A State College man charged with the November attempted rape of a 20-year-old borough woman has been ordered to stand trial in April, a court official said yesterday.

James E. Vanderlin Jr., 30, of 260 Toftrees Ave., appeared before District Justice Ronald J. Horner with a pillow case over his head yesterday during a preliminary hearing in the Centre County Court of Common Pleas, a spokeswoman from the court administrator's office said.

Horner ordered him to stand trial on charges of attempted rape, attempted involuntary sexual intercourse, indecent assault, unlawful restraint and false imprisonment, she said.

A charge of indecent exposure was dismissed, the spokeswoman said.

Vanderlin's charges stem from an incident that allegedly occurred about 5 p.m. last Nov. 27 in a field behind the State College Intermediate High School, 650 Westerly Parkway. Police charge that Vanderlin grabbed a woman from behind as she was walking through the field, and assaulted her.

About two hours after the alleged assault, a man called the State College Bureau of Police Service's emergency telephone number asking if an attempted rape had been reported. The caller was quoted in county court documents as saying, "Well, it was me, and I think I'm going to kill myself."

All calls received on the 911 emergency number are recorded, and on Jan. 9 police requested local television and radio stations to play a tape recording of the suspect's conversation with police.

Within two days, six people identified the voice on the tape as Vanderlin's, police said. Vanderlin, who was described by police as having "a very distinct voice," was arrested at the Centre County Prison in connection with the incident on Jan. 20.

Court records indicate Vanderlin pleaded guilty in Centre County court in another incident to one count of indecent assault in 1981. He was also convicted of robbery in Blair County the same year, court officials there said.

He received a sentence of five years probation in connection with the charges in Blair County. In addition to the probation period, Vanderlin was given a sentence of 1 to 2 years in a state correctional institution as a result of the indecent assault charge, according to court records.

Vanderlin served time in the State Correctional Institution at Rockview and was released on parole, the spokeswoman for Centre County court said. After violating that parole last year he was lodged in the Centre County Prison where he was arrested last Friday, she said.