New Talent Serving Women’s Volleyball Program Well

For most women’s college volleyball teams, a 2-4 start wouldn’t be something to get terribly excited about.

But at Cal State Fullerton, it’s almost cause for celebration.

In the last three seasons, the Titans were 1-27 in 1992 and 1-28 in 1993 and in 1994.

It has been a uphill grind for Coach Mary Ellen Murchison since she left Santa Clara in 1992 to try to rebuild a program that had fallen to the bottom after a year of controversy.

The university attempted to drop the sport, but it was reinstated after the team filed a sexual discrimination suit. Coach Jim Huffman also was fired, and his wrongful termination suit cost the university $1.3 million.

But even before that, there was no history of success, just one winning season since the program began in 1976.

Murchison believes the tide might be turning. “I think it has, but the important thing is that the players believe it has,” Murchison said.

An infusion of new talent has helped.

Heather Bassett, a community college All-American last season at San Diego Mesa, leads the team with 92 kills. Bassett, a 6-1 middle blocker, also is first in digs (72).

“Bassett had a tremendous game against Eastern Washington: 24 kills, 17 digs and six service aces,” Murchison said. “She really moves well, and already has made a big difference for us.”

Other transfers include outside hitters Stephanie Wichmann and Shelly Smith, who have become starters. Wichmann is a transfer from South Florida and Smith from Northern Arizona.

A freshman, Rocki Titen, also has earned a starting position as an outside hitter and was chosen to the all-tournament team at Fresno State last weekend.

“Rocki is definitely going to be a top-level player,” Murchison said. “She has great instinct across the top of the net. She doesn’t let anything come across that isn’t challenged.”

Fullerton defeated Eastern Washington, 3-1, but lost, 3-2, to Sam Houston (Tex.) State and to Central Michigan in the tournament. The Titans’ only shutout loss was against Fresno State, 3-0, in the final game.

“Just over three weeks ago, I wasn’t quite sure what kind of team we were going to have, but now I think we can be competitive with all the teams we’ll be playing,” Murchison said. “We had two other victories within our grasp this season. As a coaching staff, we definitely expect to win games now.”

The Titans start Big West Conference play this week, facing Nevada Friday and New Mexico State Saturday. Both matches start at 7:30 p.m. in Titan Gym.

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Titan cross-country teams ran in an invitational meet at Fullerton over the weekend with the men’s team finishing fourth among 10 college teams and the women sixth among 12.

“We thought we did pretty well even though neither team was at full strength,” Coach John Elders said. “Although we finished behind Fresno State, Arizona and Southern Methodist among the men, we were ahead of both the other Big West teams [UC Irvine and Long Beach State].”

Francisco Vasquez had to run unattached because his transfer from Rancho Santiago College hadn’t been cleared. “His time was the second best among our men, so our points should improve when he becomes qualified this week,” Elders said.

Sophomore Blake Schumacher had the top time among the Titan men at 25:54.3 and was 21st overall. Vasquez ran 25:54.5. Manuel Perales, a transfer from Antelope Valley, was next among the Titans.

“There were only 40 seconds difference between our first and fifth runners, so I think we’ll be a good pack team this year,” Elders said.

Fullerton’s top woman finisher, Erin Remy, a transfer from Orange Coast College, was 18th overall. Two other Titan women were out with injuries. Teresa Santana has been slowed by back problems, and Jenny Titus has a sprained ankle.

“Once we get healthy we should be fine,” Elders said.

The Titans will compete in the UC Irvine Invitational Saturday.

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The women’s soccer team, off to a 3-0 start, appears to be much improved over last season.

Fullerton has 14 goals going into today’s 7 p.m. game against Pepperdine at Titan Stadium.

Freshman Dolores Browning, who played at Lakewood Mayfair High, has scored six of those goals, including three in Saturday’s 6-0 victory over Azusa Pacific. That already surpasses the school single-season goal scoring record.

Junior Amber Dickey had five goals in the first two games, but didn’t get a shot Saturday.

Junior goalkeeper Suzy Strazzula has given up only two goals in three games and hasn’t been scored on in 210 minutes.

Coach Al Mistri, who started the women’s program three years ago, recruited Strazzula after seeing her play on a women’s intramural team at the school.

“I knew this team was going to be much better after the first game against Arizona,” Mistri said. “They were down 2-0 and came back to win, 3-2. I could tell then that they had a lot of heart.”

The nationally ranked men’s team (3-1) defeated Evansville and San Jose State over the weekend. The men have two home games this weekend, meeting Tampa at 8 p.m. Friday and Gonzaga at 3 p.m. Sunday.

Titan Notes

All 25 players on the College World Series championship team are set to make the trip to Washington for Friday’s visit to the White House and a meeting with President Clinton to honor the team. . . . Carolyn Hueth-Zimmerman, who coached previously at Fullerton, will succeed Julie Sandoval, who became head coach at Cal State Dominguez Hills, as the Titan women’s volleyball assistant. . . . Soccer player Dolores Browning ranks 10th in the nation in scoring with 13 points on six goals and one assist.