UCLA Sophomore Taliaferro Earns Conference Honors

UCLA setter Brandon Taliaferro was named to the All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation’s men’s volleyball team Monday by conference’s coaches.

Taliaferro, a 6-foot-5 sophomore from San Clemente High, helped the Bruins beat Loyola Marymount last weekend in the first round of the conference tournament.

UCLA hosts Long Beach State in a semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Hawaii plays Pepperdine in the other semifinal at 5 p.m. Thursday at Pauley Pavilion.

Pepperdine’s George Roumain was named conference player of the year and teammate Scott Wong was selected freshman of the year. Loyola Marymount’s Rick McLaughlin was named coach of the year.

Other members of the first team are Ryan Millar and Oswald Antonetti (Brigham Young), Adam Naeve (UCLA), Andre Breuer (Hawaii) and Andy Witt (Stanford).

Other Orange County players receiving honors include Chris Jacobson (El Toro), a senior middle blocker at Pepperdine, who was named to the third team along with Szilard Kovacs (Laguna Beach), a senior middle blocker from USC.

Receiving honorable mention were Robert Schildts (Calvary Chapel), a junior middle blocker from Loyola Marymount, and Chris Seiffert (Capistrano Valley), a freshman setter at Long Beach State.

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Middle distance runner Jessica Dahlberg of El Modena has signed to run track and cross-country at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, said her father, Curt.

Dahlberg was a second team all-county cross-country selection last fall and is competing for the Vanguards in track. She has a personal best of 2 minutes 15.93 seconds in the 800-meter run and was a member of El Modena’s 1996 Southern Section Division II championship soccer team.

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Capistrano Valley defensive standout Mary Anderson has signed to play basketball at Mesa State College in Grand Junction, Colo., a school spokesman said.

Anderson, a guard, was a second-team All-South Coast League selection for the Cougars, who shared the league title with San Clemente.

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A.J. Ruiz, a senior soccer player at Huntington Beach, has accepted an appointment to the Air Force Academy, his coach, Shawn Bruckler, said. Ruiz was a two-time All-Sunset League selection.

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Canyon senior outfielder Rebecca Tippets has signed a letter of intent to attend Regis University in Denver, her coach, Lancy Eddy, said. Tippets, a four-year varsity starter, was a two-time All-Century League selection.