DAY IN SPORTS: CLU WILL LEARN TODAY WHETHER IT MOVES ON.

Byline: Daily News

Now comes the waiting.

Cal Lutheran, ranked No. 3 in the NCAA Division III men's soccer poll, concluded regular-season play Saturday with a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference-clinching win to enhance its chances of postseason participation - perhaps as a regional host next weekend.

But the Dan Kuntz-coached Kingsmen (14-5) won't know their playoff fate until 7 p.m. today, when the NCAA selection committee announces the four entries for Wednesday's sub-regional tournament and the two automatic seeds into the regional final scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

The CLU players can wait as winners, having secured the school's third straight SCIAC title - and sixth in eight years - with a 3-2 conference win at Claremont.

Oskar Kantoft provided the game-winner with his 13th goal of the season - a rebound shot that capped a three-goal first-half surge - and Charlie Nobel and Scott Porter also scored as the Kingsmen finished 9-1 to Claremont's 8-2 SCIAC record.

CLU's other hopeful: Coach Jim Park's Cal Lutheran women's volleyball team also will learn its postseason fate today, and the Regals (21-2) have good numbers working in their favor after earning the school's fourth SCIAC title with the first 12-0 conference mark of the 1990s.

Monarchs win title: Stephanie Hammer scored three goals and goalie Melissa Minkey had 11 saves to lead Valley College (14-1-1) to a 6-5 win over Ventura (10-9) in the championship game of the Western State Conference women's water polo tournament at Citrus College.

Mustangs advance: Rusty Brooke's game-winning goal got The Master's College past host Christian Heritage 3-2 in the championship game of the Far West Independents tournament, advancing coach Jim Rickard's Mustangs (12-5-3) into the NAIA men's soccer tournament. Christian Heritage finished 15-6.

49ers take title: Misty May had 12 digs and Anja Grabovac 10 digs as the undefeated Long Beach State women's volleyball team capitalized on strong defense to defeat UC Santa Barbara 15-9, 15-5, 15-6 and win the Western Division of the Big West Conference. The 49ers improved to 24-0, 14-0, while UCSB fell to 22-5, 11-3.

In other women's volleyball play, Sarah MCFarland had 10 kills and Jeanette Becker 20 assists as Loyola Marymount (16-7) improved to 7-4 in West Coast Conference play with a 15-4, 15-5, 15-5 sweep of San Francisco (1-23, 0-10).

Trojans hold off Cardinal: Top-ranked USC jumped out to a 6-2 lead and held on for a 15-13 men's water polo win over visiting Stanford. The Trojans, NCAA runner-ups last season, improved to 18-1 overall and 6-1 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

In nonconference men's water polo, Jeremy Pope and Chris Tilden scored three goals apiece to lead defending NCAA champion Pepperdine (8-9) to a 12-6 win over Long Beach State.