Volleyball Players

Only volleyball purists and insomniacs witnessed the second match in the Gatorade USA Cup men's volleyball tournament Wednesday night at the Forum. It's a shame. The United States and France gave a clinic on tenacious, head-to-head volleyball that played out until nearly midnight. The top-ranked U.S. team won, 13-15, 15-12, 15-5, 15-4. What remained of an earlier crowd of 2,563 partisan fans cheered every point for the Americans.

Many of the Cal State Northridge men's volleyball players scribbled "BS" on their socks before their Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Assn. match against Stanford on Friday night. The reason, according to team captain Tom Ribarich, was to show support for teammate Bob Samuelson, who was suspended from the team earlier this week. The initials obviously didn't stand for Beat Stanford. The Cardinal, ranked fifth in the nation, crushed CSUN, 15-7, 15-2, 15-6, in 90 minutes in a WIVA match at CSUN.

She returned home after a freshman year at Stanford that included not one, but two, national championships, a feat no Cardinal woman and few Cardinal men had accomplished. Most athletes could squeeze plenty of mileage out of that topic of conversation, but Maureen McLaren would rather talk surf. The 1992 Newport Harbor graduate could easily have a swollen head after participating on Stanford's NCAA championship volleyball and swimming teams, but she's quick to change the subject.

Pepperdine has won just one National Collegiate Athletic Assn. title of any sort--the 1978 men's volleyball title. This weekend, the Waves might add another. Pepperdine is favored to win the NCAA men's volleyball tournament being played at Pauley Pavilion. Coach Marv Dunphy, who led Pepperdine to its earlier title, would like to take this team all the way, too, before he takes a three-year leave to coach the U.S. Olympic team.

When most people see UCLA's 6-foot-10 Tim Kelly they think: Basketball player. When opposing volleyball players face him across the net they think: Nightmare. Kelly, who can reach above an eight-foot-high volleyball net and swat the ball with his feet on the floor, was fourth in the nation in hitting with a .450 average and tied for fourth in blocking with an average of 1.9 a game near the end of last week.

Dain Blanton and Eric Fonoimoana, two of the top pro beach volleyball players, have been suspended indefinitely by the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals because they registered for an international tournament in Italy occurring at the same time as an AVP tournament in Muskegon, Mich.

Many of the world's top pro beach and indoor volleyball players will compete in the Great Western Bank Team Cup tournament, which begins Thursday at the Forum in Inglewood. Four teams will compete in the round-robin event, which features Kent Steffes, Mike Dodd and Tim Hovland of the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals. Matches start at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 10 and 17. The final is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 3. Tickets are available at the Forum box office; (310) 419-3257.

Just as the weather is warming up, a big volleyball event comes to local beaches. Spike-It-Up is a national tournament in its second year, affiliated with the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals. It opens a 15-city tour Saturday and Sunday at Huntington Beach State Park, near the pier. The amateur competition is open to teams of two, four and six of all ages and ability levels, in men's, women's and mixed categories.

Three Santa Monica High School volleyball players, seniors Tagore Evans and Greg Eilber and sophomore Mike Sealy, were named to the All-Ocean League first team by a vote of coaches. Second-team selections are seniors Cameron Davis of Beverly Hills High, Mike Dauberman of Culver City High and Randy Gerrin and Eric Etebari and junior Ryan Moos, all of Santa Monica High.