FINAL FOURLong Beach State will make its...

FINAL FOUR

Long Beach State will make its fourth appearance in five years in the national women’s volleyball final-four tournament when it plays Florida at 4 p.m. today.

Brigham Young and Penn State play in the other semifinal at 6 p.m. at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. The winners will play for the national title at 6:30 p.m. Saturday.

Third-ranked Long Beach (30-2) swept Big West Conference rival Hawaii on Saturday to win the Northwest Regional title. “This is just as sweet as all the others,” Long Beach Coach Brian Gimmillaro said. He is in his ninth year and has a record of 241-72.

The 49ers won the national title in 1989. They were defeated in 1992 by eventual national champion Stanford in the semifinals at the final four. Stanford went on to beat UCLA for the title.

All-American middle blocker Danielle Scott of Long Beach State believes the 49ers are a better team this season.

“It’s nice to win the regional, but it’s just a step to get somewhere else,” she said. “I’m excited, but we still have more games to play.”

Fifth-ranked BYU (28-2) upset second-ranked UCLA, 3-0, last Saturday in Westwood at the West Regional, while No. 8 Penn State (29-3) swept through the Mideast Regional. Ninth-ranked Florida (32-3) upset top-ranked Texas to win the South Regional.

The rankings were compiled by Volleyball Monthly Magazine before the start of the playoffs.

FOOTBALL AWARDS

Awards for backs, linemen and coaches of the year were handed out Sunday at a breakfast at the Long Beach Sheraton honoring players on The Times’ South Coast and Southeast All-Star High School Football Teams.

Brandon Whiting of Poly High in Long Beach, a two-time All-South Coast choice who played on both sides of the line, was named the lineman of the year.

Poly’s DanJuan Magee, a fierce tackler who anchored one of the best defenses in the CIF Southern Section, is the South Coast back of the year.

Willie Donerson, who led Dominguez High to a 10-2 record and into the Division II semifinals, is the South Coast coach of the year.

Jerry Lemon, who made 75 tackles and had eight sacks at nose guard for La Mirada, is the lineman of the year on the Southeast team.

Southeast back of the year is multitalented Greg Ford of Whittier, who spent time at linebacker, fullback and nose guard, while helping Whittier advance to the Division VI championship game.

Veteran Darrell Walsh, who rebuilt a struggling Gahr High program into a playoff team in less than a year after several seasons of being out of coaching, was named Southeast coach of the year.

BASKETBALL BREAK

Long Beach State plays only one men’s basketball game between now and its Big West Conference opener Jan. 5 at New Mexico State. That will be Wednesday in New Jersey against Fairleigh Dickinson.

Forty-Niner Coach Seth Greenberg approves of the layoff.

“It’s finals week and we’ll get a chance to stop and evaluate where we are and what we need to do,” he said.

Long Beach (4-2) has a lot of evaluating to do after a 93-51 loss at UCLA on Saturday. It was the worst loss for the 49ers since Greenberg’s first season in 1990-91 when Nevada Las Vegas beat the 49ers, 114-63.

The cross-continent game against the Knights will be a homecoming for Greenberg, who played basketball at Fairleigh Dickinson. According to acting Athletic Director Dave O’Brien, a native of New Jersey, the road game was arranged to augment a small 49er booster club that has formed in neighboring New York, as well as give Greenberg a chance to return to his alma mater.

The 49er women’s basketball team, meanwhile, plays host to Rice on Tuesday, Western Michigan on Dec. 27 and Colorado on Jan. 2. The women 49ers have a record of 1-3. All games are 7:30 p.m.

ONE BIG TUNA

Joyce Corrigan knew she had a whopper on her hands during a recent fishing outing off the coast of Baja California.

“It felt like I was bringing in a Volkswagen,” the Cerritos resident said of the 304.4-pound yellowfin tuna.

The catch is a pending all-tackle world record for women. The previous record was 254 pounds, set in 1954 off the Hawaiian Islands.

Aboard the San Diego-based Royal Polaris, Corrigan, 49, was using 100-pound test line and a specially designed tuna rod and heavy reel. She baited the hook with a mackerel.

It took just under an hour to bring the fish to gaff. It was landed near Mexico’s San Benedicto Island in an area known as the Lunker Hole.

“I was just hoping the line wouldn’t break,” Corrigan said of the struggle with the tuna.

She has gained a degree of fame in fishing circles, posing for fishing brochures and being interviewed by countless angling publications. Previously, her biggest catch had been a pair of tuna weighing in at slightly more than 200 pounds each.

Her husband, Don Corrigan, was also on the trip. He hooked a black marlin that was estimated to be about 500 pounds. But he said he let the fish go after a good fight because he believes in catch-and-release fishing.

Joyce Corrigan began fishing about four years ago.

BRIEFLY

Biola University basketball Coach Dave Holmquist needs three victories to reach the 400-win plateau. Holmquist, 42, would be the youngest active coach to reach that level, according to Biola officials. He has been coaching 16 years, including 13 at Biola in La Mirada.

SECOND TEAMS

In last week’s editions of The Times, the second teams of the South Coast and Southeast All-Star High School Football Teams were omitted.

The South Coast second offensive unit includes wide receiver Eric Pangelinan (Poly). Offensive linemen are Francisco Pena (Paramount), Jason Powell (Wilson), Hugo Vasquez (Millikan), Carlos Escobar (Lynwood) and Al Gonzalez (Wilson).

The backfield includes Ryan Mathews (Cerritos), Don Scott (Lynwood), Mike Fletcher (Paramount), Anthony Bilbo (Dominguez) and Jay Young (Bellflower).

The kicker is Tyler Tomich (St. Anthony).

The second team defensive unit features linemen Sean Okutsu (St. John Bosco) and Steve Mendoza and Mike Ruffner (St. Anthony).

Linebackers are Sherwin Vigilant (Millikan), William Offer (Lynwood), Don Sams (Jordan) and Keith Silva (Bellflower).

Backs include LaMont Morgan (Poly), Tramale Session (Paramount) and Lenya Lee (Bellflower).

Demond Winston (Artesia) was all-purpose player.

The Southeast second team features tight end Juan Cardreon (Santa Fe).

Linemen are Dan Dixon (El Rancho), Joel Villas (Santa Fe), Danny Huish (Gahr), Hector Salas (El Rancho) and Keith Saarloos (Valley Christian).

The backfield includes George Zedan (Montebello), Ryan Hura (La Mirada), Morris Luevano (St. Paul), Alex Gonzalez (Pioneer) and Kevin Seto (Schurr).

The kicker is Andy Tellez (St. Paul).

On defense, the second team includes linemen Richard Harris (Montebello), David Burrell (Norwalk), Albert Smith (La Mirada) and Ernie Martinez (Gahr).

Linebackers are Moy DeLeon (Warren), Alan Schmidt (Valley Christian), Joey Soto (Pioneer) and Corey Scott (Gahr).

In the secondary are Adolph Esqueda and Joey Hernandez (Montebello) and Danny Labadie (Glenn).