Fall Sports Round-up

Volleyball
Another outstanding season for the Cal State L.A. women's volleyball team came to an end in the NCAA Division II Regional Championship game at the hands of old nemisis Cal State Bakersfield.

The Golden Eagles completed their fourth consecutive 20-win season, finishing 20-6 overall, while setting numerous team and indivdual records. Cal State L.A. finished the season ranked seventh in the nation, marking the team+s fourth consecutive top 10 national finish.

The team highlight of the season came in the NCAA Regional Playoff semi-finals vs. Grand Canyon, when the Golden Eagles broke six NCAA Division II Tournament records. Two-time All-American Andrea Ferchaw set a new NCAA Tournament mark with 44 kills in the five-game CSLA win. The team totaled 114 kills for another record. All-american setter Adriana Huerta also set tournament and team records with 90 assists in the match.

Individual honors went to Huerta, who became the third Golden Eagle volleyball player to earn All-America honors in 1995. Middle blocker Kaili Kimura was named to the all-region team with Huerta and head coach Mark Massey, who earned West Region Coach of the Year honors.

Kimura also was named to the presitgeous GTE Academic All-District team in 1995, the second consecutive season in which she was so honored. Kimura was the only Division II Player to earn the award from the West Region.

Soccer
The big news from the soccer front in 1995 was the debut of the Golden Eagle women's soccer team. Though it was just their first campaign, the team showed flashes of promise that bode for a very bright future for the program.

Although it was just their first season of competition, numerous players earned All-CCAA honors in 1995. Heading that list is junior midfielder Liz Graves who was selected to the All-CCAA first team. Junior midfielder Shelby White earned second team all-conference recognition. Four Golden Eagles earned honorable mention honors, inclduing junior forward Rosa Mendez, who was an All-CCAA selection in basketball last season. Also named honorable mention were junior Erica Roberge and freshmen Laura Lockie and Myria Corona.

After finishing 10th in the nation and earning an NCAA Playoff berth with a freshman and sophomore dominated team in 1994, the 1995 season promised to be a bright one for the Golden Eagle men+s soccer team. It took just seven minutes into the first game, however, to get a glimpse of just what a season of horrors 1995 would be.

The team hadn't even broken a sweat in the opeing game of the season, when its star forward, Victor Arana, went down with a season-ending knee injury. By the time the dust had settled on the campaign, 10 of 11 starters would go down to injury, and with those players went any hope of a third NCAA Playoff appearance in four seasons.

Junior forward Joe Verplancke filled some of the void, leading the team in scoring while earning second team All-CCAA honors. CSLA+ lone first team selection was junior midfielder Esteban Chavez. Also earning second team All-CCAA recognition were freshman Alejandro Jimenez and senior Dino Torres who finished second on the team in scoring despite missing six of 19 games due to injury.

Cross Country
In 1995, the Golden Eagle men's cross country team proved it had individual performers capable of challenging the top runners both in the conference and in the region. Those runners should provide the building blocks to help head coach Kevin McCarthy return the team to national prominence in the not so distant future.

Cal State L.A.'s top runner proved to be junior Jacques Sallberg. Sallberg got off to a fast start in 1995, capturing the individual championship at the Stanford University Invitational Meet in September. He continued to run strong for the Golden Eagles, throughout the season, eventually earning a fourth-place finish at the CCAA Championship Meet, the top finish by a Cal State L.A. runner since 1989.

"I am very pleased with how we ran in 1995, especially with our top runners," says McCarthy. "Everybody set a personal record at the CCAA Championship and we still finished fourth. That gives you an idea of just how far we've come but just how strong our conference is."