USC Season Has Been One for the Books in Volleyball

No matter how far the USC women’s volleyball team advances in the NCAA tournament, this year’s seniors and their coach have made a permanent mark.

In the last month, Trojan seniors Jennifer Kessy, Jasmina Marinkovic and Janice Mounts became the school’s all-time leaders in three major statistical categories. And Coach Lisa Love reached two milestones, her 200th victory at USC and her 400th overall.

Against Washington State in mid-November, Love got her 200th victory while Kessy became USC’s leader in kills, passing Tracy Clark’s mark of 1,680 with 14 against the Cougars.

“It’s a great accomplishment because of all the great players who played here,” said Kessy, a former Dana Hills standout who has 1,747 kills. “I’ve worked really hard for four years, but I wasn’t working to break the record. It’s amazing to see my name among the ranks of all those great players.”

The next match, Love collected her 400th victory against California. Two days later, she ended a 14-game losing streak to Stanford.

“It was great to be able to win at Pullman” Love said of the victory at Washington State. “And being able to win against Stanford was huge.”

A match against Arizona in early November gave Mounts and Marinkovic their pieces of USC history.

Mounts had 47 assists, moving past Christine Brigman’s record of 3,691. Meanwhile, Marinkovic broke Lauri Yust’s school record of 524 blocks with five against the Wildcats.

Mounts has 4,120 assists and Marinkovic 546 blocks.

“There’s been really good leadership from a goal-oriented senior class,” Love said. “They have a desire to go a long way.”

Love is hoping that desire leads the Trojans to Madison, Wis., site of the Final Four on Dec. 17 and 19. USC (22-5) had an 11-match winning streak but that was ended Saturday by Pacific. The Trojans will play host to Maryland Baltimore County Friday in the first round of the tournament.

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Long Beach State, the top-ranked women’s volleyball team in the nation, received the tournament’s top seeding. The 49ers (30-0) will host Southern (19-12) tonight. Long Beach is one of two undefeated teams in the country. Second-ranked Penn State is also 30-0.

UC Santa Barbara (26-5), ranked 11th and seeded 11th in the tournament, is also hosting matches in the first two rounds. Saturday, the Gauchos will play Santa Clara (20-9). Before that match, No. 15 UCLA (15-11) will play Virginia (26-7).

Pepperdine (17-10) has the toughest draw among Los Angeles-area teams, playing No. 14 Michigan State (23-6) today at East Lansing, Mich.

Loyola Marymount, ranked No. 25 in the nation, did not make the tournament.

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Sunday’s game against Pacific was the last for Ken Lindgren as coach of the Long Beach State men’s water polo team. The 49ers defeated the Tigers, 9-8, in the seventh-place match of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament.

In his 24 years at Long Beach, Lindgren compiled a 335-338-3 record, led the 49ers to three 20-victory seasons and conference titles in 1975, 1988 and ’89. He was honored as MPSF coach of the year in 1981, ’83 and ’88.

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USC earned the at-large berth in the NCAA men’s water polo tournament this weekend at Corona del Mar High. The No. 1 team in the nation, USC finished third in the MPSF tournament, losing to Stanford in the second round. Stanford defeated Pepperdine in the championship match. The Trojans (23-3) will play Massachusetts (27-4) Friday at 6:30 p.m. . . . Loyola Marymount finished fifth at the Western Water Polo Assn. tournament at Pomona earlier this month.

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Soccer star Seth George played his final game at UCLA Sunday, but thanks to his assault on the school’s record book, it will be a long time before he is forgotten.

George, a Santa Margarita High graduate, finished his career in the top 10 in 10 Bruin offensive categories. He is first in game-winning goals with 20, multiple-goal games with nine, points in a game with 10, and he is tied for first in goals in a game, four; single-season game-winning goals, eight, and multiple-goal games in a season, four. He ranks fifth in goals for a career, 49; sixth in points, 125, and is tied for 10th in assists, 27. His three assists in a game is tied for second.

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UCLA defender Skylar Little and USC midfielder Kim Clark were chosen to the National Soccer Coaches Assn. of America All-Far West women’s first team. . . . Pepperdine’s Lindsay Phillips (Marina) was selected the West Coast Conference freshman of the year in women’s volleyball, and her coach, Nina Matthies, was chosen co-coach of the year. Loyola Marymount sophomore Sarah McFarland was selected to the All-WCC first team for the second time.