COLLEGE NOTEBOOK: FIRE DELAYS PEPPERDINE'S HOMECOMING FROM ROAD.

Byline: LINDSAY CZARNECKI

Special to the Daily News

When the Pepperdine women's soccer team returned late Sunday night from their game at No.11 San Diego -- where it tied the Tritons 1-1 -- the Waves found the Pepperdine campus was closed due to the Canyon fire.

"We couldn't get back on campus and we had no where to go, so we stayed at a hotel off-site," coach Tim Ward said. "The fire actually brought the team closer together, we had a different kind of night and the girls had a good time."

The following day, team members, many from Southern California, dispersed to their family's homes while others went home with teammates or friends.

A season that held high hopes and great potential for the Waves has been marked by strange circumstances.

"It's been an interesting year," Ward said. "This fire seems to be symbolic of our season."

Pepperdine (3-6-6 overall, 0-2-1 West Coast Conference) has set a school record for ties.

The fire kept the Waves from practicing on Monday and Tuesday, but they will resume practice today and home contests against San Francisco at 3 p.m. Friday and St. Mary's at 1 p.m. Sunday are expedcted to be played.

After watching his team lose for the third time in five matches Thursday at Washington, UCLA women's volleyball coach Andy Banachowski knew it was time for a change.

"We clearly saw against Washington that we were in the wrong lineup with the personnel we have," Banachowski said. "When you see us against Stanford, we're going to a look a little different."

With less than 24 hours to prepare before a showdown at Washington State, Banachowski decided to give junior Elise Carstensen her first start since Sept. 14, and the 6-foot-3 middle blocker responded with nine kills in UCLA's sweep of the Cougars, helping the seventh-ranked Bruins (16-4 overall, 6-3 Pac-10), who had lost consecutive matches for the first time this season.

Carstensen's performance was impressive enough to convince Banachowski to keep her in the starting lineup for Friday's match against No. 3 Stanford (15-1, 8-1), which swept the Bruins on Sept. 28 in Palo Alto.

"Having Elise in there allows us to have Kaitlin (Sather) on the left side and it gives us a little more experience this way," Banachowski said. "If Elise plays as well as she did against Washington State, then this could be a really positive move for us. We lost a lot of bullets from last year and this gives us a different look. But the bottom line is we just have to execute."

Carstensen, who had a season-high 10kills Sept. 8 against William and Mary, could help the Bruins get back in the Pacific-10 Conference title picture with victories over Stanford and No. 9 Cal (16-4, 6-3) this weekend.

"Elise brings a lot of freshness to our lineup and she plays pretty loose on the court," Banachowski said. "This move has us kind of rejuvenated. I certainly felt that in the Washington State match."

UCLA women's soccer sophomore forward Lauren Cheney is leading the Pac-10 in goals with 16. Cheney was part of every Bruin goal last weekend as UCLA defeated No. 2 Stanford and No. 19 Cal, both by 2-0 scores. She finished the weekend with three goals and one assist. The No. 1 Bruins host No. 9 USC on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Drake Stadium.

The UCLA-USC rivalry will also head to the pool this weekend, as the men's water polo teams battle. The No. 1 Trojans and the No. 4 Bruins meet at 1 p.m. on Sunday at the Sunset Canyon Recreation Center.

USC (13-0) has won the past four meetings between the two teams, including a 7-6 victory Oct. 14. The Bruins broke a three-game losing streak by posting a 16-6 victory over No. 9 Pacific last weekend. Sophomore Scott Davidson leads the Bruins in goals with 30 in 20 games while USC's Shea Buckner has 19.

Ashley Lugo-Brown of Pierce College leads the Western State Conference in kills with 279 this season. She is also second in the conference in solo blocks (20) and block assists (43).

Pierce setter Terry Soltani is first with 818 assists, over 300 more than the setter in second.

L.A. Valley College men's water polo team (9-10 overall, 2-1 WSC) will travel to take on the conference's WSC's lone undefeated squad, Cuesta (3-0 WSC), today at 3 p.m.

-- Erik Boal contributed

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Planes drop water above Pepperdine University where a wildfire driven by powerful Santa Ana winds forced the evacuation of hundreds of homes.

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press