-1) at University of La Verne, 12:30 p.m.
Linfield has had two weeks to sit and stew about its 47-42 loss to Cal Lutheran. La Verne lost its opener to what looks like a very good Azusa Pacific team, also two weeks ago. La Verne's running game looked much improved and that's a good thing. It needs to do well there to have any chance at all of pulling a major upset and snapping its 12 game losing streak which dates back to the end of the 2008 season. Would love to call an upset here but it looks highly improbable.
In the community college ranks . . .
Chaffey (2-1) at Ventura (2-1), 6 p.m.
The Panthers are coming off a 17-13 loss to Saddleback which doesn't look as dominating as it has been in the past. Chaffey has some nagging injuries, one of those an elbow injury to talented back Erin Madden who will probably be out a minimum of three weeks according to coach Carl Beach. That will hurt big time. Chaffey's offense has not been firing on all cyclinders and it needs to here to get the win on the road.
Santa Monica (2-1) at San Bernardino Valley (0-2), 6 p.m.
A year ago this might have been an easy game but Santa Monica has improved, although its nonconference schedule has not been as challenging as some. The Wolverines had a lot of players banged up two weeks ago in the loss to Riverside. The key here may be how the secondary of SBVC holds up. It has been torched badly in the first two games. Coverages has to be better for the Wolverines to get the W!
Saddleback (2-1) at Victor Valley (0-3), 1 p.m.
The Rams continue their gauntlet of difficult nonconference games. This looks like the most winnable of the four with the trip to High Desert never an easy one for opponents. The Rams have had a revolving door at quarterback. Dave Hoover finally settled on one - Courtney Patton. But he injured an ankle last week and is questionable. Even if he does go the injury will probably take away some of his mobility which is his strong suit. So the Rams will probably be hard-pressed to pull this one off.
There aren't a lot of games to pick from if you want to take in a local college football game this weeekend.
The University of La Verne (0-1) and San Bernardino Valley College (0-2) are idle and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (1-0), Pomona-Pitzer (0-1) and Chaffey College (2-0) will all be on the road.
The University of Redlands (1-0) will host Whitworth, Wash. (1-1) at 7 p.m. on Saturday at Ted Runner Stadium. The Bulldogs opened their season with a 21-10 win at East Texas Baptist last week. That looks like a good win given that team's big win the previous week.
This will be the second straight week the Bulldogs will be defending a star player. Not that you want to focus and entire game plan on one player, but Whitworth does rely on all-everything back Adam Anderson much the way East Texas revolved around its quarterback Sed Harris.
Redlands has the benefit of a solid quarterback and leader in Dan Selway, who is finally exhausting his eligibilty - foes in the SCIAC wil be happy to know. The Bulldogs do need to develop a running game, something coach Mike Maynard says has been a focal point in practice this week.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps is going up to Pacific (Ore.) for a 1:30 p.m. game. That team is probably worse than the Lewis & Clark team it beat last week. Expect the Stags to move to 2-0. How good they are is still anybody's guess given the level of competition.
Pomona-Pitzer, which lost to Whitworth 35-7 last week, goes up to Lewis & Clark. So the Sagehens and quarterback Jacob Caron have a good shot at win No. 1.
In the junior college ranks Victor Valley (0-2) will be at Riverside (1-0) for a 6 p.m. showdown. The schedule makers did the Rams no favors. Don't get coach Dave Hoover started on that subject!
Chaffey (2-0) is off to an impressive start too but will face a tough task in marching down to Mission Viejo to square off against Saddleback, the No. 14 team in the state.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps has been awarded the right to host the 2011 California-Nevada Collegiate Track and Field Championships in the spring.
The prestigious meet for four-year colleges and universities in the two states has a history dating back to 1994. The meet, which will be held March 26-27, has been hosted by UCLA the past two years.
CMS will be the first Division III host for the championship in its 18-year history. The championship is the only meet held in either state which offers scored competition between all three NCAA Divisions as well as NAIA schools.
"It's a great opportunity to showcase our school and our facility," said former coach John Goldhammer, who was instrumental in bringing the meet to Claremont. "There hasn't been a lot of confidence in Division III schools when it comes to hosting this type of event so we're honored to be given the chance."
The bidding process came down to CMS and Division II power UC San Diego with CMS winning a vote of member coaches by a wide margin.
"We have bid for it before," Goldhammer said. "Maybe we just wore them down and they gave in. But we're looking forward to putting on a nice event."
The will not be more representation from the local schools just because it will be held near by though. To make the field athletes must be ranked in the top 27 in the field events or top 36 for track event.
The 2010 team champions were UCLA for the men and Cal State Northridge for the women.
The Pomona-Pitzer baseball team has fallen one game short of playing for the NCAA Division III West Region championship for a second straight year. The Sagehens were sent home from the 2010 event by a 6-5 loss to Mississippi College Saturday afternoon at Linfield University in McMinnville, Ore.
The disappointing thing is that the decisive run was the result of a Sagehens error in the ninth inning. Coach Frank Pericolosi says defense was an issue the entire tournament. Official scoring was generous, with many hits called as such that should have been ruled errors.
The tournament got off to such a promising start with the Sagehens winning their first two games and being the last team handed a loss in the double-elimination tournament. The wheels started coming off on Friday in a 10-0 loss to host Linfield. Two errors in the first inning led to four unearned runs and the Sagehens were never in the game.
The Sagehens (31-11) do have a lot to be proud of this season. Last year they were No. 1 in the country heading into the tournament so not winning then was more disappointing than it has to be this season.
Pericolosi started as many as four freshmen and three sophomores this season.So this team will be back. The key losses will be catcher James Brunswick, one of the team's more underrated players, and shortstop James Kang, who seemed to come up with every clutch hit.
Some players also emerged that few might have expected. Guy Stevens got throw into the fire Friday night after sophomore starter Leo Rosetti struggled. Stevens is just a freshman and had seen little mound time this season, That was a pretty pressure-packed situation. But he threw five scoreless innings before running out of gas and giving up a couple in his sixth inning of work.
The same can be said for senior Lucas Fogarty, the tough-luck loser today.He too had not been called on much but was solid in hs outing.
With three SCIAC titles and regional appearances in the last four years, it is clear that Pomona-Pitzer is the standard by which others in the conference will be measured in coming years.
The All-SCIAC honors have been doled out in baseball. Not surprsingly, Pomona-Pitzer and Redlands dominate the selections as the teams finished first and second in the conference.
The Sagehens are the lone team left playing.
FIRST TEAM
Pitchers
David Colvin, Jr., Pomona-Pitzer
Derek Johnson, Jr., University of Redlands
Alex Sunderland, Jr., Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Catcher
Mike Surina, Sr., University of La Verne
Infielders
Nick Frederick, Jr., Pomona-Pitzer
John Hattabaugh, Sr., University of La Verne
Chase Tucker, So., University of Redlands
Steve Dannaway, Sr., Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Zach Braband, Sr., University of Redlands
Outfielders
Nate Carlson, Jr., University of Redlands
Erik Munzer, Fr., Pomona-Pitzer
Max Rose, Sr., Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Designated hitter
K.C. Judge, Jr., California Lutheran
SECOND TEAM
Pitchers
Matt Baudino, Jr., University of La Verne
Robbie Selden, Sr., California Lutheran
James Brunswick, Sr., Pomona-Pitzer
Ian Durhan, Jr., California Lutheran
Catcher
Jefre Johnson, Sr., University of Redlands
Infielders
Victor Peinado, Sr., University of La Verne
Eric Schropp, So., Caltech
Outfielders
Matt Martin, Sr., California Lutheran
David Spiller, Sr., Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Jacob Storrer, Fr., Whittier
Designated hitters
Nick Gentili, Fr., Pomona-Pitzer
Brett Sandford, Sr., University of Redlands
Utility
Michael Lessig, Sr., University of Redlands
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps golf standout Tain Lee brought home a national championship today at the NCAA Division III championships in Hershey, Penn. But it gets better than that . . . senior Mitchell Fedorka of the University of La Verne finished second, giving the SCIAC the top two individuals in the country. That is some feat!
Lee led from wire-to-wire which is pretty impressive. Fedorka pulled into a tie with him during Thursday's third round but he had a triple bogey late in the round that gave Lee the lead back. He never gave it up.
The win was nice for Lee which might be of some consolation to Fedorka, who lost in a playoff for medalist honors last season.
La Verne finished a respectable fifth in the team competition which was won by Methodist University of North Carolina. Had it not been for a bad opening round, the Leopards would have been right in the thick of the team competition too.
The SCIAC is one of the top conferences in the country when it comes to golf. CMS and the University of Redlands were ranked among the top 10 teams in the country all season long but La Verme got the automatic bid. And only three at-large bids are awarded nationwide so both those teams were left at home when they were probably better than some teams that won their conference.
According to CMS coach Bim Jollymour, the rules are changing next year so that six at-large berths will be awarded. That should bode well for the SCIAC.
The announcement of playoff pairing for the NCAA Division III softball tournament were announced and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, La Verne and Redlands are all in, Now let's hope the teams do a little better than last year when the same three got in to the same six-team regional and they were THE first three teams eliminated.
La Verne got the automatic bid by winning the SCIAC tournament. That looked like it was going to knock Redlands out of the running because few believed the SCIAC was going to get three teams in again this year and CMS seemed like a sure bet because it beat Redlands head-to-head in three of four meetings,. And it should have won the other game too.
Redlands coach Laurie Nevarez seemed to think her team's chances weren't good, and said as much after her team lost the SCIAC title game to La Verne.
But after all that the Bulldogs might have the best draw of the three local teams, who are headed to separate venues.
La Verne got the short end of the deal. But then again it was third to the other two in the regular season. The Leopards (27-18) will play at Louisiana College and face the host team in its opener. Louisiana (41-6) also happens to be ranked first in the country. No. 2 Texas-Tyler and No. 10 East Texas Baptist are in the same field. That's a tall order!
CMS will be off Simpson College in Iowa. The Athenas are seeded fourth and will face fifth-seed Central (Iowa). Going by the rankings, the biggest obstacle looks like No. 8 Linfield, Ore. Central is No. 15 while host Simpson is No. 14.
Redlands will play in an eight-team regional at Wisconsin-Whitewater. The Bulldogs (32-120 will face Augustana, Ill. in its first game. That shouldn't be an overwhemling task for a team with considerable playoff experience. No. 5 Luther (Iowa) is the highest ranked team in the group.
The SCIAC has announced the 2009-10 All-SCIAC honors in men's tennis. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, coached by Paul Settles, repeated as team champion. The Stags had three players named to the first team and one selected to second.
The complete list of honors are as follows:
Player of the Year: Andrew Giuffrida, California Lutheran University
Team Sportsmanship Award: University of La Verne
FIRST TEAM
Nick Ballou, California Lutheran University
Robbie Erani, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Mikey Lim, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Eric MacColl, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Tommy Meyer, Pomona-Pitzer Colleges
Cameron Spearman, University of Redlands
SECOND TEAM
Frankie Allinson, Pomona-Pitzer Colleges
Russell Brockett, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Jeff Hammond, University of Redlands
Ryan Lassila, California Lutheran University
Anish Nanda, University of Redlands
Uday Singh, Pomona-Pitzer Colleges
Kevin Wong, University of Redlands
Ray Worley, California Lutheran University
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The SCIAC has announced the 2009-10 All-SCIAC Women's Tennis teams, Player of the Year and Team Sportsmanship Award and area schools are well represented. Pomona-Pitzer, coached by Ann Lebedeff, had the most players selected, although the Player of the Year is Paige Sumida of the University of Redlands. Here is the list of the entire team. FIRST TEAM
Holly Beaman, California Lutheran University Team Sportsmanship Award: California Institute of Technology |
Now that the dust has cleared, pairings for the SCIAC men's basketball tournament have been determined.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (19-6, 11-3) is the top seed and will host Occidental on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The other game will feature Cal Lutheran (15-10, 9-5) at Pomona-Pitzer (13-12, 9-5).
Going into the last game of the season Redlands, Cal Lutheran and Pomona-Pitzer were all tied for third so two of the three were going to make it in. Redlands looked to be the shoe-in with a game against seventh-place La Verne but the Bulldogs lost. They lost their last four games of the season so they didn't deserve to get in.
Meanwhile Pomona-Pitzer beat Oxy 55-54 and Cal Lutheran upset Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 74-67.
The championship game will be on Saturday with the highest seeded team hosting.
The University of Redlands baseball team began SCIAC play the past weekend by taking two out of three games against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, the last coming in walkoff fashion.
Senior catcher Jefre Johnson has led the offense thus far, hitting .429 (9-for-21). He has four doubles, a triple and a home run.
Junior outfielder Nate Carlson already has collected 11 RBI, three of those coming on a home run in the ninth that was the difference against CMS in the series finale on Saturday.
Next up for the Bulldogs (4-1, 2-1) is a three-game set against traditional power University of La Verne (2-3, 0-0). Redlands will host the single game at 2:30 p.m. on Friday with the twinbill at La Verne on Saturday getting underway at 11 a.m.
The University of La Verne will not be going back to the Elite Eight - at least not this season.
The Leopards were beaten in the Division III West Region championship match by Colorado College 25-19, 20-25, 19-25, 25-19, 15-9. The loss was a disappointing one because it had more to do with what the Leopards didn't do than something the Tigers did do. They had trouble with serving, serve receiving and passing - all areas in which they are typically sound.
The Leopards have built such a solid tradition that anything short of a trip to the Elite Eight seems like a disappointment. It's easy to take that success for granted. But the Leopards dealt with a coaching change as well as injuries, one of which sidelined a key player the last month. So they are to be commended for their showing.
It was also a nice run for the SCIAC schools, Redlands and Cal Lutheran also made the regional and all three won their quarterfinal which validated the fact that they deserved to be there. In fact both Cal Lutheran and La Verne beat other teams that were nationally ranked.
Redlands lost to La Verne and Cal Lutheran lost to Colorado College in the semifinals, both in five sets. So it easily could have been an All-SCIAC final.
All three of those teams return a lot of key players next season so it could be just as much of a dogfight next season.
The University of La Verne volleyball team has been there before and it showed.
The Leopards surged past Pacific Lutheran 3-1 (23-25, 25-18, 27-25, 25-19) in the NCAA Division III West Region tournament at the University of Redlands on Thursday. That puts the Leopards into the semifinals on Friday against the winner of Redlands-Chapman which is next up.
La Verne might have finished third in the SCIAC but the Leopards have a bunch of players who finished one win short of a national title a year ago. So they know what it takes when it's all on the line.
Crista Jones delivered 23 kills and 20 digs while Anna Calmer added 14. Yesenia Lopez and Kendall Kraiss combined for 50 assists. Lopez also collected a team-high 21 digs.
That also makes the SCIAC 2-for-2 on the day with the Bulldogs still to play. Cal Lutheran defeated Puget Sound earlier in the day. It goes to show that the SCIAC deserved all three entrants.
Redlands has fared well against NCAA Division III institutions this year, boasting a perfect 7-0 record against fellow members of Division III.
The Bulldogs held the No. 1 spot in the CWPA Division III poll last year from the preseason rankings through Nov. 12.
Tonight, Redlands (9-14, 1-0 SCIAC) hosts Cal Lutheran University. Game time is set for 5 p.m. at the Thompson Aquatic Center.
For a complete list of CWPA rankings, visit http://www.collegiatewaterpolo.com/news/2009-10/102109MenVarsityPolls.
University of La Verne Athletic Director Julie Kline has announced the hiring of Yolanda Duron as Head Women's Tennis Coach.
Duron brings a wealth of coaching experience to the Leopard program and has previously coached at the Division I, II and community college levels.
"I'm extremely excited to be at La Verne," said Duron. "I am grateful for this tremendous opportunity. I look forward to the challenge of building the tennis program and I'm also excited about bringing much more recognition to Leopard tennis in the near future.
She previously served as head coach at Mt. San Jacinto College during the 2008-09 academic year, leading the squad to a 11-4 overall record and 6-2 in conference play. For her efforts she was named the 2009 Foothill Conference Coach of the Year.
Additionally she served as assistant men's and women's tennis coach at both Division II Cal Poly Pomona (2005-08) and Division I Temple (2004-05). She began her collegiate coaching career at alma mater Drexel University in 2002, serving as assistant men's and women's tennis coach for two seasons.
"We are excited about Yolanda Duron being our next Head Women's Tennis Coach," said Kline. Yolanda's vision for our Women's Tennis Program and her plans to achieve that vision is the right fit for this Athletics Department and the direction we are heading with each of our programs."
Duron is a former Divison I player at Drexel where she was team captain as well as an America East All-Conference selection in 2001. She earned her Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from Drexel in 2003 while earning her Master's Degree in Kinesiology from Cal State Fullerton in 2008.
She is affiliated with both the United States Tennis Association (USTA), the United States Professional Tennis Association (USPTA) while also serving as a board member for the California Community College Tennis Coaches Association.
The University of La Verne is no longer without a women's volleyball coach as former Olympic assistant coach Marlon Sano has been chosen to direct the Leopards program.
He becomes only the third head coach at the school since 1974, following Jim Paschal (1974-1997) and Don Flora (1998-2008). The program has produced three national championships, 22 SCIAC titles and 26 All-Americans.
Flora resigned earlier this spring to take an assistant position at Division I New Mexico State.
"This has been a program that has been great for an awful long time,'' Sano said. "I'm just hoping to keep building on what has been done here and maybe raise the bar even higher."
Sano was an assistant for the 1984 U.S. Olympic silver medal-winning volleyball team and is currently a co-director and head coach for the USA High Performance Development camp series. That series develops and implements the techniques and tactics taught to coaches and players in conjunction with the USA National team.
He inherits a La Verne squad that went 27-3 and reached the NCAA Division III Championship match in 2008. The Leopards graduated just two players.
Sano's collegiate resume includes a recent stint as an assistant coach at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. He was also an assisant at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo from 1995-2005 and most recently served as lead assistant at Cal State Los Angeles. He also was the head coach at Utah State (1991-94), an assistant coach at Cal State Fullerton (1989-91) and a head coach at Southern California College (now Vanguard University) from 1988-89.
Sano also has extensive junior club coaching experience and is the founder and co-director for the Ocean's Elite Juniors Volleyball Club.
Sano said he has spent much of the last week contacting the returning players, incoming recruits and support staff. Both of Flora's assistants left for other jobs so he is looking for help as well.
"It has been a weird year and there are some good coaches still out there," he said. "I didn't want to put the cart before the horse so that's what I am looking into now."
Sano earned his bachelor's degree in speech communications and his teaching credential from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Gonzales is a two-time First Team All-America by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) and is also a two-time Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Player of the Year (2007, 2008).
A two-time AVCA All-West Region selection (2007, 2008), she also recorded her 1,000th career kill in October to become the first Leopard volleyball player to reach that milestone in 15 seasons.
Amin was a three-time All-American in golf, earning First Team honors in 2007 and 2009 while garnering Second Team accolades in 2008. He helped the Leopards to NCAA runner-up team finishes in both the 2007 and 2009 seasons. He placed third overall at the 2009 NCAA Championships. He was the 2008 SCIAC Player of the Year and was a First Team All-SCIAC honoree in 2009. In addition Amin was the recipient of the SCIAC's Jess Clark Sportsmanship Award.
University of La Verne junior Mitchell Fedorka has been named winner of the 2009 Jack Nicklaus Award which goes annually to the nation's top golfer in Division III.
Fedorka, out of Upland High School, led the Leopards to a runner-up showing at the Division III national tournament last month at the PGA Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
The award was presented by Nicklaus to Fedorka on Sunday prior to the final round of The Memorial, the PGA event hosted every spring by Nicklaus at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio.
Fedorka was the top ranked player in the Golfstat Division III individual standings with an overall scoring average of 72.35.
At the NCAA Division III Championships he tied for the overall lead with a total of 285 (67-71-74-73) but lost a sudden death playoff for medalist honors to Ogelthorpe University sophomore Olafur Loftsson.
Fedorka was a first team All-America selection in 2009. He also earned All-West Region and SCIAC Player of the Year accolades.
He captured the SCIAC 36-Hole Championship with a total of 138 (66-72) as he helped propel the Leopards to their third straight conference crown. His conference scoring average of 69.3 is a SCIAC record. Fedorka won three tournaments this season and only finished out of the top 10 on two occasions.
"This definitely takes some of the sting out of finishing second at nationals," Leopard first-year coach Joe Skovron said. "He really deserved it. He was so consistent all season.
"It isn't just his ability but his demeanor out there. To look at him out there you wouldn't know whether he birdied or bogeyed that last hole."
The University of La Verne golf team moved into first place after two rounds of the Division III national tournament at the PGA Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla. on Thursday.
The Leopards (575) shot a team total of 5-under 283 over the par 72, 6,973-yards Ryder course to surge past first-round leader Methodist (NC) which ballooned to a 15-over 303 on the harder 7,123-yard Dye course for a two-day 582.
The University of Redlands, the national runner-up four of the last five years, remained in seventh place (695) in the 36-team field after a 10-over 298.
Leading the charge for La Verne were junior Mitchell Fedorka and senior Rizal Amin who are 1-2 on the individual leaderboard.
Fedorka added a 1-under 71 to his 5-under 67 the first day for a 138, which is three strokes better than Amin. He went 3-over on the seventh, eighth and ninth holes but followed that up by going 4-under over the next four holes highlighted by an eagle on the par 5 13th hole.
"He really doesn't get too rattled," La Verne coach Joe Skovron said of his top player, who entered the event ranked No. 1 individually. "That's the best thing about him. He has shown the last two days what kind of player he is."
Amin's 3-under 69 was the best round of any player on Thursday. He continued his steady play with a round that consisted of five birdies and two bogeys with a 35 on the front nine and a 34 on the back.
Rounding out the scoring for the Leopards were Andrew Kramer with a 2-under 70 (147) and Eric Bunge with a 1-over 73 (153). The non-scoring member on Thursday was Kevin Smith with a 3-over 75 (151).
Redlands is 20 strokes behind La Verne but just four strokes out fourth place. The Bulldogs were led by sophomore Alex Hedlund who is fourth individually after carding a 2-over 74 for a total of 144.
Junior Ross Canavan settled for an even-par 72 which puts him 26th in the field of 185 golfers at 148.
Also factoring in the scoring were freshman Todd Steller (75) and lone senior J.C. Riter (77), with Steller improving on an opening round of 84.
Scott Pena (82) was the discarded score of the day.
Freshman Tain Lee of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, who qualified for the event as an individual, shot a 2-over 74 and is tied for 57th with a 151.
All the teams will compete on the Dye course Friday. The Leopards will be in the first group, teeing off the first hole at 10:30 a.m. The first player from Redlands will go off No. 10 at the same time.
Upon further review and after obtaining an important agreement involving off-campus facility usage, University of La Verne Interim Athletic Director Julie Kline announced that the women's tennis program will continue as an intercollegiate athletic sport.
Kline said that following an earlier decision to place both the La Verne women's and men's tennis programs on hiatus at the conclusion of the 2009 season, discussions were held on how to resolve the issues involved in an effort to reactivate the programs.
"We felt it was important to go back and reassess and reevaluate our decision after meeting with all the student-athletes from both programs and see if we could find ways to some how align these programs with the philosophical principles of our athletics department," said Kline. "As a result, we were only able to do so with one program. Given the number of returners on the women's team and the expected incoming recruiting class, we felt we should channel available resources into the women's program."
The university's men's tennis program remains on hiatus with no definitive timetable for its return.
One factor assisting in the revised decision on women's tennis was provided by The Claremont Club. President and CEO Mike Alpert came forward with an offer to provide the athletics department use of the club's facilities, leading to a scheduling agreement that will meet the tennis program's practice and match needs. La Verne, which removed its campus tennis courts in August 2007, has plans for a new facility included as part of a partnership between the university and the City of La Verne to establish a joint-use sports complex.
In most sports the SCIAC does well to get two teams from the conference in the playoffs so it was a pleasant surprise that three have been selected to the double-elimination Division III West Regional to be hosted by East Texas Baptist starting Thursday.
The University of Redlands (30-10) got the automatic bid by winning the four-team conference tournament but the Bulldogs also won the regular season. They will be the No. 4 seed in the seven-team event.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (28-14), the SCIAC tournament runner-up), received the No. 6 seed while the University of La Verne (28-18) is the No. 7.
"I'm very excited that we got three teams in and all are deserving," Redlands coach Laurie Nevarez said. "I think we're going to surprise some people."
Athenas coach Betsy Hipple agrees.
"The object is to take the best teams in the West Region," she said. "I don't see how you can not take all three teams."
Joining host and No. 3 seed East Texas Baptist (37-7) are top-seed Linfield, Ore. (36-4), No. 2 Louisiana College (36-7) and No. 5 Texas-Tyler (34-8), which hosted the event in 2008.
As surprising as the fact that three SCIAC teams got in is that three got in and Redlands still was not awarded the right to host. The school did submit a bid and the NCAA typically gives that honor based on finanical concerns. The fewer teams that need to fly, the better.
Even though the three SCIAC teams are closer in proximity, four teams were going to have to fly in to either location.
"They were ranked higher than we were most of the season so I guess they didn't think they could take it away from them," Nevarez said.
La Verne was the second seed in the SCIAC tournament but lost a 13-inning game to CMS in the loser's bracket that resulted in their elimination.
What likely helped get the Leopards in was a 5-4 win over Linfield, the No. 1 ranked in the country. Five of the seven in the field are ranked with East Texas at No. 3, Louisiana at 11, Texas-Tyler at 14 and Redlands at No. 25.
The teams will leave today and practice at the venue on Wednesday.
Division II men's golf
The University of Redlands will join the University of La Verne at the Division III national tournament which starts May 13 at the PGA Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
La Verne, ranked second nationally, was the SCIAC's automatic qualifier. Redlands received one of just two at-large bids handed out.
The Bulldogs success on the national stage seems to warrant that as they have finished as the national runner-up four of the last five years. The year that Redlands didn't go, 2007, La Verne was the runner-up giving the conference a streak of five straight second-place finishers.
"We're glad to get the chance to go again," Redlands coach Art Salvesen said. "Winning the conference is nice but it isn't our main goal.
Redlands is ranked ninth nationally. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps is No. 12 and had a shot at earning an at-large bid as well but the Bulldogs likely secured a bid by finishing one spot ahead of the Stags at the SCIAC 36-hole tournament, the last event of the regular season.
Methodist (N.C.) is ranked No. 1 but Salvesen likes La Verne's chances.
"I think they're the team to beat, I really do," he said. "They're talented and have some veteran players that have been there before."
It will be the first time La Verne has made the trip without veteran coach Rex Huigens, Salvensen's close friend, who retired after last season. The Leopards are now coached by Joe Skovron, a former player at the school.
Chaffey baseball
The Panthers (29-13) drew the No. 18 seed and will travel to No. 15 Ventura (26-16) for a first round playoff game at 2 p.m. today. It will be the sixth straight playoff appearance for coach Jeff Harlow's team.
The Panthers finished third in the Foothill Conference behind Mt. San Jacinto (31-10) and Rio Hondo (24-16) which drew the No. 7 and No. 16 seeds respectively.
"It was pretty much what I expected," Harlow said. "We had the highest RPI of the teams in the Southern region so we deserved to get in. We had a good practice yesterday (Sunday) so the guys are ready and excited."
Freshman right-hander Colby Gurney (10-0), out of Alta Loma High School, will get the start for the Panthers.
CMS women's lacrosse
The Athenas (12-1) were selected for the 26-team NCAA field and will travel to Cortland State for a first-round game on Wednesday.
CMS has qualified for the NCAA Championships three straight years. The team is led by the scoring trio of sophomore Sarah Dick (41 goals), senior Courtney Cronin (41 goals) and junior Colbi Brawner (40 goals).
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By Michelle Gardner
Staff Writer
REDLANDS -- The young Claremont-Mudd-Scripps softball team knew it faced a formidable challenge in having to face traditional power University of Redlands in the championship game of the SCIAC tournament Saturday afternoon.
It didn't help that the Athenas had to fight through the loser's bracket, outlasting La Verne in 13 innings, only to play Redlands an hour later.
Experience paid off as the top-seeded Bulldogs posted a 5-1 win in the title tilt. Redlands (30-10) now awaits word on where it will head for the Division III West Region while CMS (28-14) is hoping the strong showing will result in an at-large berth. The SCIAC did get two teams in the regional last season.
"They have a championship culture and we're still trying to build one. We went a long way in doing that today," CMS coach Betsy Hipple said. "That game took a ton out of us but we still had to stay the course. We knew it was going to be an uphill battle."
The Bulldogs, ranked No. 25 by the NFSCA, had their ace in the circle as junior Olivia Ellis hurled every inning of all three of her team's games in the event. She set down the first 13 hitters she faced with the first hit being a single by Emily Lopez with one out in the fifth.
By then Redlands had already surged out to a 5-0 lead with senior second baseman Dory Baga knocking home four of those runs. She clubbed a three-run home run off an 0-2 pitch from Julia Cruz in the third that followed singles by Kayla Peterson and Lizett Casillas.
"I was looking for something inside," Baga said. "We have been focusing on swinging hard and it paid off. It was nice to have a lead but we respect the game and we know anything can still happen."
Redlands, the visiting team despite playing on its home field, added to that in the fifth with the same players doing the damage. Peterson and Casillas singled with Peterson scoring on Baga's second hit of the day. Lindsay Henry then drove home Casillas with a single and the Bulldogs were not threatened again.
Ellis surrendered just four hits and one run while striking out six.
CMS, which finished the game with four freshman and five sophomores on the field, prevented the shutout with a run in the seventh on a run-scoring single by sophomore Chelsea Baker.
Ellis was also backed by a defense that played error-free.
"Our first goal was winning the regular season and the second was the conference tournament," Redlands coach Laurie Nevarez said. "We're going to savor this today and tomorrow refocus on a regional championship."
Redlands will find out its destination for the regional on Monday. It has submitted a bid to host but everything depends on what teams qualify and how many will have to be flown in.
Hipple will be on the call as the conference rep.
"I hope we get a shot to keep playing but I'm proud no matter what happens," she said.
CMS 3, La Verne 2
Michelle Brody stroked a run-scoring single in the 13th inning to boost the Athenas past defending champion La Verne in loser's bracket play.
The game tookl more than three hours. CMS managed 13 hits and La Verne collected 12. Each team finished with 13 runners left on base with CMS loading the bases in the eighth and ninth with no outs but failing to score.
Brody and Jessica Vaughn had three hits each for the Athenas. La Verne got two each from Melissa Carlson, Diandra Burns and Daryn Schively.
Last year the University of Redlands softball team was fortunate. The Bulldogs finished first in the SCIAC during the regular season, only to lose the tournament final and the automatic playoff bid to University of La Verne.
But the Bulldogs made it into the Division III West Region tournament with an at-large bid.
They are hoping it doesn't come down to that this season.
The Bulldogs host the four-team double-elimination event today and Saturday. No. 2 La Verne (27-13, 16-8) will face No. 3 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (26-12, 15-9) at 9 a.m. with No. 1 Redlands (27-10, 20-4) following against No. 4 Whittier (24-16, 11-13).
The loser's bracket game is slated for 2 p.m. with the winners following at 4:30 p.m. Action gets underway at 10 a.m. on Saturday with a loser's bracket game.
The Bulldogs, ranked No. 25 by the National Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association, went 4-0 against the Poets this season with two games ending early on the mercy rule.
Redlands leads the conference in hitting and fielding and ranks second to CMS in pitching.
Junior outfieler Kayla Peterson (.434) leads the team in hitting with sophomore first baseman Lizett Casillas (.419) and junior catcher Nicky Neumann (.383) among the other valuable offensive weapons. The Bulldogs have also gotten a boost from freshman Lindsay Henry (.393), named the SCIAC Rookie of the Year.
Junior Olivia Ellis (20-5, 1.70) and Amanda Doeppel (7-3, 1.93) have handled the bulk of the pitching.
The Leopards split both doubleheaders they played against the Athenas this season. Coach Julie Smith thinks her team is peaking at the right time.
It is led by senior outfielder Melissa Carlson (.462) who led the conference in hitting, runs scored and stolen bases. She earned SCIAC Player of the Year honors even though her team finished second.
Among the other La Verne standouts are freshman outfielder Diandra Burns (.443) and sophomore shortstop Ashley Paul (.384), also a starter on the basketball team.
"We're loose. We're confident. We're ready to go," she said. "I think we're in a good place right now."
Smith said the turning point for her team likely came halfway through the season when junior Sabrina Garcia (7-2, 2.68) joined the team. Sophomore Delaney Baylor (15-7, 2.36) had shouldered much of the load in the pitching circle but the team didn't have a consistent No. 2.
Garcia was at the school, having transferred from NAIA Hope International. She planned on playing next year but Smith enlisted her help midseason.
"It's in how you present it," she said. "I just told them she is giving up more than she's taking because she is giving up a year of eligibility to help us now."
Redlands won three of four games against La Verne and split four games against CMS.
CMS is led by junior pitcher Julia Cruz (13-5, 1.18) and senior pitcher Erika Weingart (10-6, 2.80) and sophomore outfielder Gizelle Pera (.379).
The double-elimination tournament begins at 9 a.m. on Friday with the second-seeded University of La Verne Leopards taking on the No. 3 Athenas of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges.
As the No. 1 seed, the Bulldogs face off against the No. 4 Poets of Whittier College at 11:30 a.m.
The losers compete again at 2 p.m., followed by a winners' duel at 4:30 p.m.
Play continues on Saturday with games at 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., and then at 3 p.m. if necessary.
Admission is free. Fans are reminded that pets are not permitted at the "Field of Dreams", per University of Redlands policy.
For additional information, please log onto http://www.goredlands.com/sports/sball/2008-09/SCIAC_Postseason.
Padilla, one of five seniors honored prior to the opening contest, erased a 2-0 Cal Lutheran lead in the bottom of the third with a bases-loaded homer off pitcher Lizzy Chacon over the centerfield wall to give the Leopards a 4-2 advantage. She repeated the feat in the bottom of the fifth with her second grand slam over the leftfield wall to propel the Leos to an 8-2 advantage.
The two homers briefly tied Padilla for the team lead in homers this season with her fifth and sixth round-trippers of the year, but senior Melissa Carlson closed out the contest with a walk-off blast in the bottom of the sixth to end the game 10-2. The homer allowed Carlson to re-claim the team lead in home runs with seven.
All told, Carlson went a combined 6-7 at the plate in the two games with 6 runs scored.
La Verne improves to 26-12 and 15-7 in conference play heading into its final regular season doubleheader tomorrow at Occidental.
Sabrina Garcia allowed two runs on four hits to earn the win on the mound for the Leopards and improve to 7-1.
University of La Verne Interim Athletic Director Julie Kline announced today that the men's and women's tennis programs will be placed on hiatus at the conclusion of the 2009 season.
Kline said the decision was based on issues related to appropriate facilities necessary for tennis within the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC). She also touched on an inability to provide student-athletes of both programs a level of participation and competition consistent with the established tenets and goals for intercollegiate athletics at La Verne.
"It is our sincere hope that in the future we will reinstate both men's and women's tennis," Kline said. "In order to do so, we must be able to fully support these programs with facilities, which are at a minimum competitive with other SCIAC member schools, with full-time staffing for the programs, and with budgets which allow our coaches and student-athletes to compete at the highest levels."
In an effort to compensate for the reduction of parking spaces due to construction of the new Campus Center, the university closed its campus tennis facility in August 2007 to convert it into a temporary parking lot. A new tennis facility is included in the partnership between the university and the City of La Verne to establish a joint-use sports complex on 28 acres of undeveloped land located a mile from the main campus.
The La Verne City Council, acting in its capacity as the La Verne Redevelopment Agency, recently voted to approve an amendment to the original Disposition and Development Agreement, providing the university a five-year extension to complete the initial facilities.
In her announcement, Kline emphasized that the decision to place the men's and women's tennis programs on hiatus was in no way intended to diminish the efforts and accomplishments of those involved. Over the years numerous student-athletes, coaches and support staff involved with the tennis program have excelled and represented the university admirably. She thanked her staff for their participation.
Methodist (NC) ranks #1 in the poll followed by La Verne, Huntingdon (PA), Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Skidmore (NY) to round out the Top 5.
The Golfstat ranking is based on head-to-head competition between respective schools. The Leopards have an overall Division III mark of 255-2 and are 4-0 against Division III Top 25 teams thus far in 2009. La Verne has also posted four tournament wins this season.
Additionally, three Leopard players are ranked among the Top 10 in the Golfstat individual player rankings. Mitchell Fedorka is ranked #2 overall along with teammates Rizal Amin (#6) and Andrew Kramer (#9).
The Leopards also moved up one notch to #8 overall in the latest Golfworld/Nike Golf Division III Top 25 Poll.
La Verne will next compete at the West Region Invitational held April 5-7 in Austin, TX.
The Leopards have won three straight games to improve to 3-2 on the season heading into SCIAC play next weekend.
La Verne overcame a 7-2 decifit in the seventh inning to overtake Pacific Lutheran. Mark Larini was the offensive hero for the Leopards against the Lutes, batting in both the game-tying and game-winning runs.
La Verne erupted for four runs in the bottom of the seventh to pull to within a run at 7-6, only to watch the Lutes add a pair of runs in the top of the eighth on a Geoff Gabler homer to give PLU a 9-6 advantage. Back came the Leopards in the bottom half, as a Jon-Michael Hattabaugh RBI single was followed by a two-run single from Larini to knot the game at 9-9.
After the Lutes reclaimed the lead at 10-9 in the top of the 10th, the Leopards loaded the bases in the bottom half of the frame to set the stage for Larini, who delivered with a two-run double down the left field line that scored Hattabaugh and Allen Komori to end the game. Komori pitched the final three innings to earn the win.
Both teams registered 15 hits while the Leopards overcame three errors. Larini totaled 4 RBI for the game on a 3-3 performance at the plate. Victor Pinado tallied 3 hits along with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored.
A night earlier against Chapman, the Leos plated a pair of runs in both the fifth and seventh innings to take a 4-2 lead and finished with a three-run ninth inning to sweep the home-and-home set with the nation's second-ranked team in Division III. The Leopards pounded out 13 hits highlighted by solo homers from Pinada and Kevin Ibarra. Pinado went 3-3 with 2 runs scored.
On the mound, the trio of Tim Jolly, Willie Patti and Grant Wheatley combined to allow two runs on five hits against Chapman as Patti earned the win while Wheatley registered a save. Jolly struck out 7 batters in 4 2/3 innings of work.
La Verne opens conference action next weekend with a three-game set against Cal Lutheran, beginning with a single game Friday in Thousand Oaks followed by a doubleheader saturday at Ben Hines Field.
Last year Occidental and Cal Lutheran were the premier men's basketball teams in the SCIAC during the regular season but neither even made it to the conference tournament final. It was Pomona-Pitzer taking the tournament and automatic playoff bid.
It was that kind of topsy-turvy season.
The 2009 race begins with all eight teams taking the court for their conference openers Saturday. CMS will be at Redlands while La Verne treks to Whittier. Pomona-Pitzer will host Caltech.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (8-3) has emerged as the frontrunner. The Stags served notice by winning the Lee Fulmer Tournament at Redlands in December. Their most noteworthy win in that event came over No. 15 Whitworth (Wash.) which is 11-1 and hasn't lost to anyone else.
"We have played some teams out of that Northwest Conference which is a pretty decent barometer of where you stand," said CMS coach Ken Scalmanini, in his 11th season. "I like my team. The guys play hard and we're pretty deep. I think we have a little more offense than we have had in the past and we can score both inside and outside."
CMS currently has four players averaing double figures led by sophomore forward Chris Blees (12.7 ppg, 6.4 rpg), the MVP at the Fullmer Tournament.
Joining him are junior guard Conner Faught (11 ppg), senior guard senior guard Austin Soldner (10.5 ppg) and junior guard Jason Toney (10.3 ppg). Senior center Tejas Gala (5.5 ppg) rounds out the starting lineup.
Cal Lutheran (8-3) also looks like a formidable foe led by returning first-team All-SCIAC selection Andy Meier (18.4 ppg, 11.4 rpg). The Kingsmen recently dropped a close game to No. 8 Buena Vista (Iowa) 68-65.
Much-improved Whittier (6-5) and Pomona-Pitzer (3-8) should also contend.
"I think those are the four top teams right now," second-year La Verne coach Richard Reed said. "That doesn't discount the others because anything can happen in this conference. There is a lot of balance."
The Sagehens upended CMS in the SCIAC tournament finale a year ago, then lost a first-round playoff game Occidental. Pitzer's record is a bit deceiving. The Sagehens had four players, three of whom are starters, go abroad for the fall semester and they just rejoined the team in December.
"Anyone overlooking them is making a big mistake," Scalmanini said of his cross-street rival. "They just got their whole team together and they're going to be as tough as ever."
Most coaches like having a conference tournament, pointing out the atmospehere it creates. The Sagehens downed the Stags in last year's final.
"It's always crazy when we play," Scalmanini said. "Now throw in that a playoff spot is on the line. It was one of the greatest atmospheres I've seen for a game at this level."
The Leopards were a good example of a team that benefited from it, although they didn't make the four-team field.
"We were 2-5 in the first round of conference so we would have been mathematically eliminated," Reed said. "Because we had a tournament, we had something to play for right up until the last game. It gave a lot of kids a chance to compete in a playoff environment."
"I also think it's good because then the conference is being represented by the team playing the best at the end of the season."
Defending regular season champion: Occidental
Tournament champion: Pomona-Pitzer
Current records: Cal Lutheran 8-3; Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 8-3; Whittier 6-5; Occidental 4-7; La Verne 4-7; Redlands 4-7; Pomona-Pitzer 3-8; Caltech 1-10.
New coach: Oliver Eslinger (Caltech).
10 players to watch: Cal Lutheran - Andy Meier (18.4 ppg, 11.4; rpg); Caltech - Matthew Dellatorre (15.2 ppg); CMS - Chris Blees; (12.7 ppg, 6.4 rpg), Austin Soldner (10.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg); La Verne - Kyle Luhnow (14.5 ppg, 6.3 rpg); ; Occidental - Henry Meier (12.1); ppg, 8.6 rpg); Pomona-Pitzer - Adam Chaimowitz (Sr., G, 6-1, 21 ppg, 6.2 rpg), David Liss (Sr., G, 6-0, 14.7 ppg, 3 rpg); Redlands - Matt Dietrich (17.2 ppg, 3.9 rpg); Whittier - Michael Archuletta (15.4 ppg, 6.9 rpg)
Comment: Last year CMS and Pitzer met in the SCIAC tournament final, upsetting the No. 1 and 2 seeds respectively. The Sagehens picked up the win and advanced to the playoffs, only to lose a first-rounder to Occidental which had gotten an at-large playoff bid.
Saturday's games: Claremont-Mudd-Scripps at Redlands; Caltech at Pomona-Pitzer; La Verne at Whittier; Cal Lutheran at Occidental (All games 7:30 p.m.)
La Verne (9-2, 1-0 SCIAC) shot 70% from the field in the first half to take a 46-29 lead into intermission. The Leopards continued their attack and opened the second half with a 19-0 run to lead 65-29 with 14:52 remaining. The Leos enjoyed their largest lead of 36 points on the Sagehens at 75-39 with 10:48 to play.
Emily Carrillo fell one rebound short of a double-double with game-highs of 19 points and 9 rebounds. Tedra Clark finished 5-of-9 from three-point range en route to a season high of 17 points. Ashley Paul was a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line to finish with 13 points while Kayleen Kaaiai and Clarissa Holz tallied 11 and 10 points, respectively.
The Leopards enjoyed a 58.9% field goal clip (33-56) for the game and finished 10-of-24 from three-point range. La Verne also recorded 20 assists on the evening.
Pomona-Pitzer (4-7, 0-1) shot 46.8% from the field and edged the Leopards in rebounding 30-28, but were hampered by 22 turnovers.
Anja Hughes-Stinson totaled a team-high 13 points for the Sagehens with Deidre Chew, the SCIAC's leading scorer, adding 12 points.
La Verne heads to Whittier on Saturday for a 5 pm tip with the Poets in the first of a men's-women's doubleheader.
Staff Writer
Before last season University of La Verne women's basketball coach
Julie Kline wasn't sure she liked the idea of a conference tournament
to decide the postseason representative.
But because the SCIAC had one last season, her team advanced to the
playoffs and Occidental stayed home.
The race for the 2009 regular season title gets under way again
Thursday as all eight schools will play their SCIAC openers.
Occidental, La Verne and University of Redlands, the three teams that
battled to the finish line last year, are again the top contenders.
``It's one of those things. If it helps you, you like it. If not
you don't like it,'' Kline said. ``It worked to our advantage last year.
But it does keep things interesting for more teams longer. Almost
everyone still has something to play for late in the season.''
Occidental, which won the regular season title for the first time
since 1980, returns most of its key players, the most notable being
reigning SCIAC and West Region Player of the Year Brianna Brown. The
senior averaged 15.4 points and 8.0 rebounds per game and also led
the team with 76 steals, 26 blocks and 70 assists.
The Tigers are one of three schools who changed coaches during the
offseason. Heidi VanDerVeer has taken over for Jaime Hoffman who
assumed the athletic director role. VanDerVeer is a former head coach
of the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx and assistant with the Seattle Storm.
La Verne got off to a 6-0 start before dropping a pair of games in
Arizona in December. The Leopards are led by senior Trenecca Jones, a
Chaffey High product. Jones is a three-time All-SCIAC selection and
was Player of the Year as a sophomore.
Kline's other offensive weapons are junior Emily Carrillo and
sophomore Ashley Paul. La Verne does boast a a talented starting
lineup but lacks some firepower coming off the bench and will rely on
a rotation of six players.
Redlands finished second a year ago at 17-9, just missing out on a
possible first-place finish after a double-overtime loss to
Occidental late in the season. That strong showing came even though new coach
Rich Murphy got hired too late to recruit. He comes in with a full year
under his belt and a roster full of promising newcomers, seven of
them freshman.
``You'd have to look at Oxy and La Verne as the frontrunners. We're
young but I think we'll be in the mix,'' Murphy said. ``A lot of
teams have improved so it should make for some better games.''
Most agree the SCIAC competition should be improved this season,
siting the improvement of teams that struggled last season.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps went just 4-20 last season thanks in part to
injuries. It has already won more games than it did last year,
picking up its seventh win in a nonconference game at Southwestern (Ariz.)
Monday.
Pomona-Pitzer has also already equaled its win total of a year ago.
``CMS and Pomona-Pitzer have both really improved,'' Kline said.
``I
am most concerned about Pomona because I have them first. They're
athletic and big and they will be tough.''
SCIAC WOMEN'S PREVIEW
Defending regular season champion: Occidental
Tournament champion: University of La Verne
Current records: La Verne 8-2; Occidental 7-3; Redlands 7-3; Whittier 7-3; Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 7-4; Pomona-Pitzer 4-6; Caltech 3-8; Cal Lutheran 1-9.
Coaches poll with 20070-8 record: 1. Occidental (21-6, 12-2); 2. University of Redlands (17-9, 10-4); 3. University of La Verne (20-8, 11-3); 4. Whittier (12-13, 7-7); 5. Cal Lutheran (13-12, 8-6); 6. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (4-20, 3-11); 7. Pomona-Pitzer (4-21, 3-11); 8. Caltech (4-21, 2-12)
New coaches: Heidi VanDerVeer (Occidental), Brad Durchslag (Whittier), Roy Dow (Cal Lutheran).
10 players to watch: Cal Lutheran - Kourtney Jones (So., G, 5-5, 13.6 ppg); Caltech - Lisa Yee (Jr., F, 5-7, 11.2 ppg, 10.2 rpg); CMS - Aria Krumwiede (Fr., G, 5-3, 9.2 ppg); La Verne - Trenecca Jones (Sr., F, 5-9, 15.3 ppg, 7.9 rpg), Ashley Paul (So., G, 5-8, 13.3 ppg); Occidental- Brianne Brown (Sr., G, 5-8, 10.4 ppg, 2.5 spg); Pomona-Pitzer - Diedre Chew (Jr., G, 5-6, 20.7 ppg, 5.8 rpg); Redlands - Courtney Carroll (Fr., F, 6-0, 12.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg), Meghan Yetman (Jr., F, 5-10, 9.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg); Whittier - Kourtney Zilbert (So., F, 5-9, 12.9 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 3.4 spg)
Comment: Occidental lost the SCIAC tournament final to La Verne, giving the Leopards the playoff berth . . . Oxy's Brown is the reigning conference and West Region Player of the Year but has started just three of 10 games . . . Dow has taken over the reigns at Cal Lutheran
after having previously served as head coach of the Caltech men's team the last six years
Thursday's games: Occidental at Redlands; Pomona-Pitzer at La Verne; Caltech at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps; Whittier at Cal Lutheran (All games 7:30 p.m.)
The University of Redlands suffered a tough 58-67 loss to the Coe College Kohawks (IA) in tonight's final game of the 2008 Redlands Winter Classic.
The Bulldogs fell behind by as many as 10 points in the first half but inched their way back into the game. Redlands took its first lead with 6:04 to go in the second half, pulling ahead by one point. However, Coe fought back with persistent defense and strong shooting, and held on for the win.
Redlands gained 22 points from junior forward Meghan Yetman (Danville, CA), shooting 9-for-12 from the floor. She also came up with four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Sophomore guard Mariah Barbetti-Cort (Ventura, CA) and freshman forward Courtney Carroll (Rancho Palos Verdes, CA) each chipped in 14 points in the loss.
Coe was led by junior center Brittany Norris, who provided 17 points, including three-for-three shooting from beyond the arc. Calie Sobaski and Sarah Anciaux contributed 11 and 10 points, respectively, to round out the double-digit scorers.
All-Tournament team
Brittany Norris (C)
Sarah Anciaux (C)
Clarissa Holz (L)
Meghan Yetman (R)
MVP: Trenecca Jones (L)
In Saturday's first game of the 2008 Redlands Winter Classic, the University of La Verne cruised to a 73-47 victory over Marian University (WI).
After opening the game on a 10-0 run, the Leopards remained in control of the game and never looked back. They converted Marian's 21 turnovers into 24 points and looked to their bench to score 21 points in the win.
La Verne boasted five players in double figures with Trenecca Jones, Ashley Paul, and Clarissa Holz each scoring 12 points, while Emily Carrillo and Tedra Clark chipped in 10 apiece.
Jones also added nine rebounds, including six on the offensive end, while Carillo tallied seven boards.
The University of La Verne women's basketball team has looked solid in the early going, although the Leopards (4-0) have played just a handful of games.
Senior forward Trenecca Jones (14.5 ppg, 8.0 rpg) has put up decent numbers, although they aren't quite up to where they have been in previous years.
She has had more help as three others are averaging double figures -- sophomore guard Ashley Paul (14.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg), junior forward Emily Carrillo (13.8 ppg) and freshman forward Clarissa Holz (11.3 ppg, 6 rpg).
The Leopards are also getting a boost from a local player who has returned. Senior Lillie Parks (Eisenhoer HS/Chaffey College) has transferred in from Division II Alaska-Anchorage, where she played on a nationally ranked teams as a junior.
Next up for the Leopards is the University or Redlands Winter Classic on Friday and Saturday. They will play 5:30 p.m. games both nights.
in women's volleyball came up just short as the Leopards fell to
Emory University (Ga.) 3-1 (16-25, 25-21, 25-17, 25-22) in the
Division III title match Saturday at the Shirk Center on the campus
of Illinois Wesleyan in Bloomington, Ill.
La Verne (27-3) came into the tournament ranked No. 4 nationally but
seeded second in the field. The Leopards earned a spot in the final
with a dramatic 3-2 win over No. 1 Juniata in Friday's semifinal.
Coach Don Flora was thrilled with his team's showing. The Leopards
have just two seniors and started four new players this season.
``It's a little hard to see the forest through the trees right now,''
he said. ``But the forest is planted and it's growing well.''
La Verne hit .224 on the night and was again led by senior Brianna
Gonzales with 18 kills. Junior Crista Jones added 16 but no other
Leopard had more than three.
The Leopards came out hot, hitting .345 in an opening game they
dominated. It was even at 5-all but La Verne went on a 14-4 run with
that stretch including four kills by Gonzales, three by Jones and two
service aces by Chelsea Sleight. It later ended on a winner by Anna
Calmer.
``We started out real clean. It was fun to watch,'' Flora added. ``We
have talked about calm and intensity and here we were in a national
championship and the girls showed so much poise.''
La Verne led the second set 12-11 on a kill by Gonzales but the
Eagles eventually went ahead 13-12 on a service ace by Kelsey Kryston
and didn't trail again. They led by as many as four at 23-19 and at
24-20 and evened the match at one set each on a winner by Amelia
McCall.
Emory (35-6) also took the third game. Up 11-9 the Eagles tallied
five of the next six points and going up 16-10 on a spike by senior
Maggie Baird. The Leopards hit just .087 in the game and were not in
striking distance again.
The fourth game was tight the entire way. It was even at 22 but the
Eagles went up on kill by Maggie Baird. They got their first match
point on senior Dani Huffman's block of a spike by Jones. Baird then
converted on Emory's first match point.
It was the second meeting this season between the two teams. Emory
defeated La Verne 3-2 in a tournament the Leopards hosted at the
Frantz Athletic Court on Oct 11.
It was the first national title for Emory which outlasted No. 8 Ohio
Northern 3-2 in Friday's semifinal.
Huffman was named tournament MVP. Gonzales and Jones also made the
all-tournament team.
The University of La Verne volleyball team will play for the national championship, rallying from a 2-1 deficit to produce a five-set triumph against top-ranked Juniata College.
La Verne took down the nation's #1 team by delivering a 3-2 (20-25, 25-18, 13-25, 25-22, 17-15) triumph over Juniata in the NCAA Semifinal round Friday at the Shirk Center in Bloomington, Illinois. The Leopards will face either Emory or Ohio Northern in the final scheduled for a 7 pm CST start (5 pm PST) on Saturday .
With the win, the Leopards reach the championship match for the first time since 2001, when they captured the school's third national title in volleyball. Ironically, it was also La Verne's first win over Juniata since the 2001 NCAA Semifinals when the Leos topped the Eagles in five games on Dec. 1, 2001 in Whitewater, Wisconsin. The victory also avenged a 3-1 defeat to Juniata earlier this season on Oct. 10 at La Verne.
In a roller-coaster fifth set that produced 11 ties and five lead changes, La Verne took a 9-6 lead only to watch the Eagles run off four straight points to retake the lead at 10-9. A Crista Jones kill followed by a Rebecca Villanueva service ace and Eagle ball handling error allowed the Leos to reclaim the advantage at 12-10. It wouldn't last as Juniata took the next three points - thanks in part to two La Verne hitting errors - to lead 13-12.
The two teams traded the next two points and at 14-13, Juniata held a match point to reach its fourth final in five years. But a Brianna Gonzales kill tied the contest at 14-14, and a Juniata attack error on the ensuing point gave La Verne a match point at 15-14. A kill by National Player of the Year Amber Thomas denied the Leopards momentarily as the teams were again deadlocked at 15-15. Gonzales returned the favor with a kill, and on the next point, an attack from the Eagles sailed out, giving La Verne a berth in the NCAA Championship match.
Statistically, Juniata hit .184 for the evening with the Leopards hitting .181. Though the Eagles recorded 11 blocks compared to 7 for La Verne, the Leos held a 84-74 edge in digs while collecting 61 assists to 53 for the Eagles.
Juniata was poised to take the contest in four sets as a 6-2 run gave the Eagles a 17-13 advantage. But La Verne battled its way to a decisive fifth set with a 6-1 run to grab a 19-18 lead. Tied at 19-19, the Leos scored three straight points to seize control at 22-19, eventually claiming the set at 25-22 to earn a 2-2 set deadlock.
Jones finished with a team-high 18 kills while Gonzales totaled 16 kills in the win. Jones hit .302 for the match with Gonzales also registering 22 digs to tie for match-high honors to also record a double-double. Rebecca Villanueva recorded 10 kills while Ashley Morgado collected 8 kills. Setter Yesenia Lopez directed the Leopard offense to the tune of 51 assists, also a match-high.
Juniata took a 1-0 lead with a 25-20 set win in the opening stanza. The Eagles raced out to a 5-0 but the Leopards clawed back to draw even at 8-8. The teams were knotted at 13-13 before the Eagles began their surge, going on a decisive 6-0 to grab a 22-16 they would not relinquish. Though the Leopards hit .317 in the first set, they were hampered by four service errors along with a pair of blocking errors.
The Leopards countered with a 25-18 triumph in the second frame, hitting .484 while limiting the Eagles to a .139 percentage. Leading 11-10, La Verne used a 9-2 spurt to take a 20-12 lead as they cruised to victory. Gonzales and Villanueva combined for 8 of the Leopards' 15 kills in the set.
It was a different story in the third set as the Eagles dominated action, earning an emphatic 25-13 win to take a 2-1 set advantage. Juniata led 10-5 early and held a 14-9 cushion before winning seven of the next nine points to hold an insurmontable 21-11 lead. La Verne struggled offensively hitting -.079 in the fourth set as the Eagles recorded 6 blocks against the Leos.
Thomas, a two-time National Player of the Year and a four-time All-American, finished with a match-high 19 kills. Erin Albert collected 13 kills while Megan Sollenberger totaled 22 digs to equal Gonzales for match-high honors.
semifinal, besting unranked New Paltz State 3-0 (25-15, 25-16, 25-26)
in quarterfinal play Thursday at Illinois Wesleyan in Bloomington,
Ill.
The Leopards (26-2) will play No. 1 ranked Juniata (35-4) in today's
semifinal with the winner getting the chance to play for a national
championship.
``It was nice to go and get this one out of the way,'' La Verne coach
Don Flora said. ``It was a matchup we definitely thought we should
win. We took care of business on our side of the net the way we
needed to.''
La Verne, which last made the national semifinal in 2005, was led by
senior outside hitter Brianna Gonzales who tallied 17 kills and 10
digs. Junior Crista Jones added nine kills while junior Rebecca
Villanueva contributed seven with 11 digs.
Junior setter Yesenia Lopez was the catalyst of the offense with 36
assists and eight digs and Courtney Boyd reeled off six service aces.
The Leopards are familiar with today's opponent, having faced Juniata
earlier this season in a tournament they hosted. Juniata won that
battle 3-1
``We are excited about getting another chance to play them,'' Flora
added. ``We do what we can to see as many quality teams as possible
because of this. We hope to see tham again when it really counts.''
Juniata advanced with a 3-0 (25-13, 25-15, 25-22) win over
Wisconsin-Oshkosh in the first of the four quarterfinals Thursday.
The Jaguars got 12 kills from Amber Thomas and 11 from Erin Albert.
By Michelle Gardner
Staff Writer
LAVERNE - The last thing University of La Verne coach Don Flora wanted was to see his SCIAC rival a third time when it mattered most. That's what he got. But like the first two times the Leopards prevailed 3-1 (20-25, 25-22, 25-20, 28-26) Saturday at Frantz Athletic Court in the championship match of the Division III West Region tournament.
The win sends the No. 4 Leopards (25-2) into the national tournament for the fifth time in coach Don Flora's 11-year tenure. That event begins on Thursday at Illinois Wesleyan in Bloomington, Ill.
``I hate that cliché that it's hard to beat a team three times but it's really true,'' Flora said. ``The pressure was all on us. They had absolutely nothing to lose. Everyone expected them to lose. That was a great Division III volleyball match. It was two teams going at it strength against strength.''
The most recent meeting wasn't as easy as the first two. La Verne struggled early on, hitting just .036 in an opening game that No. 14 Cal Lutheran won 25-20 behind the five kills of Megan Thorpe.
But the Leopards upped the level of their play with each of the following games, winning the second 25-22 while hitting .231 and the third 25-20 hitting an even-better .267.
The fourth game featured 17 ties nine lead changes, with no team building more than a three-point lead. The Regals (26-7), who upset Cal State East Bay in Friday's semifinal, turned aside four match points the first coming at 24-22 when Erin Exline and Lindsay Benson blocked a shot by La Verne's Brianna Gonzales.
Cal Lutheran (26-7) had a game point at 25-24 but a service error, one of its 12 on the night, evened it at 25. It was tied for the last time at 26 but the Regals' Allison Kerr landed a shot in the net to give the host team its fifth match point. This time the Leos secured it on a Cal Lutheran hitting error.
``It is definitely a relief to finally be able to think about nationals,'' said Gonzales, named the tournament's most outstanding player. ``We worked hard to get here. Even though we played them twice, that didn't matter. We were just focused on this match.''
Gonzales had 27 kills on 74 attacks. She also had 12 digs and three aces. Crista Jones contributed 16 and Rebecca Villanueva 12. Yesenia Lopez tallied 44 assists and 18 digs and Courtney Boyd had a team-high 25 digs.
Kerr had 14 to lead Call Lutheran which hit .196 on the night.
``There was pressure but we tried to stay calm and not freak out,'' junior middle blocker Ashley Morgado said. ``We have faith in each other and that helps because that turns the pressure into belief that we're going to come through.''
The trip to nationals will be the first for all but Gonzales and Madison Bradley who were freshman on the 2005 team that lost the national semifinal to Wisconsin-Whitewater.
``There's no reason we can't go there and finish the job,'' Gonzaels added.
as No. 3 seed Cal Lutheran and top-seeded host University of LaVerne
advanced with semifinal wins Friday at Frantz Athletic Court.
Senior Brianna Gonzales and junior Crista Jones tallied 16 kills each
to lead the No. 4 ranked Leopards to a 3-1 (25-19, 21-25, 25-20,
25-12) win over Nebraska Wesleyan. Ashley Morgado contributed 11 for
La Verne, which hit .222 on the night.
Yesenia Lopez was the catalyst of the offense with 39 assists. She
also had 21 digs. Chelsea Slight led all players in the defensive
department with 25 digs.
Abby Bade led Nebraska with 17 kills and two solo blocks.
The Kingsmen (26-6) upset No. 2 seed and No. 9 nationally ranked Cal
State East Bay 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-18). Balance was the key as
Allison Kerr had nine kills while three other players notched eight
each.
This will be the third time La Verne and Cal Lutheran have squared
off. The Leopards won both regular season meetings 3-0 and 3-1.
CAL LUTHERAN (6-2, 4-1) at REDLANDS (7-1, 4-1)
Kickoff: 1 p.m.
Radio: KMET (1490-AM)
About Redlands: The Bulldogs are ranked No. 25 by D3football and No. 21 by the AFCA and need to win to still have a shot at an at-large playoff berth. The Bulldogs rank No. 2 nationally in total defense and No. 1 in sacks for a loss and net punting. Senior DE Brock Arndt, LB Ian Sluss and DB Mike Nicolini head the effort on that side of the ball. Junior QB Steve Smith has progressed each week since taking over for Dan Selway. Zack Schafer is the top rusher in the SCIAC.
About Cal Lutheran: The Kingsmen also rely on defense and rank fourth nationally led by DE Jacob Calderon, last year's player of the year. Cal Lu ranks first nationally defending the pass and has not yielded a touchdown pass through the air in conference play. Elusive QB Jericho Tolilolo is the catalyst of the offense and is good at making things happen on the run. The Kingsmen also boast a reliable place-kicker in Jackson Damron.
LA VERNE (2-6) at CHAPMAN (4-4)
Kickoff: 7 p.m.
About La Verne: The Leopards have already surpassed their win total of 2007 so another win would be an added bonus. The passing game has been the most consistent part of the offensive attack with junior Anthony Andre at the helm, averaging 163.6 ypg. The defense has been spearheaded by senior LB Jason Carpenter and junior DB Taylor Hart. According to D3football.com the Leos have played the 14th toughest schedule out of 228 Division III schools.
About Chapman: The Panthers, a Division III independent, are coming off a 21-7 loss at Redlands. They tend to play up to the competition and down as well. They are 3-3 against teams from the SCIAC. The Panthers are averaging 322 yards a game on offense and are giving up 306 per game. They prefer to throw the ball with senior QB Eric Marty directing the offense. Daniel Hartigan and Chino product Garrett Earls lead the defense.
POMONA-PITZER (2-6, 1-4) at CLAREMONT-MUDD-SCRIPPS (3-5, 2-3)
Kickoff: 1 p.m.
About Pitzer: The Sagehens have been totally reliant on a passing game that averages 294 yards a game. Sophomore Jacob Caron threw for 507 yards last week with Kevin Kelley, last week's SCIAC Athlete of the Week, catching 16 for 272 yards in a 62-33 loss at Occidental. R.J. Maki has been a steady performer on both sides of the ball and on special teams. Success here depends on whether or not the rushing game can contribute.
.
About CMS: The Stags snapped a three-game losing streak with a 31-6 win over Whittier last week. D.J. Lillard ranks third in the conference in rushing and is coming off a 113-yard effort against the Poets. Senior DB Brock Olson leads the SCIAC in interceptions (6) and senior LB Ashton Clarke ranks second in tackles. CMS has 15 interceptions as a team, tied for first with Redlands.
CHAFFEY (5-4, 2-3) at MT. SAC (8-1, 4-1)
Kickoff: 6 p.m.
About Chaffey: The Panthers are coming off a 27-14 loss to College of the Desert that spelled the end of any postseason Bowl hopes. A number of Panthers are playing through nagging injuries including leading rusher Mark Chase (96 yards) who missed some practice time this week with a sprained ankle. Edward Heath is the team's leading tackler.
About Mt. SAC: The Mounties fell from No. 1 to 3 in Southern California after losing to Cerritos last week 44-38. They can clinch the Central Conference with a win. Freshman Nick Lamaison (2,631 yards, 29 TDs) is the catalyst of an offense that averages 428.7 yards a game. Other key players are WRs Jesse Canada and Matt Austin and RB Iosefa Burton. Sophomore DB Dominique Gaisie, of San Beranrdino, and sophomore LB Alfred Rowe lead the defense.
VICTOR VALLEY (3-6, 3-3) at MT. SAN JACINTO (2-7, 1-5)
Kickoff: 1 p.m.
About Victor: The Rams snapped a three-game losing streak with a 39-17 win over Compton. They have gotten solid play out of freshman QB O'Ryan Bradley who averages 236 yards a game passing. The Rams are down to five healthy linemen however. Victor Valley's biggest struggle has come in the secondary and it will be facing a team that averages 212 yards a game through the air.
About MSJ: The Eagles have played better of late, winning two of their last three games with one of those wins coming over a team the Rams lost to. They have used four quarterbacks but freshman Carmen Boyer worked the entire game last week. Other key players on offense are RB Butch Tuvale (562, 6 TDs) and WR Daniel Chamberlain (673 yards, 6 TDs). Freshman DB Clarence Laster is the leading tackler.
SAN BERNARDINO VALLEY (0-9, 0-7) at L.A. HARBOR (2-7, 1-5)
Kickoff: 6 p.m.
About SBVC: This is the last chance for the Wolverines to chalk up a win and snap a 14-game losing streak that dates back to last season. The bright spot for coach Pat Meech's team has been the improvement of freshman QB Danny Laugen. Meech also singled out the play of WR Robert Anderson, LBs Cordell Nugent and Shawn Borden and DB John Lewis.
About Harbor: The Seahawks rank first in the South in passing (329.4 ypg) with QB Andrew Trudnowski but don't do much of anything else. They average 148 on the ground. Chris Mathews is his favorite target. Harbor has lost three in a row and six of its last seven.
By Michelle Gardner
Staff Writer
CLAREMONT - Pomona-Pitzer sophomore Jacob Caron is looking forward to a chance to redeem himself. Last year he threw an interception after driving his team 80 yards to the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 10 with time running out. The Sagehens lost 27-22.
It wasn't just any old loss. It was CMS, the cross-street rival. So when the teams meet Saturday at 1 p.m. at Pomona-Pitzer to play for the Peace Pipe, the sophomore standout will be looking for a little poetic justice.
``There were a couple throws in that game he'd like to have back and that was one of them,'' said Pitzer coach Roger Caron, also Jacob's father. ``He definitely has some added incentive.''
Neither team is going anywhere in the standings with Pitzer at 2-6 overall and 1-4 in conference play and CMS slightly better at 3-5 and 2-3. But that doesn't lessen the intensity of the rival which started in 1959. CMS holds a slight 27-23 edge overall, although there is some debate as to when the teams actually started playing for a prize.
``There is always a buzz around here when it comes to that game,'' Caron added. ``There were good teams here that were expected to win that game and lost and vice versa. As coaches we don't have to say much about it because the kids are already talking about it.''
Stags coach Rick Candaele agrees.
``There are very few rivalries where the other team is 20 yards up the street,'' he said. ``It may be Division III but it would be like Ohio State being able to go 20 yards to play Michigan. It's a big deal for us.''
The Sagehens look to have the advantage because of the emergence of Caron. He threw for 1,659 yards with seven touchdowns and 15 interceptions as a true freshman but has improved to the tune of 2,359 yards with 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions this season. He threw for 507 last week in a loss to unbeaten Occidental.
The CMS secondary has been solid led by SCIAC interceptions leader Brock Olson. He will be tested as will teammates Landon Patoc, David Spiller and Blake Kos.
``He (Caron) presents a problem,'' Candaele said. ``He's tall and got good vision downfield and he gets rid of the ball pretty fast. We're going to have to put some pressure on him and limit the damage.''
CMS will be led by senior quarterback Ryan Larsen, who has struggled with a shoulder but appears healthier now.
Elsewhere La Verne rounds out the season with a nonconference game at Chapman at 7 p.m. The big clash will be at Redlands where the Bulldogs and Cal Lutheran will square off, with the winner having an outside shot at an at-large playoff spot.
In the community college ranks Chaffey will be at Mt. SAC at 6 p.m. and San Bernardino Valley will be at L.A. Harbor, also at 6 p.m.
By Michelle Gardner
Staff Writer
Coming into the season, University of La Verne volleyball coach Don
Flora wasn't quite sure what to expect. He didn't have an experienced
setter returning and that was just one of many question marks.
So that fact his team is ranked third nationally and favored to win
the six-team Division III West tournament which starts Thursday is a
little overwhelming.
The Leopards (23-2) are seeded first so they earned a first-round
bye, as did No. 2 seed Cal State East Bay. La Verne is 5-0 against
teams in the field with No. 4 seed Pacific Lutheran the lone team in
the field it has not faced. Four of those five wins came by 3-1
scores and the other was a 3-0 sweep.
The Leopards, ranked fourth nationally, will take to the court Friday
against the winner of tonight's Nebraska Wesleyan-Pacific Lutheran
match.
``This team has exceeded my expectations big time,'' says Flora,
rounding out his 11th season. ``I knew we had some talented players
but we also had a lot of question marks. We have had some kids step
up and contribute more than they had in the past. It has been a very
rewarding season already.''
La Verne is led by two-time SCIAC Player of the Year Brianna
Gonzales. She led the SCIAC in kills per game (3.92), ranked eight in
hitting percentage (.268) and ninth in digs per game (3.47).
Other veteran starters are junior middle Crista Jones, junior middle
Ashley Morgado and sophomore libero Chelsea Slight.
But what has made the difference for the Leopards is the progress of
junior setter Yesenia Lopez. She red-shirted her freshman year at
Cal State Bakersfield, then played there sparingly in 2006. She
transferred to La Verne last year where she again saw limited duty.
Flora was so concerned about the setter position he brought in three
newcomers to compete for the spot with sophomore Anna Calmer who
served as the backup last year. The emergence of Lopez allowed him to
move Calmer to hitter, giving the Leopards another weapon on the
outside and solving another problem.
It worked so well both Calmer and Lopez earned all-conference honors.
Flora gave all the credit Lopez.
``She was 100 percent committed to becoming a better player,'' he
said. ``She worked hard over the summer and got fit and got stronger.
It was all her. In addition to that she has become a very good leader
which is something you really want out of your setter.''
The Leopards have won nine straight SCIAC titles, last advancing to
the Elite Eight in 2005. Gonzales and senior Madison Bradley are the
holdovers from that team. They're prepared for another run.
``I'm really proud of this team, especially the young girls that have
improved so much'' Gonzales said. ``We're peaking at the right time
and we're ready.''
DIVISION II WEST REGION VOLLEYBALL
Site: Frantz Athletic Court, University of La Verne
Schedule: Thursday - No. 3 Cal Lutheran (24-6) vs. No. 6 Puget Sound
(17-7), 4:30 p.m.; No. 5 Nebraska Wesleyan (19-9) vs. No. 4 Pacific
Lutheran (20-6), 7 p.m.; Friday (semifinals) - No. 2 East Bay (29-4)
vs. Cal Lutheran-Puget Sound winner, 4:30 p.m.; No. 1 La Verne (23-2)
vs. Wesleyan-Pacific Lutheran winner, 7 p.m.; Saturday (Championship)
- 7 p.m.
Defending champion: Puget Sound
What's at stake: The winner will play in the Elite eight at the
Shirks Center at Illinois Wesleyan (Bloomington, Ill.) Nov. 20-22.
Comment: La Verne dropped to No. 4 in this week's AVCA poll despite
not losing. Five of the six teams in the field are ranked with East
Bay at No. 9, Cal Lutheran at No. 14, Pacific at No. 16 and Puget
Sound at No. 20.
Admission: Adults $6, students $5, children 12-under $4.
The University of La Verne will hold a public memorial service for longtime football coach Roland Ortmayer on Nov. 22. Ortmayer, who led the Leopards for 43 years, passed away last month at 91.
The event is scheduled for 2 p.m. at the school's football stadium which is named after him.
The second part of the event will feature a video presentation with the final speakers in the adjacent Franz Athletic Court.
Among those schedule to speak are Rex Huigens, who coached with Ortmayer for 25 years and succeeded him as coach, as well as Steve Ortmayer, Roland's nephew and an assistant coach at the University of Kentucky.
Others are Ortmayer's daughter Corlan, University President Steve Morgan and current Alta Loma High School coach and La Verne alum John Kusleika.
Those wanting to attend should RSVP the schools' alumni office at (909) 593-3511, ext. 4760 or by email at alumni@ulv.edu by Nov.19.
University of La Verne volleyball standout Brianna Gonzales has been named the 2008 SCIAC Player of the Year after helping lead the Leopards to their ninth straight conference championship and second consecutive undefeated league mark.
Gonzales was joined by four other Leopards in the All-Conference awards as Crista Jones and Anna Calmer were First Team All-SCIAC selections while Yesenia Lopez and Ashley Morgado each earned Second Team nods.
Voting for the all-conference teams was conducted among the league's coaches.
Gonzales paced La Verne She tallied a team-high 310 kills (3.92 per game) while also collecting 274 digs which ranked second-most on the Leopard squad. She had a .268 overall hitting percentage on the season while hitting .304 in conference matches from her outside
hitter position. Gonzales also reached double figures in both kills and digs in 14 matches this season.
A senior from Whittier, Gonzales repeats as SCIAC Player of the Year from last season and becomes La Verne's first two-time Player of the Year since Amy Kratochvil (2002, 2004). Her selection marks the 16th time a La Verne student-athlete has earned SCIAC Player of the Year honors in volleyball.
Jones led La Verne in hitting percentage at .353 in all matches while hitting .397 in conference play. The junior middle blocker also tallied 225 kills (2.85 per game) in addition to leading the team in blocks with 72. Jones makes her third appearance on the All-SCIAC squad after a First Team selection in 2006 and a Second Team nod in 2007.
A sophomore from La Habra, Calmer earns her first selection to the All-SCIAC team after making a successful transition from setter to rightside hitter for the Leopards. Calmer finished the regular season with 157 kills, an average of 2.01 per game.
A junior from Hacienda Heights, Morgado makes her first All-SCIAC selection after collecting 123 kills. The middle blocker also registered 58 total blocks this season.
Lopez dished out a team-high 721 assists. The junior setter from West Covina helped La Verne record the highest team hitting percentage in the conference (.250) while averaging 8.90 assists per game which ranked second in SCIAC play.
La Verne finished the regular season with a 23-2 overall record including a 14-0 mark in the SCIAC to earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Tournament. The Leopards are currently ranked #3 in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA)
Division III Top 25 Poll.
The team includes:
Anna Calmer OH ULV SO
Emily Hudson OH CMS FR
Summer Plante-Newman OH CLU JR
Crista Jones M ULV JR
Allison Kerr M CLU SO
Linsdey Benson S CLU SR
Ruchi Patel L PP SR
Second Team
Corri Hayes OH CLU JR
Helena Bottemiller M CMS SR
Ashley Morgado M ULV JR
Alex Harrison S CMS SR
Yesenia Lopez S ULV JR
Chelsea Arcaris L UR SO
Erin Exline M CLU SO
For the seventh consecutive match, the No. 20 University of Redlands women's soccer team shut out its opponent, taking out the University of La Verne by a 3-0 score in the semifinal round of the 2008 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Postseason Tournament on Wednesday at Farquhar Field.
After a scoreless first half, sophomore midfielder Jessi Hoyt (Boise, ID) took a pass from freshman midfielder Jaimie Morton (Boise, ID) and chipped a shot over Leopard keeper Tatiana Gutierrez's head for the first goal of the match.
Freshman midfielder Fionna Connolly (Salem, OR) tacked on the second score of the contest with a goal off of a through ball from senior forward Erica Jahn (Davis, CA) while sophomore defender Chelsea Hafley (Redlands, CA) secured the victory at the 85-minute mark from a shot driven well outside of the box, marking the third time she has found the back of the net this season.
The Bulldogs outshot the visiting Leopards by a 26-9 margin and received seven corner kicks to La Verne's three.
With Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges advancing on penalty kicks (3-2) after a 0-0 tie against Cal Lutheran University in the first semifinal round game, Redlands (14-4-1, 9-3 SCIAC) will host the Athenas on Saturday, Nov. 8 at a time to be determined. The winner of the match on Saturday will get the SCIAC's automatic bid to the NCAA playoffs.
When the University of Redlands lost to Occidental three weeks ago, hopes of a playoff bid appeared bleak. It might be natural to suffer a letdown, but the Bulldogs (5-1, 3-1) have lived up to their billing, beating two foes by a combined 101-14. Next up is a 1 p.m. contest Saturday at Pomona-Pitzer (2-4, 1-2).
"I have been proud of this team because that does show a lot of character," Bulldogs Coach Mike Maynard said. "That was a huge, disappointing loss but it shows nothing can keep us down."
Pitzer coach Roger Caron has been impressed with the way the Bulldogs regrouped after their loss.
"They're going out and playing to the bitter end and letting things play out," he said. "That's a tribute to their kids and coaching staff that they have played that well after such a big letdown."
This is yet another game that looks like a mismatch. The Bulldogs got back in the American Football Coaches Association poll at No. 25. More importantly they are ranked seventh in the West Region.
Redlands is ranked second in the country in total defense. Senior end Brock Arndt is tied for second nationally in both sacks and tackles for loss.
While the Sagehens have not fared well overall, they do boast a passing attack that ranks first in the SCIAC and 26th nationally.
Sophomore quarterback Jacob Caron, the coach's son, is the catalyst. He has the two top receivers in the conference in senior Kevin Kelly and sophomore R.J. Maki.
Maynard said he plans to mix up his defenses to try and keep Caron off balance.
"He's a very good quarterback and his receivers are solid," Maynard said. "He's very savy. He's a coach's son so they talk about coverages over the dinner table."
Caron knows that they key to that passing will whether or not the smaller offensive line can withstand a bigger, more physical defensive front.
Redlands will dress 100 while Pitzer, which also has smaller players physically, will dress 40.
"We're going to have to go out and play way over our heads," Caron said.
In SCIAC play elsewhere La Verne (1-5, 1-3) will be at Whittier (1-5, 1-2) and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (2-4) will play nonconference foe Chapman (3-3).
On the community college front, Chaffey (4-3, 1-2) will host Riverside (2-6, 0-4) at 1 p.m. and San Bernardino Valley (0-7, 0-4) hosts first-place Southwestern (5-2, 4-0).
The selection marks the fourth time in this decade that the West Region championships has come to La Verne, which previously hosted in 2000, 2003 and 2006.
Other regional hosts for the 2008 NCAA Division III Championships includes Tufts University (New England), New York University (New York), Juniata College (Mid-Atlantic), Wittenberg University (Great Lakes), St. Thomas University (Central), Trinity University (South) and the University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh (Midwest).
The participating teams, pairings and complete schedule for the championship will be announced Monday, November 10.
The championship finals will be held November 20-22 at the Shirk Center in Bloomington, Illinois and will be hosted by Illinois Wesleyan University.
Kickoff: 1 p.m.
About Chaffey: The Panthers need a win to keep even a remote shot at
a bowl bid alive. The Panthers have damaged their own cause with
penalties. They had 185 yards called against them in last week's
costly 27-20 loss to Citrus. Chaffey continues to use two
quarterbacks buy Greg Sprowls will get the start this week. DT David
Williams is the latest injury casualty. The Panthers have some depth
there with Garrett Haro and Chris Ramos, both out of Claremont,
likely to see more action. RB Mark Chase and WR-KR Aaron Mays
continue to be the bright spots for coach Carl Beach.
About Riverside: The Tigers have found the going tough in the
National Division Central Conference. They have lost six straight
games, the last four all conference games. Cedric Foster (366 yards,
5 TDs) is the team's leading rusher. Redlands High product Coy Glass
(1,246 yards, 11 TDs) directs an offense that averages 312 yards per
game. Miller grad Jacob Slouka is the top receiver. RCC has big-play
potential on special teams with James Calhoun on punt returns and
Corey Ham on kick returns. Sophomore SS Jamell Murry and Anthony
Caruthers (Redlands East Valley) lead the defense.
SOUTHWESTERN (5-2, 4-0) at SAN BERNARDINO VALLEY (0-7, 0-4)
Kickoff: 6 p.m.
About Southwestern: The Jaguars had traditionally been a bottom tier
team in the old Foothill Conference but have emerged as the
frontrunner in the new American Division Mountain Conference. They
have won five straight games, the eye-opening one a 14-10 win over
nonconference foe Grossmont. The rushing game revolves around Kenslow
Smith (694 yards, 9 TDs) with QB Ryan Nelson (1,820 yards, 16 TDs)
directing the aerial game. His favorite target is George Bell (847
yards, 8 TDs). David Ferris (51 tackles) is the team's top defender.
About SBVC: The Wolverines came up just short last week, falling to
Mt. San Jacinto 34-28. Freshman QB Danny Laugen(434 yards, 5 TDs)
has made great strides since taking over for injured Mike Stadler
three weeks ago. Other key offensive players arew RB Devon Libran and
WR Eric Charles. Freshman SS Dexter Reed had 12 tackles and two
interceptions to earn conference defensive player of the week honors.
Freshman SS Ricky Pesquera and freshman LB Shawn Borden are the
team's leading tacklers.
VICTOR VALLEY (2-5, 2-2) at SAN DIEGO MESA (3-4, 3-1)
Kickoff: 1 p.m.
Radio: 910-AM
About Victor: The Rams are looking to bounce back from a 41-19 loss
to conference leader Southwestern. Starting QB O'Ryan Bradley has
been sidelined with a hip flexor but is expected back this week. The
Rams rely on balance with Deandre Glasper (234 yards, 3 TDs) and Mel
Carmichael (204 yards, 4 TDs) sharing the workload out of the
backfield. Kenyatta Smith (383 yards, 2 TDs) is the top threat in
the passing game. Joshua Hudson (70 tackles) is the top defender. The
kicking game has been a bit inconsistent as well.
About Mesa: The Olympians have won three of their last four. Included
in that streak is a 31-27 win over L.A. Harbor, a team the Rams lost
to. Mesa averages 194 yards through the air with Philip Staback
directing the attack. Other prominent players in the offense are WR
Michael Medina (36 catches, 570 yards, 9 TDs) and RB Braxton Welford
(450 yards, 2 TDs). Sophomore LB Michael Johnson and ophomore DB Matt
Collins lead the defense. Mesa is in contention for a playoff berth
in the Mountain Conference (American Division).
REDLANDS (5-1, 3-1) at POMONA-PITZER (2-4, 1-2)
Kickoff: 1 p.m.
Radio: KMET (1490-AM)
About Redlands: The Bulldogs boast a balanced attack, led by junior
QB Steve Smith who is coming off his best game as a starter. Zack
Schafer (602 yards, 9 TDs) is second in the SCIAC in rushing while
Jeff Stewart (403 yards, 4 TDs) is fifth. The Bulldogs rank second in
the country in total defense led by senior DE Brock Arndt, freshman
LB Ian Sluss and sophomore DB Mike Nicolini. The teaqm had six sacks
last week with Arndt getting three of those. Special teams are also
solid with punter Wes Norris and kicker Joe MacMillan.
About Pitzer: The Sagehens are all about the pass as QB Jacob Caron
(1,637 yards, 10 TDs) leads the conference and wide receivers Kevin
Kelley (51 catches, 729 yards, 5 TDs) and R.J. Maki (43 catches, 572
yards, 3 TDs) are 1-2 in receiving. Pitzer ranks sixth of seven teams
in rushing although Russell Oka is coming off a good showing in last
week's win over Whittier. Senior TE Robert McNitt (ankle) is out for
the second week. Senior DB Taylor Barbour is second in the
conference in interceptions (4).
LA VERNE (1-5, 1-3) at WHITTIER (1-5, 0-3)
Kickoff: 7 p.m.
About La Verne: La Verne's losses are to teams with a combined record
of 25-8. The Leopards are coming off a 40-27 loss to unbeaten
Occidental. Despite that loss coach Andy Ankeny was pleased with his
team responded down 34-0. Backup QB Christian Winnewisser played well
in relief of starter Anthony Andre. Seniors WRs Charles Lacy and Phi
Van Le have come up big in the passing game which has helped since
the Leos rank last in the conference running the ball. Senior LB
Jason Carpenter has been the steady leader on defense.
About Whittier: The Poets boast the leading rusher the conference in
Anthony Pomponio (686 yards, 8 TDs) but they have been erratic with
the passing game. It has a true freshman at the controls in Chino
product Taylor Fallon. Senior Shawn Briggs (24 catches, 347 yards, 4
TDs) is ninth in the SCIAC in receiving. Leading defenders are senior
LB Sean MacNeil, senior LB Steffen Santos and junior LB Brandon Boehm
(Serrano HS).
CHAPMAN (3-3) at CLAREMONT-MUDD-SCRIPPS (2-4)
Kickoff: 1 p.m.
About Chapman: The Panthers are an independent but play all of the
SCIAC schools and are 2-2 against them thus far. They average 346
yards per game offense, 197 of that through the air. Senior Eric
Marty (1,183 yards, 9 TDs) runs the offense. Other key players in the
offense are RB Mike Christensen (648 yards, 8 TDs) and WR Kaleo Perez
(24 catches, 299 yards). Daniel Hartigan (46 tackles) is the top
tackler. Chino product Garrett Earls (40 tackles) is also a key
contributor.
About CMS: The Stags are coming off a 48-0 loss to Redlands.
Quarterback has been issue. Coach Rick Candaele said he plans to
start Scott Yingling, who is returning from a shoulder injury. Ryan
Larsen is the backup but will see action. The best performance last
week was turned in by Landon Patoc who had two interceptions, Brock
Olson is the SCIAC leader in interceptions (6).
Ramirez subbed in for the Leopards after the first ten minutes of the game and made an immediate impact, scoring in the 14th minute on a break away goal down the left hand side of the field. The Tigers would answer back on a Corrine Winkler penalty shot in the 29th minute, and the teams headed into halftime tied at 1-1.
The Leopards came out aggressively at the beginning of the second half and were awarded a penalty shot when Oxy goalkeeper Robin Feldman received a yellow card. Ramirez would capitalize on the penalty by recording her second goal of the match to give La Verne a 2-1 lead. The Tigers drew even at 2-2, thanks to a pass from Tiger forward Jesi Sasaki to teammate Carley Wachi, who would sneak a shot past Leopard goalie Tatiana Guiterrez in the 56th minute.
After a lull in action, La Verne moved the ball down the field and Ramirez scored her third and final goal of the game in the 80th minute. It would prove to be enough, as the Leopards would win the contest 3-2.
The Leopards claim both games against the Occidental Tigers in the 2008 season, each game ending in a 3-2 final. La Verne remains to be the only team to have played Occidental in a match where both teams have scored, as eight out of the Tigers last 10 outings have ended in a shutout either in favor of Oxy or their opponent.
Ramirez continues her impressive scoring campaign, and now has 15 goals on the season. Goalkeeper Tatiana Gutierrez also picked up five more saves in today's game, and now has 59 on the year.
The Leopards will try to take their momentum into Saturday morning's home game against the visiting Bulldogs from the University of Redlands. Game time is at 11 am.
The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps volleyball team went into last weekend's Leopard Invitiational with nothing to lose and everything to gain and gain they did.
The Athenas upset No. 1 ranked Juniata, Penn. 3-2 (27-25, 17-25, 27-25, 18-25, 15-6) on Saturday. That was part of a weekend that saw them play the top three teams in the country. They lost to No. 2 Emory (Ga.) 3-1 (25-23, 25-23, 17-25 25-23) and No. 3 La Verne 3-0 (25-23, 25-12, 25-21).
"We looked at it as a great opportunity to showcase our skills," said CMS coach Dianna Graves, in her 10th year heading the program. "How often do you get a chance to play the top three teams in the country? It was great competition and we rose to the occasion."
Graves didn't think her team's win was a case of the more highly touted opponent not respecting her team.
"I don't think it was a matter of them looking past us," she said. "They had played the two really emotional matches against La Verne and Emory. It's hard to come back a third time so soon."
Graves credited senior setter Alex Harrison and senior middle blocker Helena Bottemiller for being the steadying influences the younger players rallied around.
Senior libero Greer Donley and freshman outside hitter Emily Hudson represented the Athenas (14-9, 5-2) on the all-tournament team. Senior Brianna Gonzales and junior Crista Jones of La Verne (14-2, 7-0) were also selected.
LA VERNE -- Bob Dyer, the University of La Verne public address football announcer, walked around the track some 30 minutes before a recent SCIAC game against the University of Redlands en route to the press box.
He stopped and picked up a scrap of paper, then placed it in a nearby trash receptacle.
"I do that because of Ort. He always did that, never left trash on the ground," said Dyer, in his 19th year as the voice of the Leopards.
Ort as in Roland Ortmayer, who headed the Leopard football program for 43 years, parts of six decades. He was an institution at the school and the community that the stadium was named in his honor when he retired in 1991.
Ortmayer, 91, passed away Thursday morning. He had a bout of pneumonia in August and his health had declined ever since. He had been under hospice care at Hillcrest Homes in La Verne the past several weeks.
Ortmayer, born in College Park, Md., on Aug. 22, 1917, was not known for his success on the field. His teams were 182-193-8, sharing the SCIAC title twice but never winning one outright. The program did not produce a professional player.
Ortmayer was more about teaching life lessons than wins and losses on the football field.
Rex Huigens played quarterback from 1967 to 1969, assisted Ortmayer for 25 years, then took over the program from him in 1991. He remembers calling his own plays, something unheard of even today for a college quarterback.
"He thought if you prepare all week the way you were supposed to, you should be able to handle it," Huigens said. "He was about more than just football," said Huigens. He was about molding people, not just football players. I'm a better person because I played for him and worked with him."
Ortmayer's coaching style was unlike any other. It had to be for Sports Illustrated to devote several pages on a Division III coach, as it did in a Sept. 4, 1989 profile by Douglas S. Looney.
Ortmayer didn't believe in playbooks because they stifled creativity and limited a player's ability to improvise.
He didn't believe in studying game film, especially of the opponent. He didn't endorse weight training because it wasted energy. He didn't actively recruit players but never cut one either.
He didn't make practices mandatory and didn't have a curfew.
He never cursed.
He believed in the hands-on approach, even if it meant he had to chalk the field himself or do his team's laundry.
He also had an adventurous side too, teaching a class called "When Lewis and Clark Met the Mountains," that included a four-week camping junket to Montana in which he took students kayaking, rafting and canoeing.
He also taught climbing and repelling.
"It wasn't unusual to walk around campus and see him repelling down the side of a building," said Don Morel, who played defensive end for Ortmayer from 1983 to 1986 and served as head coach from 1995 to 2006. "That was Ort. What he taught transcended the football field. He taught values and life experiences."
Ortmayer also left a lasting impression on his peers. Occidental's Dale Widolff, in his 27th year, is the dean of coaches in the SCIAC and recalls many close contests against Ortmayer's teams.
"He always had the right perspective on college football," said Widolff. "I always considered him and Frank Serrao (former Redlands coach from 1964-1983) the moral compass of coaches. There are a lot of situations that come up when I think, 'What would those guys do?' "
Widolff also said he saw a human side of the coach even in the heat of competition.
"I really remember two games against them. One we kicked a 49-yard field goal on the last play to beat them by two and he came over to shake my hand. He was truly happy for me. The other they beat us 52-51 in double overtime and he felt really bad for me, more so than he felt good for his team."
Redlands coach Mike Maynard is the only other coach in the SCIAC whose tenure coincided with Ortmayer.
"He always appeared to be this laid- back guy and I think people often mistook that for his teams not being intense or ready to play. I never bought that for a minute," he said. "They were always prepared and were ready to play."
Ortmayer was preceded in death by wife Cornelia and son David, who died in 1953 from an accidental drowning at the age of 6. Cornelia was as much a fixture at the university as her husband. The concession stand, Corni's Corner, is named after her.
Ortmayer is survived by sister Marilee Franke of Madison, Wis., and two daughters, Suzi Bowles of Belfgrade, Mont., and Corlan Harrison of Upland, along with four grandchildren and two great grand children.
Funeral arrangements are pending. The school's plans to honor the icon will likely be announced next week.
The University of La Verne volleyball team has a big weekend coming up. The No. 3 Leopards (12-0) will host a four-team tournament Friday and Saturday that will feature local foe Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (12-7), as well as No. 1 Juniata, Penn. (17-1) and No. 2 Emory, Ga. (19-3).
"I can't wait," Leopards coach Don Flora said. "It's not often you get to play the top two teams in the country on the same weekend."
On Friday the Athenas will play Emory at 4 p.m. while La Verne playes Juniata at 7 p.m.
Then on Saturday La Verne and CMS will play at 11 a.m. The rest of the schedule will pit Juniata against Emory at 1:30 p.m., CMS against Juniata at 4 p.m. and La Verne against Emory at 6 p.m.
There is no admission charge for spectatots.
The senior outside hitter from Whittier led La Verne to a pair of conference wins last week as the Leopards remained unbeaten (9-0, 3-0 SCIAC) on the season. Gonzales tallied doubles-doubles in kills and digs in 3-0 sweeps over #19 Cal Lutheran (Sept. 23) and Redlands (Sept. 26). Against the Regals, Gonzales registered match-highs of 14 kills and 16 digs as La Verne prevailed 25-16, 25-18, 25-16 in Thousand Oaks.
She recorded 13 kills and 11 digs in a 25-20, 25-13, 25-15 triumph over the Bulldogs. Gonzales had a team high in digs averaging 4.5 a game and attacked at a .423 clip for the entire week. La Verne remains #3 in the AVCA Division III Top 25 Poll.
Gonzales also earned SCIAC Female Athlete of the Week honors on Sept. 10.
No Dan Selway. No problem.
The University of Redlands got off to a good start in the Steve Smith era, turning back the University of La Verne 37-7 Saturday in the SCIAC opener for both teams in a steady drizzle at Ortmayer Stadium.
The Bulldogs (3-0, 1-0), ranked nationally in three polls, were playing their first game since losing Selway to a broken foot two weeks ago.
Smith, a junior, made his debut as the starting quarterback and went 13-for-24 for 156 yards with one touchdown pass and two interceptions. He was aided by a rushing attack that totaled 319 yards.
"He was hot and cold," Redlands coach Mike Maynard said of Smith. "When he was pressuring and overanalyzing he became a little too mechanical. When he was in the flow and got in a rhythm he did good things."
Fortunately for the Bulldogs, the offense isn't totally dependent on the passing game. Zack Schafer rambled for 175 on 16 carries, highlighted by touchdown runs of 15 and 36 yards while Jeff Stewart powered his way to 130 yards on 22 tries.
The third prong of the three-headed monster, fullback Tom Romaine, caught an 8-yard scoring pass.
"We wanted to come out here with the same game plan," Smith said of his new responsibility. "We didn't want to go conservative at all. We have a good line and good backs, so one injury isn't enough to slow us down."
The Leopards (0-3) stuck with the Bulldogs early, blocking a field goal try on Redlands first possession and holding them to a 37-yarder by Joe MacMillan minutes later.
But Redlands found the end zone on its third try, capping a nine-play drive with the 8-yard pass from Smith to fullback Tom Romaine, a two-point conversion making it 11-0.
La Verne got the ball back after an interception by Branamier Courtney. It went the distance only to have a 19-yard scoring toss from Anthony Andre to Phi Van Le nullified by a holding. It proved costly as La Verne got nothing when a field goal try by Wesley Dean was blocked by Mike Nicolini.
The Bulldogs upped their lead to 18-0 and were driving for more in the closing minute of the half but a Smith offering was picked off and run back 60 yards by Rocky Keawekane, cutting the deficit to 18-7.
The Bulldogs put the game away in the third quarter.
But Leopards coach Andy Ankeny hardly sounded like a coach on the short end of the stick.
"We played hard. We played physical. We had some mental mistakes and some turnovers but we did a lot of positive things in the course of the game that we can build on as a program."
Andre threw for 118 yards but was picked off three times and was hurried by the Bulldogs defense all night. Van Le was the Leopards top reciever, catching six for 78 yards.
The Leopards managed just 31 yards on the ground on the nation's top-ranked rushing defense.
The win did not come without a cost as the Bulldogs lost two defensive linemen with what Maynard said are season-ending injuries. Noseguard Mitchell Crocco tore an ACL in his right knee in the second quarter while end Josh Cunningham sustained a broken ankle.
Next week the Bulldogs host Occidental at 7 p.m. while La Verne plays at Claremont-Mudd Scripps, also at 7 p.m.
Starting quarterback or no starting quarterback, the University of Redlands is still a formidable foe. That seems to be the prevailing thought among coaches in the SCIAC.
Conference play begins today and the Bulldogs (2-0) will trek to Ortmayer Stadium for a 1 p.m. showdown against the University of La Verne (0-2).
The Bulldogs will be without junior quarterback Dan Selway who earned SCIAC Offensive Player of the Year honors in 2007 but sustained a broken foot in a win over Whitworth (Wash.) two weeks ago.
He threw for 489 yards and five touchdowns in the first two games. His spot now goes to junior Steve Smith with freshman Dylan Barrera elevated to backup status. Smith did see some mop-up duty in the first two games. He also played the entire second half of Redlands' playoff game last year at St. Johns (Minn.).
"They're a good program and they're deep at every position," second-year Leopards coach Andy Ankeny said of the Bulldogs. "We don't shy away from tough competition. We want to play them at their best because there's no better way to find out where your progam is. We wish he (Selway) was in there but don't expect less of a game because he isn't."
The Bulldogs were idle last week, giving Smith an extra week to prepare. Redlands coach Mike Maynard said his team won't alter its game plan even though it has the luxury of a three-pronged rushing attack ignited by seniors - Tom Romaine, Zack Schafer and Jeff Stewart.
"We do what we do. We're not going to change anything, he said. "He has been here so he knows the offense. He has had a good week of practice and we have all the confidence in the world in him."
Selway was also the Bulldogs' punter. Maynard said freshman Wes Norris and senior Kraig Kraning are battling for that job.
The biggest factor in the game will likely be how the La Verne running game fares against a Redlands defense that ranks first nationally against the run.
The Leopards have managed just 101 yards total in two games on 75 tries with their leading rusher being freshman Curtis Puli with 61 yards.
The Bulldogs, led by senior defensive end Brock Arndt and freshman linebacker Ian Skuss, have held their first two opponents to minus-24 yards.
"We can't let our quarterback sit back there and get tattoed," Ankeny said. "Our young pups are going to have to hold up. That's obviously a big factor. If we can do that we have a chance."
Redlands is averaging 452 yards offense. The La Verne defense, led by senior linebacker Jason Carpenter, is giving up and average 453.
While the game looks one-sided on paper, Maynard is leary of the Leopards.
"They're a hungry team and it's the conference opener so they're going to be ready," said Maynard, who was at La Verne's game last week against Willamette (Ore.). "They have made a lot of progress even though it may not show in th win column. We're expecting a battle."
The other SCIAC teams will also be in action. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (1-1) will be at Occidental (2-0) to play a team it nearly upset a year ago. Pomona-Pitzer (1-1) will be at Chapman (1-1) for its final nonconference tuneup. Both the Stags and Sagehens are coming off byes.
Area community colleges will also be in action. Chaffey (3-1) will host Cerritos (3-1) in its National Division Central Conference opener at 6 p.m.
In American Division Mountain Conference play San Bernardino Valley (0-4) will be at San Diego Mesa (1-3) at 6 p.m. and Victor Valley (1-3) will host Golden West (2-2) at 1 p.m.
University of La Verne football coach Andy Ankeny wanted to challenge his team. So instead of scheduling a cream puff or two for nonconference games, he thought big.
The Leopards lost their opener two weeks ago to Northwest Conference champion Whitworth (Wash.). Saturday they faced No. 25 Willamette, another team from that conference. The result was a 44-0 loss Saturday afternoon at Ortmayer Stadium.
The second-year coach doesn't regret that strategy, even though his team is coming off a 1-8 showing in 2007.
"I want to see where we are as a program," he said. "It's not about where we are Monday when we're getting ready for Redlands. It's about what we want our program to look like long term."
The game got away from the Leopards (0-2) in the third quarter. They only trailed 14-0 at the half with an interception by La Verne's Taylor Hart in the end zone on the last play of the half preventing another Bearcats score.
But the Leopards got off to a slow start and were forced to punt from deep in their own territory on their first possession in the second half. Jason Carpenter's punt was blocked by Harmon Bruno and went out of the end zone for a safety, making it 16-0.
The Bearcats (4-0) set up at the 41 after Jose Green returned the free kick. The visitors capitalized on the next play as Deon Horne raced the distance for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage to extend the lead to 23-0.
The Leopards were not in striking distance again.
Willliamette, located in Salem, Ore., put up 21 more points in the final quarter. It was headed for more with the ball in the closing minute at the La Verne 16 but coach Mark Speckman had his quarterback take a knee.
Willamette tallied 506 yards offense, 329 of that coming on the ground. Horne rushed for 129 to lead that effort.
La Verne managed 216 with 149 of that coming through the air. The Leopards rushed for only 67 yards on 39 tries. Their running game struggled last week as well.
Special teams were also a problem with two punts blocked.
Hart led the derfense with nine tackles, the interceptions and a pass breakup. Carpenter had six tackles .
It won't get any easier next week as Redlands (2-0), ranked in three national polls the highest being a No. 19, comes in for a 1 p.m. game that will be the first in SCIAC play for both.
"I believe we're a better team than what we showed today," Ankeny said. "They outperformed us in every area and played with a greater sense of urgency. I really don't want to have that many more of these teaching moments."
University of La Verne football coach Andy Ankeny is going to find out fast just how much his Leopard team has improved.
The Leopards, just 1-8 in Ankeny's inaugural season in 2007, dropped their season opener to Whitworth (Wash.) two weeks ago 22-13. That was the defending Northwest Conference champion so it was a moral victory of sorts.
But the tests won't get any easier. Today Willamette (Ore.), which plays in the same conference as Whitworth, marches in for a 1 p.m. showdown at Ortmayer Stadium. The Bearcats (3-0) moved into the D3football national rankings this week at No. 25.
Then next week the Leos open SCIAC play against No. 20 University of Redlands.
"We've decided to play as many ranked teams as possible," Ankeny said sarcastically.
"But this is really exciting for us as a program. What better way to see exactly where we are and how we stack up."
It will be the first meeting between the two schools. It will also be the second against a SCIAC team for Willamette, which bested Cal Lutheran 31-17 two weeks ago in Thousand Oaks.
The visitors will have one big advantage. Willamette, coming off a 31-23 win over Southern Oregon, will be playing its fourth game while La Verne will be playing just its second.
The Bearcats return 12 starters while La Verne has a steady mix of veterans and newcomers but hasn't had quite the chance to see how the rookies will fare.
Willamette is also making the road trip which might neutralize its other advantage.
La Verne also had an extra week to prepare.
"It's tough flying and then playing, no matter where you're going to or from," Ankeny said. "It makes a big difference. Hopefully that will be to our advantage."
The Leopards will be looking to get more out of the running game than it did in the opener. They are averaging 195 passing yards a game, ignited by junior quarterback Anthony Andre, a product of Riverside Poly High school and Riverside Community College.
But the running game is averaging just 34 yards per game.
Willamette is the opposite. It is averaging 219 on the ground and 79 through the air.
Defensively the Leopards, gave up 400 yards in their opener, 269 of that on the ground. The Bearcats have given up an average of 162 on the ground and 183 though the air.
Ankeny recognizes that the tough early schedule might mean his team's progress may not be reflected in the win column. But he likes what he is seeing from his players.
"Our guys are working hard and they are coming in expecting to win. We know it won't be easy but we're ready to compete," he said. "They have bought in to what we're trying to do. Now we'll see where we really are."
It is a light schedule this week among local colleges. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (1-1), Pomona-Pitzer (1-1) and University of Redlands (3-0) are all idle this week.
Injury-riddled Chaffey (3-0) will hit the road for a 1 p.m. game at Grossmont (1-2). It will be the final tuneup before the Panthers start National Division Central Conference play next week.
San Bernardino Valley College (0-3) will travel to Victor Valley (0-3) for the first game of American Division Mountain Conference action.
La Verne, which fell 38-0 to Whitworth a year ago, had a chance to pull within a point under two minutes to go. Down by nine, the Leopards reached the Pirate 31-yard line but could get no closer as Whitworth held on downs to seal the win.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Pirates scored twice within a three-minute span to grab a 15-0 lead, first on a five-yard TD pass from Kory Kemp to Joey VanHoomissen with 7:25 remaining in the second quarter, and converted on a Leopard fumble as Kemp once again connected with VanHoomissen in the end zone, this time from four yard outs at the 5:20 mark.
The Leopards finally struck late in the first half when Kemp was intercepted by Joe Padilla, who returned the ball 32 yards to the Whitworth 36 yard line. One third and goal from the Whitworth five, Anthony Andre passed to Phi Van Le for the touchdown. After the Leopards missed the PAT, Whitworth had a 15-6 lead at halftime.
The teams traded punts five times to open the second half. On the first play after Whitworth took over on its own 18 yard line, Kemp was intercepted by Taylor Hart at the 25. Four plays later Andre completed a 19 yard pass on fourth down to Fernando Gonzalez to pull La Verne within 15-13.
Whitworth closed the scoring in the fourth quarter, capping a 9-play, 59-yard drive on a four-yard scoring run by Adam Anderson to go up 22-13. Anderson finished with a game-high 158 yards on 33 carries.
La Verne amassed 229 yards on offense, 223 came through the air as quarterback Anthony Andre debuted with the Leopards by completing 17 of 30 attempts for 203 yards and two scores. On defense, Jason Carpenter led the Green and Orange with a game-high 16 tackles, including two for losses of three yards.
The Leos have a bye next week and enjoy their 2008 home opener Sept. 27 against fellow Northwest Conference opponent Willamette University.
A senior outside hitter from Whittier, Gonzales was named Tournament Most Valuable Player after helping lead fifth-ranked La Verne to a 4-0 mark - including three wins over nationally-ranked teams - at the Premier Invitational Sept. 5-6 in Tacoma, Wash.
A 2007 AVCA First Team All-American, Gonzales averaged 3.46 kills per game for the weekend. She also had three double-doubles with her kills and digs. She has been nominated for AVCA National Player of the Week for her efforts this past weekend. She tallied 15 kills and 9 digs against seventh-ranked and tournament host Puget Sound in a four-game win.
Against #12 CSU East Bay, Gonzales collected a match-high 17 kills along with 15 digs in a four-game triumph over the Pioneers. She finished with 12 kills and 11 digs as the Leopards prevailed over #6 Trinity in four games.
The University of La Verne volleyball team starts the season ranked No. 5 by the American Volleyball Coaches Association.
Traditional title contender Juniata is ranked first with reigning national champion Washington University-St. Louis at No. 2. Emory (Ga.) is third and Wittenberg fourth.
The only other SCIAC school mentioned is Cal Lutheran which checks in at No. 24.
Coach Don Flora returns four starters and 11 letter winners, including senior outside hitter Brianna Gonzales, an AVCA first-team All-America selection in 2007. Also providing La Verne firepower will be 2006 AVCA honorable mention All-American, outside hitter Crista Jones and all-conference athlete Karli Fowlkes, a middle blocker.
One of the most accomplished players in Leopard history, Skovron played four seasons under Huigens, twice earning All-America honors (2001, 2004) along with being named SCIAC Player of the Year in 2001. He also was a member of the Leopards' 2004 SCIAC Championship team which also finished 6th at the NCAA Division III Championships.
Skovron also was a two-time Academic All-America (2003, 2004) and earned La Verne Male Scholar-Athlete Honors in 2004. He turned professional in June 2004 and played on the U.S. Pro, Spanos, Gateway and Canadian Tours.
The University of La Verne has given a couple of coaches additional duties.
Baseball coach Scott Winterburn has been named assistant athletic director for compliance. He has been part of the athletic staff since 2000, winning three SCIAC titles in his eight years, the most recent coming this spring.
Softball coach Julie Smith, who just completed her first year at the school, is assuming a new role as senior women's administrator.
She led the Leopards to a 28-19 mark on the diamond, including a win at the first SCIAC Tournament that gave them a berth in the Division III West Regional.
The University of Redlands finished 30th out of 430 Division III colleges in the National Association of Collegiate Directors of America (NACDA) U.S. Sports Academy Directors' Cup.
This honor is presented annually by NACDA and USA Today to the nation's best
overall collegiate athletics programs in each division as well as the NAIA.
Williams College (Mass.) was the winner in Division III. Redlands chalked up 438.5 points to finish 30th in the standings. It was the highest finish of any Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) school.
The University of La Verne came in 73rd, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges took 81st and Pomona-Pitzer Colleges 98th. In addition, the Bulldogs surpassed various schools from the West Coast, including Whitworth University (41st), the University of Puget Sound (59th),
Linfield College (68th), and UC Santa Cruz (75th).
"We earn points and remain competitive because of the quality of our programs across the board," Director of Athletics Jeff Martinez said. "This is a great tribute to our student-athletes, coaches, and support staff, who work diligently to help make us the best we can be
every day."
This is the fifth straight season Redlands has been in the top 30. The Bulldogs' best finish came in 2004-05, when they earned 458.5 points for 16th place.
A senior from San Dimas, Marcus was selected to the Second Team as a designated hitter.
Marcus led ULV in homers (14), RBI (68) and slugging percentage (.771) while boasting of a .371 average this season en route to earning Southern California Intercollegiate Atletic Conference (SCIAC) Player of the Year honors. Marcus also earned First Team All-West Region this season.
Marcus was the lone SCIAC representative among the First, Second or Third Team selections. He becomes the first Leopard baseball All-American since pitcher Scott Lindeen was selected ABCA Second Team All-America in 2005.
La Verne earned a trip to the NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament this season by winning the SCIAC Championship, its 19th conference baseball title in school history.
It was another case of so near and yet so far for the University of Redlands golf team as the Bulldogs finished second at the Division III national tournament at Chateau Elon Resort in Braselton, Ga. Friday.
The Bulldogs did not qualify for the event last year but posted three straight second-place showings in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
Redlands shot a 14-over 298 to finish with a 72-hole total of 1,195. St. John Fisher, which started the day with a four-stroke lead over Redlands, carded a 22-over 306 and was third at 1,199.
But it was St. John (Minn.), fourth at the start of the day, that came from eight strokes out with a 291 to finish at 1,192.
The recent finish was a bit more disappointing because the Bulldogs had the lead, only to falter on the final three holes. Redlands made up the deficit on St. John Fisher in the first six holes and led until the final three holes, losing seven strokes on the last three.
Ross Canavan was the top individual for the Bulldogs, shooting a 2-over 73 for a 9-over 293 total. E.J. Stenftenagel tied for 10th (75-297).
The player that made the big difference for a third straight day was Alex Hedlund. Normally the No. 5 player, he had a 2-over 73 and was 23rd overall (302).
Scott Pena and J.C. Riter had indentical 77s and both finished at 311.
The University of La Verne, which beat Redlands head-to-head eight times this season, settled for ninth (1,219) in the last match for retiring coach Rex Huigens.
The Leopards had most of its returners from last year's national runner-up team and led after the first round. But nothing went right the last three days.
"Golf can be a fickle game," Huigens said. "We had a good first day but after that we were terrible, no other way to put it."
Junior Rizal Amin (74-302) was the top finisher for the Leopards in 23rd. He was followed by Mitchell Fedorka (78-305), Chris Davis (83-309), Andrew Kramer (79-311) and Jordan Talah (76-314)
Huigens said he will miss the camaraderie of his players.
"Any time you do something for that long, it will be a little emotional when you stop doing it," he said. "But the relationships will go on."
2008 All-SCIAC Baseball Selections Announced
May 14, 2008
The 2008 All-SCIAC Baseball Selections have been announced. University of La Verne Leopards claimed the SCIAC Conference title. Scott Marcus, a senior from La Verne has been named Player of the Year. The First and Second All-SCIAC Teams are listed below.
| Player of the Year: | Scott Marcus, SR | University of La Verne |
|
First Team | ||
| Pitchers | Tim Jolly, SO | University of La Verne |
| Michael McCarthy, SO | University of Redlands | |
| Nolan Nicholson, JR | University of Redlands | |
| Catcher | Jefre Johnson, SO | University of Redlands |
| Infielders | Andrew Blomberg, JR | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
| Anthony Cappelletti, JR | Whittier College | |
| Paul Hartmann, SO | California Lutheran University | |
| Drew Hedman, JR | Pomona-Pitzer Colleges | |
| Brandon Huerta, JR | Pomona-Pitzer Colleges | |
| Jack Mehl, SR | University of La Verne | |
| Outfielders | Charles Acker, SR | Whittier College |
| Kyle Rizzo | University of Redlands | |
| Alex Weber-Shapiro, SO | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps | |
| Second Team | ||
| Pitchers | David Colvin, FR | Pomona-Pitzer Colleges |
| Matt Jones, JR | Occidental College | |
| Jimmy Wilfong, SR | University of La Verne | |
| Catcher | Adam Franks, SR | Occidental College |
| Infielders | Trevor Boucher, SR | University of La Verne |
| David Iden, JR | California Lutheran University | |
| James Kang, SO | Pomona-Pitzer Colleges | |
| Mike Moretti, JR | University of La Verne | |
| Travis Nishioka, SO | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps | |
| Brian Schumaker, SR | University of Redlands | |
| Outfielders | Glenn Gray, SO | Occidental College |
| Michael Joannides, SR | Pomona-Pitzer Colleges | |
| Zachary Mandelblatt, JR | Pomona-Pitzer Colleges |
With one round left to play in the NCAA Division III tournament at Chateau Elon, the University of Redlands golf team is in a familiar position - second.
The Bulldogs qualified for the event in 2004, 2005 and 2006 and finished as national runner-up on all three occasions.
The first two times the Bulldogs were far enough back they didn't have a chance to win. But now they're ready to shed the bridesmaid label.
"We're in it to win it," Redlands coach Art Salvesen said. "We are right where we need to be. It's all up to us on the final day."
St. John Fisher (893) remains in first place with Redlands (897) next. It had started the day eight strokes out but shot a 293, its best round of the tournament while St. John Fisher shot a 297.
The Bulldogs steady twosome of Ross Canavan and E.J. Stenftenagel led the way. Canavan (220) shot an even par-71 for the day and is tied for fourth place individually while Stenftenagel (222), the lone holdover from the runner-up team in 2006, managed a 2-over 73 and is tied for ninth.
The Bulldogs No. 5 man also came up with a clutch performance. Alex Hedlund bounced back back from an opening-day 83 to post the second-best score on his team the last two days, including a 72 Thursday.
"He (Hedlund) was the key for us," Salvesen said. "We know we have two guys that are going to right around par but he gave us a big lift today.
Also checking in for the Bulldogs were Scott Pena (80-234) and J.C. Riter (77-234).
The University of La Verne, which led by 10 strokes after the first day, is tied for seventh after a 298 for a 54-hole total of 911.
Rizal Amin, Chris Davis and Mitchell Fedorka (227) are part of a five-way tie for 27th with Fedorka boasting the Leos bestr round of the day - a 1-under 70. Rounding out the scoring are Andrew Kramer (79-232), Jordan Talah (78-238) and
It was a good first day for the local teams at the Division III national golf championship Tuesday at Chateau Elon Resort in Braselton, Ga.
The University of La Verne surged out to a 10-stroke lead with a 7-over 291 while SCIAC foe University of Redlands is tied for fourth in the 35-team field at 20-over 304.
Skidmore is a distant second (301) while St. John Fisher is third (302).
Leopards coach Rex Huigens is optimistic but guarded, citing the fact that the 72-hole tournament is being conducted over two courses.
"We'll have a lot better idea where we stand after the second round. We played the easier of thre two today," he said. "But we are hitting the ball well so we're off to a good start."
The Leos and the Bulldogs both played the par-71, 7,030-yard Chateau course. Seven of the top eight teams played that one. The other is the par-71 6,728-yard Woodlands course.
A cut will be made after today's round and all teams will play the final two rounds on the same course.
"The one is longer but its straighter," Huigens said. "The other one is shorter and tighter and there is a lot more potential to get into trouble."
La Verne had two players in the top five with Andrew Kramer shooting an even-par 71 and Chris Davis right behind him at 72.
Rounding out the scoring were Rizal Amin (74) and Jordan Talah (74) who were in a logjam of seven players tied for 16th place. Mitchell Fedorka (75) was the non-scoring member of the team.
The Bulldogs are led by Ross Canavan, one of just three players that broke par. He shot a 1-under 70, just two strokes behind leader Scott Harris of Pacific (68).
Also representing the Bulldogs are E.J. Stenftenagel (75), Scott Pena (77), J.C. Riter (81) and Alex Hedlund (83).
"You can't win a title on the first day but you can lose it," Redlands coach Art Salvesen said. "Today will be the difference. This one is real man's course."
It isn't where you start but where you finish that makes a difference. There is no better proof of that than the University of La Verne baseball team.
At no point during the regular season were the Leopards ever first in the SCIAC. They didn't move into the top spot until the final day of the regular season when they swept Pomona-Pitzer and University of Redlands lost twice to Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
But it will be coach Scott Winterburn's team representing the SCIAC in the six-team Division III West Region Tournament that starts today at McMurry University in Abilene, Tex.
The Leopards (25-14-1) open play at 10 a.m. against Southern Califorinia rival Chapman (35-3), the nation's top-ranked team.
That will be one of three games on tap with the others pitting George Fox (28-12) against Trinity, Tex. (32-13) and Cal State East Bay (26-14) against host McMurray (29-17).
La Verne's finish this season was the opposite of last season when the Leopards were on top only to drop a spot after falling to Whittier in extra innings in the final game of the season.
"Last year we pretty much led it the entire way. This year we never led," Winterburn said. "Go figure. That's the thing I find most ironic."
Only a fantastic finish put the Leopards in position to have a chance. They won their last eight games and 13 of their last 14 conference games.
Winterburn said his team didn't get too wrapped up in where it was in the standings.
"We weren't worried about how far behind we were," he said. "We just wanted to play better baseball. Then the teams ahead of us starting losing and we had a chance again. "
Today's foe is not an unfamiliar one. The Leopards played the Panthers in a three-game non-conference series and lost all three - 4-0, 4-2 and 11-5.
It will be La Verne's first postseason appearance since 2005 when the Leopards were eliminated by Chapman which was hosting the tournament.
Pitchers Ryan Rose and Jimmy Wilfong and outfielder Brandon Mikkelson, all seniors, are the main holdovers from that team.
Winterburn said sophomore Tim Jolly (5-3, 4.36), a product of Damien High School, would be the likely starter. He went the first game against Chapman in April, giving up just two hits and three runs in a game that was scoreless until the fifth.
Rose (7-3, 6.38) and junior Jesse Sweet (5-3, 3.88) are the other starters. Wilfong (5-2, 2.05) has a team-high 20 appearances, 17 of those out of the bullpen.
The offense is led by senior designated hitter Scott Marcus who hit .375, led the conference in RBI (62) and total bases (125) and was second in runs scored (51) and home runs (13).
Among the other veterans are second baseman Trevor Boucher (.364, 31 RBI) and shortstop Jack Mehl (.369, 58 runs).
The Panthers, who are looking for their fourth straight regional title, have been ranked No. 1 the entire season. Their losses were to Pomona-Pitzer, Redlands and McMurry.
Chapman is hitting .357 as a team (14th nationally) and averaging 9.1 runs a game led by designated hitter Stuart Hyman (.400), third baseman Tristan Phillips (.426) and outfielder Mike Vass (.395, 43 runs, 42 RBI).
"Our guys have hung in there all year," Winterburn said. "We have some momentum and we have nothing to lose because no one expected us to get here.
HEAD COACH: LAURIE NEVAREZ
PLAYER OF THE YEAR: NICKY NEUMANN, UNIVERSITY OF REDLANDS
ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: MOLLY YRIARTE, WHITTIER COLLEGE
|
FIRST TEAM | ||
|
Pitcher |
Katie Brnca |
University of Redlands |
|
Pitcher |
Julia Cruz |
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges |
|
Catcher |
Alyssa Corley |
Pomona-Pitzer Colleges |
|
1st Base |
Melissa Munoz |
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges |
|
2nd Base |
Dory Baga |
University of Redlands |
|
Shortstop |
Ashley Paul |
University of La Verne |
|
3rd Base |
Lynsey Padilla |
University of La Verne |
|
Outfield |
Michelle Harvey |
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps |
|
Outfield |
Vicky Ovieda |
Whittier College |
|
Outfield |
Remy Kawaguchi |
University of Redlands |
|
DP |
Amanda Doeppel |
University of Redlands |
|
Utility |
Billy McGrane |
Pomona-Pitzer Colleges |
|
At-Large |
Melissa Carlson |
University of La Verne |
|
SECOND TEAM | ||
|
Pitcher |
Olivia Ellis |
University of Redlands |
|
Pitcher |
Lizzy Chacon |
California Lutheran University |
|
Catcher |
Emily Robertson |
California Lutheran University |
|
1st Base |
Nicole Acevedo |
Whittier College |
|
2nd Base |
Trish McCormick |
University of La Verne |
|
Shortstop |
Melanie Hamlin |
University of Redlands |
|
3rd Base |
Christine Calderon |
Pomona-Pitzer Colleges |
|
Outfield |
MacKenzie Smith |
Pomona-Pitzer Colleges |
|
Outfield |
Kari Granger |
University of La Verne |
|
Outfield |
Mandy Brenner |
University of La Verne |
|
DP |
Alexis Garcia |
Pomona-Pitzer Colleges |
|
Utility |
Erika Weingart |
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges |
|
At-Large |
Gabriela Chavez |
Occidental College |
Ashley Paul has been named SCIAC Female Athlete of the Week on May 9 for her efforts during La Verne's SCIAC Tournament championship run in softball.
A freshman shortstop from Glendora and a First Team All-SCIAC selection, Paul batted .438 in four games to help lead La Verne to the first-ever SCIAC Tournament Championship. On May 2 Paul went 3-4 with two runs scored in a 10-0 win over CMS and followed with a two-run double in the Leopards' 4-1 triumph over Pomona-Pitzer.
Against top-seed and seventh-ranked Redlands on May 3, she went 2-3 in the opening-game loss, and closed with a single and a run scored as ULV prevailed 5-4 over the Bulldogs to capture the tournament crown and secure a berth in the NCAA West Regionals.
Paul, a starting guard on the Leopard basketball team, finished the regular season with a team-high .433 batting average including a .469 clip in conference play.
By Michelle gardner
Staff Writer
After a long day on the diamond, the University of La Verne softball team headed home to pack. SCIAC rival Redlands went to wait by the phone.
The Leopards gained the SCIAC's automatic bid beating the Bulldogs 5-4 Saturday in the title game of the first SCIAC tournament. Next up is the Division III West Regional which starts Thursday at University of Texas-Tyler.
The Leos (27-17), under first-year coach Julie Smith, have won 11 of their last 12 games. They were the No. 3 seed in the four-team tournament, but upended No. 2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (10-0) and No. 4 Pomona-Pitzer (4-1) on Friday.
"We're peaking at the right time. I used the old marathon analogy," said Smith, a member of the United States' gold-medal Olympic team in 1996. "With about seven miles to go we were running sixth and I told them we still had time to make a move but we had to move together."
Smith chalked part of the team's slow start this season up to the late arrival of three players who came out after basketball. The Leos made the playoffs in that sport, so the trio of freshman shortstop Ashley Paul, senior outfielder Jenny Strycula and freshman reserve Mayra Duenas didn't join the team until the middle of March.
"We had more bodies, more depth and we were able to start practicing much more efficiently," she said. "Then we had to get used to playing together."
Top-seeded Redlands (34-10) had to come through the loser's bracket after dropping its opener to Pitzer 4-1 on Friday. It defeated CMS 6-0 later Friday, then avenged the loss to Pitzer, 6-5, Saturday morning.
Shortstop Melanie Hamlin led the effort, going 3-for-4 with a double, triple, home run and three RBI, with three RBI, falling a single short of the cycle.
Senior pitcher Katie Brnca logged 17 innings of the 21 the Bulldogs played Saturday. She pitched five in the opener, then went the distance in the first game against La Verne, surrendering just four hits. The Bulldogs' offense racked up 11 hits, led by Nicky Neumann's three.
But Redlands trailed from the start in the deciding game, committing two errors on the first three hitters and twice failing to handle bunts, allowing La Verne an early 2-0 lead.
A two-run single by junior Kari Granger in the third made it 4-0.
La Verne was up 5-1 before Redlands scored three in the fifth.
But that inning could have produced more, as Redlands had two runners thrown out at the plate, the last with some controversy. Kayla Peterson tried to score from first after a hit by Hamlin, but catcher Melissa Carlson made the tag on a toss from pitcher Delaney Baylor-Dick.\
Redlands wanted, but didn't get, an obstruction call on Carlson for blocking the plate without the ball.
The two plays at the plate and four errors proved costly, but coach Laurie Nevarez refused to blame fatigue.
"I hate to blame any one thing or one person," Nevarez said. "For every thing someone didn't do right I can think of five things they did do right."
The Bulldogs, who won their fourth straight regular season title, are hoping for an at-large bid -- which is possible given their strength of schedule and No. 12 national ranking, despite the SCIAC's dubious history of advancing second-place teams.
"A lot of people have told me we have a good shot but you never know," Nevarez said. "I hope we get a shot because I think we're deserving but we didn't do what we needed to do here."
| By Michelle Gardner Staff Writer LAVERNE - The University of La Verne baseball team knew it didn't have a lot of room for error. Not with so few games left in the regular season and three teams in contention for the SCIAC title. But the Leopards stayed in the hunt with an 8-7 win over defending champion Pomona-Pitzer Friday at Ben Hines Field. It was an eventful game with the Sagehens scoring three in the ninth to tie the game at 7 and La Verne winning it on a walkoff RBI single by freshman Eddie Kalankiewicz in the bottom of the frame. It was the 10th win in the last 11 conference games for the Leos. The win keeps La Verne (23-14, 14-4) one half-game behind Redlands (27-11, 15-4) which beat Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 8-5. Both teams will play a doubleheader today with La Verne at Pitzer (27-11, 13-6) and Redlands across the street at CMS. Both twinbills start at noon. "We all know the situation. We pretty much have to keep winning," La Verne coach Scott Winterburn said. "This conference is tough year-in and year-out. It just so happens we came down to the wire this year with three teams. It doesn't get better than this." La Verne took a 7-4 lead into the final inning but faltered in the ninth as the Sagehens loaded the bases with no outs on an infield single by James Kang, a solid single up the middle by Drew Hedman and a walk to Zach Mandelblatt. Mike Silva grounded out to second, scoring Kang and closing the gap to 7-5 and forcing reliever Grant Wheatley from the game. Michael Joannides then lined an offering from Jimmy Wilfong to the right side of the infield where Trevor Boucher made a spectacular diving stop and leaped to his feet in time to get the runner. But Hedman raced home bringing the visitors within one. Boucher's stop momentarily prevented Mandelblatt from scoring too but he did so when the next batter, Andrew Nino, blooped a check swing single into shallow right field to tie the game. Pitzer then got a double by Eric Thompson that advanced Nino to third. Wilfong then made the defensive play of the game to keep the go-ahead runs from scoring. Edward Pickett hit a scorching line drive that took the glove of Wilfong's hand. He scrambled for the ball a few feet away and unleashed a strike to first baseman Jon-Michael Hattabaugh that just nipped the runner and ended the uprising. Had Wilfong not knocked the ball down, both runners would have scored. "You have to give them credit because they made a couple of great plays in the last inning," Sagehens coach Frank Pericolosi said. "We hit a lot of balls hard all day. It was just one of those when none of them found a hole." La Verne retaliated quickly, starting its rally when Boucher lined a triple to deep center field over the head of Pickett for a triple. James Brunswick, who entered in relief of starter David Colvin in the seventh, walked the next two hitters intentionally to set up a force and set the stage for Kalankiewicz, who entered as a defensive replacement the previous inning. He then stroked a fastball away for a solid single through the left side over the drawn-in infield. "I was just trying to put the ball in play, execute, nice easy swing," he said. "It feels good to be able to come through in such a big game. Now we have to keep the momentum." La Verne won the game on the base paths with some daring moves paying off. Jack Mehl went first to third on a sacrifice bunt by Dimitre Mondette, then scored on a single by Scott Marcus in the sixth. It also pulled off a double steal in the fifth with Hattabaugh racing home when Jason Munoz took off for second. Meanwhile the Sagehens went just 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position before the ninth inning and the top four hitters in their normally potent lineup were 0-for-12 to that point. Pitzer, which was ranked as high as 15 nationally, now needs to win both games today and hope Redlands loses twice. It has lost six of its last seven games and came back to the pack after getting swept by Cal Lutheran last week. But Pericolosi said he won't be worrying too much about the other pivotal game nearby. "If we're worried about what someone else is doing we're not focused on ourselves," he said. "We need to go out and win two games tomorrow before that even matters." The other factor could be a game that La Verne has not finished with Cal Lutheran. That game, postponed from Feb. 22, was tied at 12 in the 11th inning. Redlands won the series with La Verne so it has the tiebreaker over the Leos. Athletic director Chris Ragsdale said it wouldn't be finished by Winterburn thought it would be if Redlands was a half game out and could pull even with a La Verne loss. |
By winning the 2008 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championship, the Bulldog softball team earned the right to host the first-ever conference postseason tournament. The inaugural double-elimination event takes place on Friday, May 2, and Saturday, May 3, at the Softball Field of Dreams at the University of Redlands.
As the top seed, Redlands faces #4-seed Pomona-Pitzer Colleges at 11:30 a.m. on Friday. The complete tournament schedule is listed below.
The winner of the postseason tournament earns the SCIAC's automatic qualification to the NCAA Championships, which begin Thursday, May 8, at the University of Texas, Tyler.
Friday, May 2:
Game 1 9 a.m. #2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps vs. #3 La Verne
Game 2 11:30 a.m. #1 Redlands vs. #4 Pomona-Pitzer
Game 3 2 p.m. Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
Game 4 4:30 p.m. Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
Saturday, May 3:
Game 5 9 a.m. Loser Game 4 vs. Winner Game 3
Game 6 11:30 a.m. Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5
Game 7 2 p.m. Only if necessary (first loss)
For the second year in a row, the University of La Verne golf team finished the conference schedule undefeated en route to claiming a SCIAC Championship.
This year, the Leopards put an exclamation point on the SCIAC title with a dazzling performance of 559 (284-275) at the SCIAC 36-Hole Championship Monday at Los Serranos Country Club in Chino Hills to outdistance second-place Redlands (573) by 14 strokes.
Prior to 2007, no SCIAC golf team had ever finished an entire season undefeated in league competition.
La Verne had five of its golfers finish in the top seven in the individual standings. Sophomore Andrew Kramer paced ULV with a second-pace effort of 138 (70-68). Senior Jordan Talah placed fourth overall at 141 (73-68) with senior Chris Davis placing fifth at 142 (71-71). Junior Rizal Amin earned a sixth-place finish carding a 143 (73-70) over 36 holes while freshman Kevin Smith finished tied for seventh at 144 (76-68).
Redlands golfer EJ Stenftenagle took first place in the individual standings at 136 (70-66).
Under head coach Rex Huigens, the Leopard squad racked up several conference honors following the 36-hole competition. Amin was named Co-Player of the Year while Smith earned Freshman of the Year honors.
ULV dominated the First-Team SCIAC selections with four spots. The quartet included Davis, Talah, Kramer and Mitchell Fedorka. Smith earned a spot on the Second Team.
Amin also was the co-winner of the Jess Clark Sportsmanship Award.
As the SCIAC Champion, La Verne secures an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships, held next month at Chateau Elan Resort in Braselton, GA. The Leopards are ranked sixth nationally in Division III.
By Michelle Gardner
Staff Writer
The University of Redlands women and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men will take to the tennis courts this weekend looking to keep their perfect SCIAC records in tact. On the line will be a automatic bids to the upcoming Division III West Regionals.
“The way it used to be it didn’t matter if you lost early. You really wanted to peak at the right time,” Bulldogs coach Jim Ducey said. “Now you still want to peak at the right time but those matches early are also important because of the automatic bids.”
The two schools will be hosting the eight-team tournament beginning today. The women’s competition will be hosted by Redlands with some matches aslo played at Redlands East Valley High School.
The Stags will host the men’s draw with matches also played at neighboring Pomona-Pitzer as well as the Upland and Claremont Tennis Clubs.
The automatic bids will be awarded for a combined finish in the regular season and the tournament. Both host teams head in with 7-0 marks but that is just a coincidence since hosting rights are rotated alphabetically.
On the men’s side the Stags (20-7, 7-0) are currently ranked eighth nationally and third in the West but that was before they upset No. 1 UC Santa Cruz last Sunday.
CMS is led by junior Larry Wang, who holds down the No. 1 spot. Claremont native Drew Sabater has pulled out some clutch wins in the No. 5 hole.
“We’re playing pretty well right now and we’re coming off a couple of big wins,” CMS coach Paul Settles said. “We’re hoping to keep that momentum in this tournament.”
Redlands (18-6, 6-1), led by No. 1 Matt Liebman and No. 2 Eric Wagar, is seeded second and lost a hard-fought battle to CMS 5-4 a week ago in the regular-season conference finale for both teams.
No. 2 seed Pomona-Pitzer (11-7, 6-1) is the defending champion on the women’s side and boasts the reigning player of the year in sophomore Siobhan Finicane.
Redlands (13-4, 7-0) is currently ranked third in the West Region and has five of its six singles players returning. The new addition is sophomore Rachael Miller, whose father played for the Bulldogs in 1976 with Ducey.
“You like to think if you’re ranked high enough you can get an at-large bid if you don’t win,” Ducey said. “But you can’t take any chances.”
There is no admission charge for spectators at any of the sites.
MEN’S SCHEDULE
Friday’s matches (All at 9 a.m.) - No. 1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps vs. No. 8 Caltech at CMS; No. 2 Redlands vs. No. 7 Whittier (at Pomona-Pitzer); No. 3 Cal Lutheran vs. No. 6 La Verne (at Upland Tennis Club); No. 4 Occidental vs. No. 5 Pomona-Pitzer (at Claremont Tennis Club).
Next round (All at 1 p.m.) - CMS-Caltech loser vs. Occidental-Pitzer loser (at Claremont TC); Redlands-Whittier loser vs. Cal Lutheran-La Verne loser (at Upland TC); CMS-Caltech winner vs. Occidental-Pitzer winner (at CMS); Redlands-Whittier winner vs. Cal Lutheran-La Verne winner (at Pitzer).
Saturday’s matches (All at 9 a.m.) - Seventh place match (at Claremont TC); Fifth place (at Upland TC); Third place (at Pitzer); Championship - (at CMS).
WOMEN’S SCHEDULE
Friday’s matches (All at 8:30 a.m.) - No. 1 Redlands vs. No. 8 Caltech (at Redlands); No. 2 Pomona-Pitzer vs. No. 7 Whittier (at Redlands); No. 3 CMS vs. No. 6 Cal Lutheran (at Redlands East Valley HS); No. 4 Occidental vs. No. 5 La Verne (at REV).
Next round (All at 1:30 p.m.) - Redlands-Caltech winnner vs. Occidental-La Verne winner (at Redlands); Pitzer-Whittier winner vs. CMS-Cal Lutheran winner (at Redlands); Caltech-Redlands loser vs. Occidental-La Verne loser (at REV); Pitzer-Whittier loser vs. CMS-Cal Lutheran loser (at REV).
Saturday’s matches (All at 10 a.m.) - Championship and third-place matches (at Redlands); Fifth and seventh place matches (at REV).
The Pomona-Pitzer baseball team remained in first place in SCIAC with a 13-8 and 9-8 sweep of local rival Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
The Sagehens (23-5, 10-2), ranked 18th nationally have a one-game lead over La Verne which swept lowly Caltech.
Shortstop Brandon Huerta supplied the power in the opener, stroking two grand slam home runs, opne ion the fourth and one an inning later.
Zach Mandelblatt, returning to leftfield after missing three weeks with a wrist injury, had two hits, as did Mike Silva and Michael Joannides.
CMS was led by Travis Nishioka with four hits and Andrew Blomberg with two home runs and four RBI.
The second game was closer with CMS taking an 8-7 lead into the seventh when the Sagehens got the tying and go-ahead runs. Drew Hedman walked and Mandelblatt doubled. After an intentional walk to load the bases and set up a double play, Nick Frederick knocked in two with a single to left.
James Brunswick (3-1) got the win in relief of starter Joannides.
The Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) is a league comprised of nine Division III member institutions representing the states of Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.
“It has been a privilege to serve as the director of athletics the last five years at the University of La Verne,” said Ragsdale. “I have thoroughly enjoyed working with President Morgan, senior management, coaches and student-athletes on a daily basis to promote the athletic program and stress its value to the overall strength of the institution.”
Ragsdale, who came to ULV in July 2003, said he will continue his athletic director duties through the end of the current spring sports season.
"Chris Ragsdale brought his extensive experience and his commitment to Division III values to the University of La Verne at an important time,” said ULV President Stephen Morgan. “We are grateful for his many contributions to our athletic programs. We wish Chris and his wife Cindy well as they return to their Midwest roots."
He was instrumental in the renovation of the Sports Science & Athletics Pavilion. The Pavilion, formerly known as the Super Tents, also included the restructuring of Frantz Athletic Court, home to ULV’s volleyball and basketball teams. He also has helped develop plans for the new West Campus Athletic Complex.
He also hired eight new head coaches during his time at La Verne, including Rich Reed in men's basketball, Julie Smith in softball and Andy Ankeny in football. La Verne has captured 12 SCIAC team championships during Ragsdale’s tenure. Additionally over 30 Leopard student-athletes have earned All-America status while 13 student-athletes have been named SCIAC Player of the Year. In addition, he has helped establish annual department events such as the Scholar-Athlete Luncheon and the Leopard Senior Blanket Award Dinner.
The University of La Verne golf team earned yet another victory in SCIAC competition by taking top honors at the SCIAC #3 Tournament Monday at the friendly confines of Sierra La Verne Country Club.
The Leopards finished with a four-player team total of 294 to prevail over Redlands (297) by three strokes. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps finished third at 300 followed by Cal Lutheran (308), Pomona-Pitzer (309), Occidental (317) and Whittier (350).
Chris Davis earned medalist honors with the top individual finish of the day with a round of 72 (37-35). Teammates Mitchell Fedorka and Ryan Waring were among five players who tied for second one stroke back with respective rounds of 73, while Rizal Amin contributed with a 76.
The Leopards break from conference play to compete at the West Region Invitational held April 8 at Berry Creek Country Club in Texas.
University of La Verne junior forward Trenecca Jones was named to the D3hoops.com First Team All-West Region as voted on by Sports Information Directors in the region and announced on Wednesday.
A 5-9 product from Ontario and a 2008 First Team All-SCIAC selection, Jones helped lead La Verne to a 20-8 overall record and a second consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Jones led the SCIAC in both scoring and rebounding for the second year in the row, averaging a double-double of 17.2 points and 10.9 rebounds in 2007-08. Moreover, she paced the Leos in field goal percentage at .503 to rank third overall in the conference.
She distinguished herself in the postseason by averaging 19.0 points and 11.7 rebounds in ULV’s three tournament games. She helped lead the Leopards to the first-ever SCIAC Tournament Championship with a 17-point, 18-rebound effort in a 65-60 triumph over Redlands in the tournament semifinals on Feb. 28 along with a 20-point, 12-rebound performance in a 79-51 triumph over Occidental in the conference championship game on March 1. For her efforts, she was named SCIAC Female Athlete of the Week on March 5. Jones ended the season with a game-high 20 points in La Verne’s 74-58 NCAA first round defeat to Puget Sound.
Jones registered a career-high 19 rebounds against Tri-State University (IN) on Dec. 17 while recording a season-high 34 points against UC Santa Cruz on Nov. 17. All told, she recorded 15 double-doubles for the Leopards this season. On February 16, Jones reached the 1,000-point milestone for her career in a 72-40 victory over Caltech, becoming the sixth Leopard in school history to reach 1,000 points.
A D3hoops.com First Team All-Region selection last season, Jones is a repeat member on the squad and is the only SCIAC player to earn First Team honors.
Players were nominated for the D3hoops.com awards by the Sports Information Directors at the various schools in the West Region. A record 606 players were nominated nationwide. The ballot was then made available to SIDs, who voted for 10 players in their region. SIDs voted for six frontcourt players and four backcourt players and the top vote-getters at each position were named to the All-Region team.
2007-08 Women's Basketball All-SCIAC Awards
March 4, 2008
The 2007-2008 All-SCIAC Women's Basketball Honors have been named. The Occidental Tigers and Head Coach Jaime Hoffman claimed the title of Conference Champions finishing 12-2 in conference. Head Coach Julie Kline and the Leopards of La Verne (11-3, SCIAC) were crowned champions of the inagural SCIAC Tournament and will represent the SCIAC in NCAA post-season competition as they go on the road to face Puget Sound Friday night.
Player of the Year: Brianne Brown, Junior, Occidental College
Ed Baldwin Award Recipient: Lindsay King, Senior, California Institute of Technology
| First Team | ||||
| Stephanie Babij | FR | Occidental College | Ontario, OR | |
| Stacie Roshon | SR | Occidental College | Saratoga, CA | |
| Trenecca Jones | SR | University of La Verne | Ontario, CA | |
| Marissa Raya | SR | University of La Verne | Pasadena, CA | |
| Valerie Katayama | SR | University of Redlands | Huntington Beach, CA | |
| Kourtney Zilbert | FR | Whittier College | Burbank, CA | |
| Second Team | ||||
| Lindsey Shiomi | SR | University of La Verne | Cerritos, CA | |
| Mary Placido | SR | California Lutheran University | Chandler, AZ | |
| Rosario Rios-Aguilar | SR | Whittier College | El Rancho, CA | |
| Jennifer Osgood | SO | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges | Vashon, WA | |
| Deirdre Chew | SO | Pomona-Pitzer Colleges | Pacifica, CA | |
| Meghan Yetman | SO | University of Redlands | Danville, CA |
The 2007-2008 All-SCIAC Men's Basketball Honors have been named. The Conference Co-Champions and recipients of the Dave Jacobs Trophy were the Occidental College Tigers and California Lutheran University Kingsmen. Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens were crowned the SCIAC Tournament Champions.
David Wells Player of the Year: Connor Whitman, Senior, Occidental College, 6'1"
Ted Ducey Award Recipients: Jabarri Reynolds, Senior, Pomona-Pitzer, 6'4"
Matt Loretz, Senior, University of Redlands, 6'5"
| First Team | ||||
| Justin Sexton | SO | Pomona-Pitzer | 6'8" | Watertown, MA |
| Jabarri Reynolds | SR | Pomona-Pitzer | 6'4" | Chicago, IL |
| Dave Thomas | SR | University of Redlands | 6'3" | Santa Cruz, CA |
| Dan Winterbottom | SR | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps | 6'3" | Tempe, AZ |
| Andy Meier | SO | California Lutheran University | 6'7" | Parker, CO |
| Michael Archuletta | JR | Whittier College | 6'6" | Manhattan Beach, CA |
| Second Team | ||||
| Bryan Hires | SR | California Institute of Technology | 6'6" | Columbus, IN |
| Deshion Inniss | SR | California Lutheran University | 5'10" | Oxnard, CA |
| Juan Canas | SR | University of La Verne | 6'1" | Commerce, CA |
| Huston Conti | JR | Occidental College | 6'2" | Seattle, WA |
| Jeff McLean | JR | Whittier College | 6'6" | Hingham, MA |
| Mychal Owens | SO | California Lutheran University | 6'5" | Oregon City, OR |
TRENECCA JONES
La Verne
Basketball
The lowdown: The 5-9 junior forward is ranks first in the conference in rebounding (10.4 rpg), second in scoring (16.1 ppg) and fourth in field goal percentage (.516). Has led the team in scoring nine times with a best of 34 coming against UC Santa Cruz. Had a rebounding high of 19 against Tri-State. Was the SCIAC Player of the Year last season as a sophomore. Career high of 37 points came against Occidental as a sophomore in conference-winning game. Carries a 3.34 GPA.
Age: 19
Hometown: Ontario
High school: Chaffey High School, 2005
Major: Chemistry
Favorite athlete: Chris Webber
Role model: Jesus
Can’t miss TV show: Reba
Most embarrassing moment: Falling down right in the middle of a fast-break.
Person most influential in your athletic success: My cousin Henry Daron Ross
Favorite food: Glazed twist doughnuts
Favorite vacation spot: Anywhere but home
Favorite movie: 50 First Dates
Last good book you read: Monster
Other hobbies: Scrapbooking, traveling
What’s in your CD player/iPOD: Holy hip hop
Best advice anyone has given you: Keep moving forward
Pre-game ritual or superstition: I make sure I am wearing two pairs of socks.
What do you want to be doing in five years: Traveling the world.
By Michelle Gardner
Staff Writer
Last time the women’s basketball teams from La Verne and Occidental squared off, Tigers junior Brianne Brown torched the Leopards for 33 points.
The two teams met again Saturday, this time with the SCIAC championship and a postseason playoff berth on the line. La Verne neutralized its biggest threat and was rewarded with a 79-51 win at Rush Gymnasium.
The Leos (20-7) advance to face Puget Sound Friday in a first round NCAA Tournament game.
Brown, a transfer from Division I Western Kentucky, went just 3-of-11 from the field with seven points and fouled out with 6:33 to play and the Leos comfortably ahead 63-42. She twisted an ankle the last week of the regular season, but Tigers coach Jaime Hoffman said the injury was not a factor and credited the Leos’ defense.
Junior forward Treneeca Jones, a product of Chaffey High School, took the challenge personally.
“We had to stop the one person that beat us last time because it was that one player that beat us,” La Verne junior forward Trenecca Jones said. “I heard she had an injured ankle, but I had diarrhea and that’s worse.”
The first half was an even battle that featured four ties and eight lead changes. It ended with La Verne up 28-25 after La Verne’s Marissa Raya heaved one in from half-court at the buzzer.
“That’s her range,” Hoffman said.
La Verne outscored Occidental 51-26 in the second half. The Leos led 35-32, then chalked up the next nine points, highlighted by a 3-pointer from Raya that gave La Verne its first double-digit lead of the contest at 44-32.
The Tigers (21-6), seeded first and riding an 11-game win streak, got within eight at 48-40 on a 3-pointer by lone senior Stacie Roshon whose 21 points included five 3’s.
But Occidental could get no closer. Raya hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key on the Leos next possession. Then after a Tigers miss, Charleen Guerrero scored inside off a nifty pass from Lindsey Shiomi to make it 53-40. The host team was not in striking distance again.
“We just started pushing the ball up the floor quicker,” Kline said. “That’s our game and we just needed to get back to doing that. It made all the difference.”
La Verne shot 49.1 percent (27-for-55) for the game but was a sizzling 61.5 percent (16-for-26) in the second half thanks to many point blank shots in the paint that came off the fast break. The Leos also sank 17 of 21 free throws.
Raya, who tied the school record for games played, finished with 22 points while Jones tallied 20 with a game-high 12 rebounds. Ashley Paul finished with 13 and Shiomi dished out 11 assists to establish a new career record in that department.
Occidental shot 29.6 percent (16-for-54). It also played without 5-11 freshman center Stephanie Babij, who is out with a hand injury that required surgery. But Hoffman didn’t use that as an excuse either.
“They just beat us. They were the better team,” she said.
With the win, La Verne (19-7) sweeps the three games against the Bulldogs this season and will face Occidental in Saturday's SCIAC Championship game in Eagle Rock. The Tigers defeated Cal Lutheran 69-47 in the other semifinal. Redlands ends its season at 17-9.
The Leopard defense proved key in holding the Bulldogs to 37.9% from the field while forcing 15 turnovers. Additionally, the Leos won the rebounding battle with 45 boards compared to 38 for the visitors.
ULV took control late in the first half with a 22-9 run to take its largest lead of the game at 34-21 with 3:02 remaining to eventually hold a 36-27 advantage at intermission.
The Bulldogs opened the second half with a 12-5 spurt to close within two points at 41-39 at the 15-minute mark. Redlands, however, wouldn't get any closer as the Leopards were able to sustain their lead throughout. La Verne stretched the margin to eight points at 50-42 before the Bulldogs again whittled down the lead to two points (58-56) with five minutes left.
La Verne was able to subdue the Bulldogs by getting key baskets from Emily Carrillo and Trenecca Jones while not allowing a Redlands field goal for over four minutes. Heather Lokar's three-point basket cut the ULV lead to 62-60 with 21 seconds left, but Jones converted four of five free throw attempts to advance the Leopards to Saturday's championship game.
Jones tallied 17 points while posting a game-high 18 rebounds. In the process, she collected her 14th double-double of the season. Carrillo sparkled in her return to the lineup with 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting to tie for game-high honors with Jones. Marissa Raya added 10 points for the Leopards.
For Redlands, point guard Valarie Katayama posted a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds with Lokar totaling a team-high 12 points.
The University of La Verne boasted the top four individual finishers and cruised to a a first-place team showing at the first SCIAC tournament of the season at the 6,628-yard par 72 Empire Lakes.
The Leopards, the national Division III runner-up a year ago, tallied 284 while Claremont-Mudd Scripps was second (305) and Redlands third (306). Pomona-Pitzer tied Cal Lutheran for fourth (319).
The Leos Mitchell Fedorka took medalist honors with a 70. Teammates Rizal Amin and Andrew Kramer were one stroke back while Chris Davis was two back. Also representing the school were Jordan Talah (75) and Kevin Smith (78).
John Morris had the best finish for the Stags (74) . His teammates included Luke Redfern (75), Kurt Scheline (76) and Kyle Cassella (80).
Ross Canavao was the top player for Redlands (75). Other finishers for the Bulldogs were Nick Giordano (76), Scott Pena (77), E.J. Stenftenagel (78) and Ryan Williams (79).l
Aex Nakao led the Sagehens (77).
MARISSA RAYA
University of La Verne
Basketball
The lowdown: The 5-foot-7 senior guard leads the SCIAC in scoring at 18.9 points per game and has helped the Leos (14-5, 7-1) to a tie for first place. Has been the team’s leading scorer 13 times with a season-high of 35 coming against Cal Lutheran. Also had 34 in a nonconference game against Transylvania that included the 1,00th point of her career in that game. Has scored 30 or more four times and 20 or more eight times. Has been named SCIAC Female Athlete of the Week twice already this season. Was a first-team all-conference selection as a junior, averaging 15 points and 4.8 rebounds.
Age: 21
Hometown: Pasadena
High school: Bassett High School, 2004
Major: Criminology
Favorite athlete: Mia Hamm
Favorite team: Los Angeles Lakers
Most memorable moment: Winning the SCIAC in 2007.
Role model: My grandmother (Maria)
Person most influential in your athletic success: My parents (Francisco and Sheri).
Last good book you read: Monster: Autobiography of an L.A. Gang Member by Sanyika Shakur (AKA Monster Kody Scott).
Favorite movie: Grandma’s Boy
Can’t miss television shows: Dexter
Favorite vacation spot: Laughlin, Nev.
Favorite food: Barbeque ribs
Celebrity you most want to meet: David Beckham
Best advice anyone has given you: Not to quit at anything. Do what I love and always do the right thing.
Pre-game ritual or superstition: If I ride with friends on game day, I have to be the one that drives.
What’s in your CD player/iPOD? Mix tape (Hip-hop, reggae, oldies).
Other hobbies: Looking at cars, watching movies.
What do you want to be doing in five years: Become a police officer.
The University of La Verne women's basketball team is all alone in first place in the SCIAC standings after defeating the University of Redlands 71-61 Saturday at Currier Gym in Redlands.
Both squads came into the contest tied atop the SCIAC with respective 5-0 records. The Leopards, who trailed 36-33 at the half, outscored Redlands 38-25 in the final 20 minutes to claim victory and snap the Bulldogs' eight-game win streak.
La Verne (13-4, 6-0 SCIAC) pulled away down the stretch getting key baskets from Trenecca Jones, Marissa Raya and Emily Carrillo. The biggest shot, however, came from point guard Lindsey Shiomi, who sank a three-point basket with under two minutes left to help secure the win. The Leopards shot 51.7% from the field in the second half.
The Leopards also hit 10 three-point field goals and forced 17 Bulldog turnovers. La Verne also held Redlands to 3-of-16 shooting (18.8%) from three-point range.
Jones posted her ninth double-double of the season with game-highs of 22 points and 10 rebounds. Ashley Paul connected on five three-point baskets en route to 15 points, while Carrillo and Raya added 13 and 10 points, respectively. Carrillo finished a perfect 6-of-6 from the field.
Redlands (12-4, 5-1 SCIAC) used an 11-2 run late in the first half to lead by three at the break. The Bulldogs were successful in the early going getting several buckets off Leopard turnovers. Mackenzie Smith tallied 12 points for Redlands while Laura Murphy chipped in with 10.
ULV returns to action next Thursday as it makes the short trip to Claremont to take on the Athenas of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Tip time is 7:30 pm.
Offensive Player of the Year - Dan Selway, QB, Redlands
Defensive Player of the Year - Josh Richards, DL, Cal Lutheran
Newcomer of the Year - Jacob Caron, QB, Pomona-Pitzer
John Zinda Award - Zach Landman, LB, Pomona-Pitzer; William Wagner, Claremont-Mudd Scripps
First team offense
QB Josh Scurlock, Whittier
RB Zach Shafer, Redlands
RB Jason Haller, Occidental
TE Jake Lacey, Redlands
WR Kyle Godfrey, Redlands
WR Rocky Ciasulli, Occidental
WR Jesse Matlock, Cal Lutheran
OL Matt Rosen, Cal Lutheran
OL D.J. Tano, Redlands
OL Chris Kyles, Occidental
OL Max Hodge, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
OL Jared Schwass, Redlands
K Connor Pearce, Cal Lutheran
SPT Kyle Godfrey, Redlands
First-team defense
DL James Sabo, Occidental
DL Gavril Gabriel, Redlands
DL Brock Arndt, Redlands
DL Daniel Lopez, Whittier
LB Arlo Castelo, Whittier
LB Kris Richardson, Redlands
LB Ashton Clarke, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
LB Zach Landman, Pomona-Pitzer
DB Conor Drake, Redlands
DB Garett Redd, Cal Lutheran
DB Eddie Pickett, Pomona-Pitzer
DB Jerel Garcia, Redlands
P Alex Groh, Occidental
Second-team offense
QB Jericho Toillolo, Cal Lutheran
RB D.J. Lillard, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
RB Tom Romaine, Redlands
TE Anthony DeJager, La Verne
WR Shawn Briggs, Whittier
WR Colin Regan, Pomona-Pitzer
WR Danny Hernandez, Cal Lutheran
OL Chris Anderson, Whittier
OL Jeff Briscoe, Cal Lutheran
OL Joe Manfre, La Verne
OL Tom Gonzalez, Occidental
OL Brett Henderson, Occidental
K Neil Martin, Occidental
SPT Grady Thomas, La Verne
Second-team defense
DL Jacob Calderon, Cal Lutheran
DL Tim Creamer, Occidental
DL Victor Lopez, Occidental
DL Mitch Crocco, Redlands
LB Jared Izidoro, Whittier
LB Branamier Courtney, La Verne
LB Jason Carpenter, La Verne
LB Eddie Stamm, Redlands
DB Dan Picciotto, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
DB Sean MacNeil, Whittier
DB Daniel Tromello, Occidental
DB Chris Denton, Cal Lutheran
P Bryan Downs, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
About Michelle
Michelle Gardner has been a staff writer for The Sun and the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin since 2002 and has covered the local college sports scene since 2004. She ventured West after working at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale for eight years and is a graduate of the University of Florida.
E-mail Michelle here.
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