Thursday, March 13, 1997
Upcoming EventsVolleyball gets easy win, for once
After a hectic week and a half that saw No. 3 UCLA beat three
top-10 teams in Hawaii, Lewis and Stanford, UCLA finally faced an
easy match.
It looked like the Bruins were on their way to a quick
three-game sweep of Cal State San Bernardino as the men’s
volleyball starters over-powered the Coyotes in the first two
games. But the Bruin reserves lost Game 3 to the Coyotes forcing a
fourth game. UCLA prevailed in the end 15-2, 15-3, 12-15, 15-4.
Tom Stillwell, UCLA’s starting quick hitter, did not play due to
a strained knee and opposite Evan Thatcher sprained his ankle on
Monday  Ben Moselle replaced him playing opposite for the
first time in over a year.
UCLA has extended its winning streak to eight games. The Bruins
will play LaVerne (1-15) today at 4 p.m. in the Men’s Gym. The
coaching staff will most likely rest Stillwell again so that he can
have two weeks off. Then on March 27 and 28 the Bruins will have a
two-game showdown at top- ranked BYU.
Hot tennis team to host Trojans
The USC Trojans may be in for a rude surprise today when they
arrive at the LATC for a 1:30 match with the UCLA men’s tennis
team. Not only will they be rekindling a heated rivalry, but the
Bruins will be protecting a 14-match win streak and the No. 1
ranking in the country.
After a weekend sweep of the Arizona schools, the Bruins (15-1,
4-0 Pacific 10) will battle the 13th-ranked Trojans (8-1, 1-0)
today in their final action before a two-week hiatus.
UCLA will return to action on March 27 against Utah (8-3), and
in their final match before Spring Quarter, will host Middle
Tennessee on March 29. Both matches will be at the LATC.
Track hits the road this weekend
The UCLA men’s and women’s track and field teams will be in
Berkeley this weekend.
The men’s team will face off against California and Idaho while
the women’s team will duel Cal and Nevada.
The UCLA men have an undefeated streak that has lasted three
years. They won their only meet this year, easily winning the UCLA
Quad meet on March 1.
Some of the Bruins competing are junior Jim McElroy, junior
Mebrahtom Keflezighi and senior Amy Acuff.
The field events will start Saturday at 10:30 a.m. while the
running events will begin at 1 p.m.
USC up next for women’s tennis
The UCLA women’s tennis team plays its last match before a
two-week break today against No. 24 USC. The match will be held at
1:30 p.m. at the David X. Marks Tennis Stadium.
Fourth-ranked UCLA (8-3, 3-1 Pacific 10) will enter the contest
riding a wave of momentum after defeating No. 5 Arizona, 5-1 and
No. 11 Arizona State, 6-3 last weekend.
The sweep against Arizona was a big improvement for the Bruins.
In their previous match-up against the Arizona schools, the Bruins
had struggled to a split, losing to Arizona State.
Just past the midway point of the season, the Bruins have
improved their national ranking from No. 7 to No. 4 in the Spring
listings.
The next home meet will be Friday, March 28 at noon against
Washington. The following day, the Bruins will battle No. 7
Pepperdine at 11:00 a.m. in Malibu.
Water polo to
finish busy week
There is no rest for the weary. In its sixth game in eight days,
the UCLA women’s water polo team will travel to Santa Barbara for a
rematch against the Gauchos of UCSB today.
With the added pressures of impending final exams, the Bruins
(9-1), will be hard pressed to maintain their focus as they shoot
for their third victory in as many tries against the Gauchos this
season.
The team will again be without the services of goalie Nicolle
Payne, who is still out with a back injury. If the team’s play this
past weekend is any indication, it has not missed a beat and has
responded with the poise and the resiliency of champions.
Payne is expected to make her return to the pool in the team’s
April 4 match against USC. In the meantime, Erin Golaboski will
maintain her starting position in goal.
UCLA-USC
baseball is coming
Last month, when the Arizona State baseball team was in town,
Sun Devils head coach Pat Murphy compared the UCLA squad with a
couple of tough teams that his team had already faced, Florida
State (currently second-ranked) and USC (seventh).
"UCLA is every bit as good as Florida State and ‘SC," Murphy
said. "They are more offensive than both teams and their starting
pitching is better than Florida State. But ‘SC might have a better
pitching staff than UCLA."
Third-ranked UCLA (22-5-1) will find out just how right Murphy
is when it meets USC (20-7) for three games March 22-24.
While the key to Bruin victory this season has been offense,
averaging 10.6 runs per game, the back-to-back Pac-10 champion
Trojans have relied on an award-winning ensemble of pitchers.
Leading the pitching staff is senior lefthander Randy Flores.
Their second ace is junior righthander Seth Etherton, and the third
member of Troy’s starting rotation is senior righthander Scott
Henderson.
Compiled from Daily Bruin Staff reports