by Steven Duran
Staff Writer
The University of La Verne Men’s Volleyball Team hosted the Pacific Coast Volleyball Conference Tournament last weekend. La Verne finished second after falling to the University of California, San Diego Tritons in the championship game.
During the opening rounds, the Chapman College Panthers were defeated by UCSD and the University of California Santa Cruz Banana Slugs lost to the Leos, qualifying both the Tritons and Leos for the championship.
La Verne started off the match defeating the Tritons 15-13 in the first game. It continued to put up a great fight in the second game but was unable to capture the victory. The Tritons took the second game, 15-6 and the third, 15-11, taking the championship in the fourth and final game, 15-6.
“Considering our material, we have accomplished an exceptional season this year,” said ULV Head Coach Jim Paschal. “Receiving votes into the top 20 of the nation is an accomplishment itself.”
After its performance against the Tritons, ranked in the top 20, the Leos have a good chance of getting into the top 20 itself.
Pat Paschal and Donnie Flora were two Leos voted on to the All-Conference Team. The Leos will be losing Paschal to graduation this year, as well as starters Mike Self, Mike Van Til and Charles Cutenese.
Coach Paschal has begun to prepare the Leos for the loss of seniors by attending some high school volleyball tournaments. He feels confident in recruiting at least four candidates for next year’s team.
Next year will be the first year that La Verne will disassociate itself from leagues with junior colleges. By competing at the university level, it will put the Leos at a different atmosphere. “It will bring about a different type of attitude around playing time,” said Coach Paschal.
Coach Paschal is going to reduce the game schedule next year. He said, “We are going to cut back on the amount of games we play. We found ourself too tired at the end of this year.”
