Ross, Carey both in NCAA women’s volleyball Final Four

Charlie Brande

Tonight’s NCAA Division I Women’s Volleyball Final Four will

feature two former Newport Harbor High stars.

The first match, held at the Richmond Coliseum at Virginia

Commonwealth University has No. 1-ranked Nebraska playing No. 3 Hawaii

Rainbow Wahines, led by sophomore setter Jennifer Carey. The second match

pits Wisconsin against the USC Trojans and freshman standout April Ross.

Hawaii advanced to the Final Four with wins in the West Regional, held

in Honolulu, over Long Beach State (in five thrilling games) and UC Santa

Barbara (four games). Carey was named to the All-Regional team. UCSB’s

attack featured former Orange County Volleyball Club member Danielle

Bauer.

USC advanced to the Final Four without losing a game in the

tournament. With sweeps of Florida and defending champion Penn State, the

Trojans seem to be peaking at the right time.

Ross was named the Most Outstanding Player at the Regional, leading

her team in kills and was second in digs.

Both April and Jennifer were major reasons in the successes for Coach

Dan Glenn’s Newport Harbor back-to-back state champions.

Jennifer has continued her winning ways with excellent setting and

defense. She has always been on successful teams through her high school,

club and now, college playing days.

April’s versatility is again a major factor in her successful play.

Able to play all three positions very well, the Trojans move her to

different positions continually, which leads to confuse the opposition

who work to stop her. The attention that she takes with her movement also

allows more scoring opportunities for her teammates.

In the 20-year history of the NCAA Women’s Volleyball Championships,

the Newport-Mesa area has always been represented well at the Final Four.

The 1985 final in which the University of the Pacific Brooke Herrington,

Andrea Redick and Christy Moiso as well as Wendy Rush who grew up in

Newport. There have been 18 Newport-Mesa players who have played on

national championship teams. These champions also included a total of 30

players who developed their play through the Orange County Volleyball

Club.

The last Final Four with more than one local player was the 1992 Final

Four in Albuquerque, N.M., where Stanford, led by captain Laurie Brown

(Corona del Mar), Bev Oden and a freshman from Newport Harbor, Maureen

McLaren, upset two-time defending NCAA champion UCLA, which was led by

Newport’s Jenny Evans.

In the semifinal, Stanford had defeated a Long Beach State team which

had its back row patrolled by CdM’s Prentice Perkins.

Even the coaching had a local flavor with CdM’s Pam Lawrence Brande

assisting at Long Beach, while Newport’s Lara Asper was an assistant at

Stanford. Long Beach would return the following year to win the

championship in Madison, Wisc.

April has the ability to make a tremendous impact in this tournament,

as does Jennifer. Their years of high-level play in high school and club

gives them experience beyond their years.

Newport’s Misty May, who played at the same advanced high level in

high school and club, utilized her experience to lead Long Beach State to

the national championship in 1998 as well as winning the National Player

of the Year honor.

The American Volleyball Coaches Association holds its annual

convention in conjunction with the Final Four Championship, which brings

all the college, club and many high school coaches to the tournament

site. This ensures a very large crowd for these matches.

Both Jennifer and April have played in the finals at the Volleyball

Festival in front of over 10,000 people, so these crowds should not

affect their play.

For those interested in watching the matches, ESPN2 will telecast the

matches on a tape-delayed broadcast with the Nebraska-Hawaii contest

shown tonight at 10:30 p.m. and the USC-Wisconsin match shown on Friday

at 10 a.m. Saturday’s final will be shown live at 12:30 p.m.