Sports Desk- UCLA Reaches High Scores Vs. Arizona St.

On Sunday, UCLA Bruins junior Vannessa Zamarripa (pictured here), whose name we always have a hard time spelling, (two rs and one p!), helped her team reach its highest score since the 2004 Bruins squad that won a NCAA Title.

Zamarippa scored a 39.625, which we be the rough equivalent of scoring 36 points in a basketball, and she was thus named both PAC-12 Gymnast of the Week and UCLA Student Athlete of the Week.

Samantha Peszek, Zamarippa's Bruins teammate and who also had a solid meet against the Sundevils, has also been named PAC-12 gymnast twice this season.

The Bruins scored a 198.050 team score over Arizona State, which also had an impressive score of 194.85 in their road meet. Sundevils sophomore Samantha Seaman had a carer-high on all-around with 39.175.

Zamarripa score a 9.925 on both beam and floor; conversely she got a 9.9 on vault.

The Bruins now head to Athens, Ga., which lost to top-ranked Florida in a major SEC road meet last weekend; the Bruins face the Bulldogs (Gym Dawgs) on Friday at 7:30 p.m., eastern time.

In another key Pac-12 meet, Arizona won a home meet over Washington by a score of 195.675-194.925

Freshman McKenzie Fechter, for the visiting Huskies, set a new career on all four events. Fetcher had an all-around score of 39.375. Fechter tied for first on beam with 9.85, and second beam and bars (with 9.85s on each event). Her teammate senior Ruby Engreitz had a season-best 9.825 on bars.

For the home team Wilcats, sophomore Shana Sangston and junior Molly Quirk both a 9.775 on vault, an event that was won by their teammates Abree Cristello and Jordan Williams, who each scored a 9.850.

The 'Cats also had strong nights from seniors Katie Matusick and Britnie Jones.

Sports Desk- Women's NCAA Volleyball Tourney Begins

The Liberty University Flames will have its hands full as the team from Lynchburg, Va., heads up to University Park, Pa., to face four-time defending NCAA champion Penn State on the Nittany Lions' home floor in the women's volleyball match-up on Dec. 2 at 7:30 p.m. For the team, one of the players to watch will be Micha Hancock, the Big 10 Freshman of the Year.

The seedings were announced on Sunday; Liberty is the only Virginia team which made the field of 64. But, the ACC was represented well as four teams made the field, including the Duke BlueDevils, a team that will face the University of Tennessee in Knoxville on Dec. 1st at 7:00 p.m. The game could be the most anticipated one of the first round.

The BlueDevils' team features Ali McCurdy, the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, and her high school teamate from Tampa, Kellie Catanach as well as blocker Chritiana Gray. While the 'Vols have SEC Player of the Year Kelsey Robinson on their team roster.

Other games of interest in the first round include the University of Arizona's game with Michigan State. The Wildcats have libero Emily Helm and Czech hitter Marketa Hanzlova on its roster.

Both the PAC-12 and the Big 10 got many teams in the tournament. Arizona joins UCLA, Stanford, Oregon and California in the field. While the Big 10 has a staggering eight teams, including two top seeds in Illinois and Nebraska.

Among those teams will be the University of Michigan; they play Baylor in Palo Alto, Calif., on Dec. 2 at 4:30 p.m. (eastern time). The Wolverines feature outstanding players in Claire McElheny and Lexi Erwin (we believe she is the player featured in the above image). While the Bears' team includes stand-out Briana Tolbert, a senior from Houston.

Another potentially competitive first-round game appears to be the University of Florida's match with the University of Missouri in Cedar Rapids, Iowa (at Northern Iowa University). One of the Gators' top players Chloe Mann is actually from Gainesville, where the school is located.

Many games are expected to be televised on ESPNU.

SIDEBAR: Since we presume folks in England are mad about soccer, and the United Kingdom is one country where we get many hits, I thought would give a brief run-down of weekend soccer scores from the English Premiere League. The Tottenham Spurs continue to be on a roll as they beat West Bromwich 3-1.

Here is a partial list of the weekend games with their final scores; Manchester City remains five points ahead of cross-town rival Manchester United in the league standings:

Liverpool 1 Manchester City 1
Stoke City 3 Blackburn 1
Chelsea 3 Wolverhampton 0
Manchester United 1 Newcastle 1
Arsenal 1 Fulham 1

Road Trip (Entry 3 of 20)- Duke to Arizona

Hey, we are actually pressed for time today (yes, it does happen from time to time) so no time to give a quick tribute to Elizabeth Taylor (she was great in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf") or tell how you can give a donation to the tsunami earthquake victims in Japan (perhaps redcross.org can help), so we will get to the heart of the matter.....


Today, we are asking you the blog reader, all 19 of you, how far it is from Elmo's Diner on 9th Street in Durham, NC, (there is also an Elmo's Diner in nearby Carrboro which is part of the two-restaurant chain) and Little Anthony's Diner on E. Broadway in Tucson, Ariz.

Duke University, which is located in Durham, plays the University of Arizona, which is in Tucson, tonight at 9:45 p.m. New York Time in Anaheim, Calif, in the NCAA Sweet Sixteen.

It helps that one of the ten most annoying people in world is sitting in close proximity to me at a public library here in Skokie, Illinois*, (to help me get outta here quicker), so is the answer:

a) 32 hours
b) 34 hours
c) 35 hours
d) 36 hours

If you get the answer right, we might get you a cat toy or a yo-yo, but then again, maybe not!

*-We are not actually in Skokie, but my aunt and uncle lived there for many decades and it is where my cousins on my father's side grew up. Olympian Bart Conner supposedly was teammates with my cousin Brent on the high school gymnastics team!