SPORTSSCOPE : UCLA’s Perfect Women’s Spikers Battle Cal in NCAA Playoffs Friday at Wooden

A perfect 31-0 in the regular season, the top-ranked UCLA women’s volleyball team will play host to California (19-14) at 7:30 p.m. Friday in a first-round match of the NCAA playoffs at John Wooden Center.

If the Bruins get by Cal, they would be the host team for the NCAA West Regional on Dec. 9 and 10 at Pauley Pavilion. The NCAA semifinals will be on Dec. 15 and the championship match on Dec. 17 at the University of Minnesota.

Last week UCLA won the championship of the Wendy’s tournament, defeating Brigham Young in three close games in the first round and winning the final against Colorado State in three games.

The Pepperdine women’s volleyball team (16-15 overall), West Coast Athletic Conference champion with a 13-1 record, will play at No. 7 Texas Arlington (28-3) in a first-round NCAA playoff match Saturday.

Texas Arlington has lost to Hawaii, Kentucky and Texas and defeated Pepperdine in three games in September at the Texas Tech tournament.

The Santa Monica College football team (6-4) will play host to Glendale (9-2) in the first Western State Conference Bowl at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Corsair Field.

Glendale, ranked seventh in the state last week before losing to Taft, 32-19, finished second to Moorpark in the conference Northern Division, and Santa Monica was runner-up to Bakersfield in the Southern Division. But the second-place teams are playing in the WSC Bowl because both Bakersfield and Moorpark chose to go to other bowl games.

Santa Monica is the underdog to the Vaqueros, but SMC Coach Ralph Vidal doesn’t see it that way. “Glendale has an excellent team, and they will be a real challenge for us,” Vidal said. “But we’re also playing very well.”

In their last regular-season game, the Corsairs routed West Los Angeles, 51-0. SMC sophomore tailback Deon Thomas has rushed for 1,219 yards, a school single-season record, and scored 9 touchdowns.

Glendale, however, has one of the nation’s best defenses against the run, giving up 408 yards in 10 games. So SMC quarterback Daryl Hobbs, who threw eight touchdown passes in the Corsairs’ last two games after connecting on only two scoring passes in the first eight games, may put the ball up often.

Glendale has alternated tailbacks Sean Hampton and Doug Dragomer with great success. Hampton has rushed for 1,001 yards and Dragomer 911, and each has scored 10 touchdowns.

Last season the Corsairs were the only conference team to defeat Glendale. SMC won at home, 22-16, and the Vaqueros went on to win the WSC championship.

The Santa Monica College men’s basketball team, which raised its record to 6-0 by winning last week’s Merced College tournament, is competing in the Antelope Valley College tournament, which ends Saturday (12-3).

In the first round at Merced, the Corsairs, then ranked sixth in the state, defeated previously unbeaten and No. 7 Columbia, 85-82. SMC defeated Merced, 91-84, in the final.

SMC sophomore forward Mark Day came off the bench to score 37 points and grab 12 rebounds in the 2 games and was named the tournament’s most valuable player. Also named to the all-tourney team were SMC sophomores DeShawn Pullard and Kemo Patrick.

The Pepperdine women’s basketball team, which opened the season by winning two of three road games, will meet UC Irvine in the first round of the L’eggs tournament on Friday evening at Las Cruces, N.M. In Friday’s second game, host New Mexico State will face District of Columbia Teachers College. The consolation and championship games are on Saturday.

The Waves will play at UCLA at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

In last week’s Coopers-Lybrand tournament at Chicago, the Waves lost an opener to Houston, 68-59, but won the consolation game against Alabama Birmingham, 69-64. Pepperdine also defeated Valparaiso, 82-68, last week.

Senior forward April Marion is averaging 17 points and 10.7 rebounds a game to lead the Waves.

The UCLA women’s basketball team, which opened the season by losing twice in the University of Cincinnati’s Hall of Fame tournament, will be at Loyola Marymount at 7:30 p.m. Friday and play host to Northern Arizona at 7 p.m. Saturday at John Wooden Center. The Bruins will entertain Pepperdine at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Pauley Pavilion.

In Cincinnati, UCLA freshman center Molly Tideback had a team-high 16 points as the Bruins lost to No. 16 North Carolina State, 67-60. Junior forward Michele Wootton led the Bruins with 14 points in a 59-57 loss to Cincinnati in the consolation game.

The first Jackie Joyner Kersee Track and Field Invitational Meet will be held June 10 at UCLA’s Drake Stadium, announced Judith Holland, UCLA senior associate athletic director.

Joyner Kersee, the UCLA alumna who won gold medals in the heptathlon (with a world-record 7,290 points) and the long jump in the 1988 Olympics, is the only woman to score more than 7,000 points in the heptathlon, a feat she has accomplished five times. Joyner Kersee and other top female and male athletes are expected to compete in the meet.

Pepperdine senior water polo player Tucker Johnston, who was second on the team in scoring with 41 goals but a leader in other offensive categories, was named to the All-Big West Conference second team.