It is a new school year, a new semester and a new season for the fall sports teams at the University of La Verne.
With the football and cross country teams set to begin their season tomorrow, the volleyball, men’s water polo, and men’s and women’s soccer teams have already begun play.
At this point, it seems that volleyball is the team to watch, having been ranked No. 5 in the CBS College Sports Network/American Volleyball Coaches Association poll.
Their record is currently 5-0, having won all four games at the Puget Sound Premier Invitational Tournament in Tacoma, Washington.
Not to be outdone, the men’s soccer team has also begun the season strong, posting a 2-1-1 mark so far.
The Leopards finished their last game in a tie after two overtimes against Corban.
The men’s soccer coach is Crescencio Gonzalez, who is in his seventh year as head coach. His team plays again next Wednesday at Cal Lutheran.
Women’s soccer has started the season with a 1-2 record and is led by head coach Wendy Zwissler, who is in her 17th year as head coach.
While there are only two seniors on this year’s squad, Zwissler remains confident that the team’s early offensive production is a sign of things to come.
“We are much improved,” Zwissler said. “We are scoring a lot of goals, and that’s something that was not happening last season. Overall, I want us to bond as a team and work hard on the field. If we can do those things, we will be successful.”
The men’s water polo team has a new head coach Alex La. La, an alumnus of La Verne and former player, is replacing Tim Hugar, who served as head coach for the past 11 seasons.
“I am trying to move the direction of the program to where I feel it needs to be,” La said.
“We have lots of talent and good heart. We’re young and lacking in experience, but the more games we play, the better we’ll be.”
Water Polo lost its season opener to Concordia and currently has a record of 0-2. The team looks to improve its record this weekend in the Inland Empire Tournament.
The men’s and women’s cross country teams are starting the season under second year head coach Michael Atwood.
“Our goal is to improve on our finish from last year,” Atwood said.
“My goal is to have at least one all-conference and all-regional player from the men’s and women’s team.”
The men’s cross country team will be led this season by senior Jasper Chang, who just missed all-conference last year.
“Jasper’s looked pretty good so far,” Atwood said.
While the men’s cross country team members did compete as individuals last season, they did not meet the minimum number of players to compete as a team, which is something Atwood is hoping will not happen this year.
Women’s cross country is also expected to improve from last season.
“The girls are pretty strong and have shown a big improvement,” Atwood said. “I think we’re going to show the other teams in our conference that we are tough and competitive.”
Cross country’s first meet is tomorrow at the Redlands Invitational.
Richard Lugo can be reached at richard.lugo@laverne.edu.
