September 26, 2007

Big West notes: Cram breaks from tradition
The Cal State Fullerton forward comes from a volleyball family.
By JANIS CARR
The Orange County Register

Lauren Cram’s mother played collegiate volleyball. Her father also played volleyball at Pepeprdine and qualified for the 1984 U.S. Olympic volleyball team.

Her aunt, Beth McLachlin, was a member of the 1976 U.S. Olympic volleyball team and an alternate on the ’68 team. Her sister, Holly, also played volleyball, and a cousin recently received a full-ride volleyball scholarship to Stanford.

So if everyone in Cram’s family played volleyball, guess what sport she plays? Soccer.

So much for family loyalty.

“I love soccer,” Cram said after Wednesday’s practice. “I did play volleyball, club volleyball when I was 10, 12 years old. My dad coached my team.

“But then I started missing too many volleyball matches because of club soccer, so I quit volleyball.”

Cram, a senior forward, said soccer presents an aggressiveness that volleyball doesn’t. She likes the bumping, tripping and shoving that happens when you race after the ball.

“I found I love going hard for headers and the contact in soccer,” Cram said. “In soccer, there is so much competition. I love man-versus-man in the team sports aspect. Volleyball is a team sport, but … it’s not soccer.”

Cram has turned her aggressiveness up a notch this season. After scoring just one goal in three seasons, she has scored in each of Fullerton’s past three matches.

She is tied for third in the Big West in goals and tied for fifth in goals per game (0.50).

She will be looking to add her fifth goal of the season this weekend, when the Titans (4-3-1, 1-0) travel to San Jose State and Fresno State for a pair of nonconference games.

WHO DID THE SCHEDULE?

Long Beach State women’s soccer team takes on its fourth top 25 team when the 49ers play No. 14 USC on Friday and are hoping the result is different. At least the revenue will be familiar.

The 49ers (6-3) dropped three consecutive matches to Wake Forest, Clemson and BYU – all on the road. They play the Trojans at home, where they have won 17 of their past 20 matches, dating back to the 2005 season.

The Trojans are coached by former Cal State Fullerton coach Ali Khosroshahin.

UC Irvine, which finished last season 3-13, have allowed just five goals in seven matches this season. The Anteaters (4-2-1) travel to Colorado for the Air Force Tournament this weekend.

A YEAR OLDER, BETTER

UC Irvine women’s volleyball team heads into this weekend’s matches with a record of 11-4 overall, 1-0 in the Big West play. That isn’t all that spectacular, unless you consider that the Anteaters won only two more matches than that last season.

“A year ago, we were pretty inexperienced,” Irvine coach Charlie Brande said. “But a year of development has really helped these girls. Now, I just hope the coach doesn’t mess them up.”

Brande, in his eighth season at Irvine, has produced 22 All-Big West players, including two-time honoree Lauren Kellerman, a 6-foot outside hitter, who paces the Anteaters’ attack with 3.60 kills a game.

Irvine travels to Cal State Northridge on Friday and Long Beach State (1-1) on Saturday.

The Anteaters are one of three Big West teams that head into the weekend unbeaten in conference play. Defending champion Cal Poly (2-0) and Cal State Fullerton (2-0) are the others.

Long Beach State has won five of its past six contests, losing only to Cal Poly.

CSF ROUNDS OUT BASEBALL STAFF

Brett Lindgren joins the Cal State Fullerton baseball staff as a volunteer assistant, Titans coach Dave Serrano announced.

Lindgren has served as one of the school’s facilities managers the past two seasons. He started his coaching career last summer as an assistant for the Rochester Honkers of the Northwood League in Minnesota, but moved up to head coach midseason.

PLAY BEGINS

The five-time conference champion Long Beach State women’s tennis team opens its fall schedule at the Cal-Berkeley Invitational on Friday.

It is the first of three tournaments the 49ers will participate in before the regular season starts in the spring.