COLLEGE NOTEBOOK: BRUINS LESSEN STING OF DEFEAT WITH TOP COMMITMENT.

Byline: Ramona Shelburne and Scott French Staff Writers

Nothing like securing a verbal commitment from one of the top recruits in the country to take the sting out of losing in the national championship game.

UCLA's women's soccer team won one big prize in College Station, Texas, over the weekend, receiving word from Lauren Cheney, one of the most prominent high school soccer players in the country, that she would be a Bruin. The 5-foot-8 forward from Ben Davis High of Indianapolis chose the UCLA, which lost 4-0 to Portland in Sunday's NCAA title game, over North Carolina.

Cheney, one of five finalists for U.S. Soccer's Young Athlete of the Year award, took part in the U.S. national team training camp before the Americans' game in October against Australia.

Cheney played for UCLA coach Jillian Ellis on the U.S. under-21 team that won the Nordic Cup last summer.

This is the second consecutive year the Bruins have beaten North Carolina for one of the top recruits. Canadian national team star Kara Lang last year chose UCLA over the Tar Heels and was a pivotal figure in its run to their third successive College Cup final four.

--Trojan horses: Nearly all is right in USC's world this week, following the romp over UCLA in football Saturday, the Bruins' failure to win the women's soccer title, and the Trojans' triumph Sunday over Stanford in the NCAA water polo final.

The championship was USC's second in three years, and it was mighty welcome to Trojans' fans after UCLA captured the title last year.

Not all went according to plan: USC's 12th-seeded women's volleyball team was upset by Pepperdine, which heads to Palo Alto to meet Santa Clara in the Sweet 16 on Friday. The Waves have been disruptive all fall, handing the Trojans their lone water polo loss and playing women's soccer champ Portland to a draw - the only blemish on the Pilots' record before its tie with Penn State in the semifinals.

--Honors: USC's Juraj Zatovic was selected Player of the Year and Jovan Vavic Coach of the Year in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, by far the finest water polo conference in the country.

Harvard-Westlake of Studio City products also reaped rewards. USC's Juan Delgadillo joined Zatovic on the All-MPSF first team, Cal's Marty Matthies was a second-team selection, and Stanford freshman Will Hindle-Katel was chosen Newcomer of the Year and received honorable mention on the all-conference team.

Others honored included second-teamers Tom Corcoran and Don Ricci (USC) and David Pietsch (UCLA), and third-teamers Thomas Hale (UCLA), Will Didinger (UCLA) and Grant Miller (Pepperdine).

In volleyball, USC's Bibiana Candelas, Debora Seilhamer and Staci Venski, and UCLA's Nana Meriwether and Nellie Spicer were All-Pacific-10 Conference choices.