COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION USC VOLLEYBALL TEAM DRAWS COMPARISONS TO 1977 NATIONAL CHAMPS.

Byline: Jill Painter Staff Writer

Debbie Green-Vargas was just one of an unprecedented number of stars to play for USC's national championship women's volleyball team that was 38-0 in 1977.

All six Trojans starters on that team were All-Americans, and five went on to become Olympians. USC won back-to-back national titles in 1976 and 1977, a span in which they went 75-1.

For the past 36 years, the team has been regarded by many as the best of all time.

Perhaps until now.

This year's USC team, 33-0 and on the cusp of a second consecutive NCAA title, gives new meaning to perfection and dominance. But are these Trojans the best ever?

``Part of me is a competitive athlete that wants to say, 'No way. No one was better than our team,' '' Green-Vargas said. ``Volleyball has gotten so big and so tall. It's hard. I can't compare. But I don't know that we had any seniors in '77.

``The starting lineup was pretty much freshmen and sophomores. To compare the '77 team with this USC team, if we would've stayed together two more years, then I think we would win.''

Then Green-Vargas, an assistant coach for Long Beach State's 36-0 national-championship team in 1998, is reminded that USC won the title last year. That it has basically the same cast and is the tallest team in the country, with middle blocker Emily Adams at 6-foot-6 and Bibiana Candelas at 6-5. That they have three All-Americans and have won an NCAA record 45 consecutive matches.

``If you measure inches per position, yeah, they'd tower over us,'' Green-Vargas said. ``I think it would be a really good match - height and athleticism versus a skilled and fundamentally strong team.''

Maybe only a video game would settle the score. College volleyball has changed, as has the scoring, which in 2001 began awarding points on every serve rather than only on sideouts.

The Trojans, who will play Minnesota today in a national semifinal at Reunion Arena in Dallas, have lost just seven sets all season - matching the 1977 squad - and have beaten 15 ranked opponents.

USC has gone wire-to-wire atop the national rankings and is poised to become the first school to repeat since Stanford did so in 1996 and 1997.

``I don't like to say I believe that stuff, but it would've been a logical prediction, knowing all the girls on the team and how serious we are,'' April Ross said. ``I'm still mad we lost to Stanford last year.

``The best team of all time? I'm not a person to think like that, but it would be awesome, surreal, if we're one of the best ever.''

The Lyon Center is becoming a popular place. USC football coach Pete Carroll is a big fan. As he was celebrating the Trojans' victory over Oregon State on Dec. 6, a school official reminded him USC's first-round playoff match against Loyola Marymount had started. He left immediately.

The band has become so loud at matches the athletic department limited the playing section to 30 members.

``It's like we're watching an Olympic team,'' said senior Lacy Zobel, a band regular who plays the horn. ``Their athleticism is through the roof. They're so tall and graceful. Games only take an hour and a half. They kill the competition. It's so fun to watch.''

Notre Dame coach Debbie Landreth Brown played on the 1976 and 1977 teams that ruled in an era when teams routinely played two or three matches a day. She's seen the Trojans on television and has monitored their matches this season.

``I've seen the scores USC posts week after week and they're very talented,'' Brown said. ``It's very impressive to see not just that they're big but they're tall and talented, agile and quick. They're a well-rounded group.''

Ross, Candelas, Adams, Keao Burdine, Katie Olsovsky, Nicole Davis and Toni Anderson start, but USC's depth is mind-boggling. Alicia Robinson started last year but comes off the bench this year. Also on the bench is Staci Venski, who played on the U.S. youth and junior national teams.

USC can make its case for its place in history with a victory today and another Saturday against either Florida or Hawaii, both of which have one loss this season - to USC.

``I don't think any team has sustained anything like this,'' said USC coach Mick Haley, who coached Texas to national titles in 1981 and 1988. ``We have to finish for that to be totally accurate. I don't know that one has been assembled like this before.''

USC beat rival UCLA three times this season and breezed through the formidable Pacific-10 Conference.

Andy Banachowski has coached 37 years at UCLA and has seen the Trojans then and now.

Something no one has done in this era.

Jill Painter, [phone]

jill.painter(at)dailynews.com

FINAL FOUR

When: Today and Saturday

Where: Reunion Arena, Dallas

Matchups: Today's semifinals - No. 1 USC (33-0) vs. No. 14 Minnesota (26-10), 4:30 p.m.; No. 3 Florida (35-1) vs. No. 2 Hawaii (36-1), 6:30 p.m. Saturday's final - 12:30 p.m.

TV: USC vs. Minnesota - ESPN2, 8 p.m. (tape delayed); Florida vs. Hawaii - ESPN, 12:30 p.m. Friday (tape delayed); Final - ESPN2, 12:30 p.m.

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

(color) USC's volleyball starters are, from left, Nicole Davis, April Ross, Bibiana Candelas, Emily Adams, Katie Olsovsky, Keao Burdine and Toni Anderson.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer

Box:

FINAL FOUR (see text)