ROUNDUP : Beard, Knepper Lift Pierce to State Volleyball Title

Rob Beard had 27 kills and Matt Knepper added 24 to help Pierce College defeat Long Beach City, 15-8, 12-15, 15-4, 12-15, 15-11, in the final of the state junior college volleyball championships at Palomar College on Saturday.

COLLEGE SOFTBALL

Cal State Northridge 4-2, Cal Poly Pomona 3-1 (1st game, 11 innings)--The 10th-ranked Matadors ended the regular season with a sweep of host Cal Poly Pomona, ranked 11th.

Kathy Blake (25-6) pitched a four-hitter in the first game and set a school record for wins as a freshman. Jen Fleming drove in Kim Oakes in the 11th with the winning run.

Cami Allen pitched a three-hitter for Northridge (45-23-1) in the second game.

MEN’S TENNIS

Western State Conference tournament--Ashot Smbatayan of Glendale College defeated Kasper Nielsen of Pierce, 6-2, 6-2, to win the singles final at Ventura College.

Jeff Spalinger and Dominic Habibi of Santa Barbara defeated Nielsen and Vanja Nadali, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5, in the doubles final.

WOMEN’S TENNIS

Western State Conference tournament--Mai-Chi Tieu of Pierce defeated Mo Patton of Santa Barbara, 6-0, 6-1, to win the singles title at Santa Barbara City.

Tieu teamed with Liza Tan to edge Bakersfield’s Gina Trzaska and Kim Batten, 6-4, 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), for the doubles championship.

HIGH SCHOOL SOFTBALL

Thousand Oaks tournament--Carrie Russell pitched a two-hitter and struck out seven as Thousand Oaks (15-4) defeated Camarillo, 1-0, to win the title. Russell struck out 15 to pitch Thousand Oaks past St. Paul, 2-0, in the semifinals earlier in the day. She had 37 strikeouts in the tournament and was named most valuable player. Camarillo advanced to the final by defeating Hart, 5-0. In the third-place game, St. Paul defeated Hart, 4-3.

HIGH SCHOOL BASEBALL

St. Bernard 5, Alemany 4--This time, a seventh-inning Alemany rally fell short in a Mission League game at St. Bernard.

The Indians scored twice in the seventh to cut the deficit to 5-4, but with runners at first and third, Gabe Villasenor grounded out to end Alemany’s comeback.

When the teams first met March 28 at Alemany, the Indians (14-7-1, 6-3 in league play) scored four runs in the seventh to win, 5-4.

CYCLING

Thurlow Rodgers of Van Nuys and John Wordin of West Hills finished sixth and 10th in the La Canada Criterion.

San Diego’s Carl Maxon won the 47-mile race.