UC IRVINE / MIKE REILLEY : Coach to Adopt Look of Champion

Drastic times call for drastic measures, which is why Irvine men’s tennis Coach Steve Clark promised his players he would change his appearance if they won the Big West title last weekend at Ojai.

The Anteaters delivered, scoring 51 points to win their second-consecutive conference championship.

So, did Clark deliver on his promise? A haircut? Shaved head? An Anteater tattoo?

“I’m supposed to get a loop earring for a week,” Clark said. “The players have had a couple days off and they haven’t seen me yet. The next time they see me, I better have it.”

The championship was Irvine’s sixth conference title in the last seven years and ninth out of 12. The Anteaters won six of nine flights at Ojai, including all three doubles finals.

Sophomore Fred Bach was a repeat winner in Flight 3 singles, sophomore Carlos Bustos won Flight 4 and freshman Julian Foxon won Flight 6.

In doubles play, senior Aaron Stolpman and sophomore Chris Tontz won Flight 1, Bustos and Randy Ivey won Flight 2 and Bach and Foxon won Flight 3.

“Our guys were pretty pumped up,” Clark said. “If we ever win nationals, I’ll shave my head balder than a basketball.”

The tournament ended Irvine’s regular season, but the Anteaters hope to qualify as a team and individual selections for the NCAA championships May 14-23 in Athens, Ga. Regional selections are Monday.

Clark said he thinks Stolpman has a good chance at qualifying in singles and in doubles with Tontz.

The Anteaters are ranked 22nd nationally, but the top 20 teams go to the national tournament.

“We’re giving it our best shot,” Clark said. “We beat some good teams this season, so we have a good chance.”

“We had a couple losses that might hurt us, but we won the conference so decisively, and that should help. A lot of it is determined by the region, and we’re in the strongest region in the nation. You know teams like USC and UCLA are going.”

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Volleyball: Several former Orange County high school players will be competing in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championships, which start today at the Bren Center.

The division championship will feature top-ranked UCLA against second-ranked Stanford at 7 tonight, with the winner earning an automatic berth to the NCAA final four May 7 and 8 at UCLA. Mike Diehl, an Edison High graduate, leads UCLA.

First-round matchups today include Pepperdine (seeded No. 3) against No. 8 San Diego State at 11 a.m., No. 4 Cal State Northridge against No. 7 USC at 1 p.m., No. 5 Cal State Long Beach against No. 6 Brigham Young at 4 p.m.

Long Beach is led by senior Brent Hilliard, a Dana Hills High graduate who played on the 1992 U.S. Olympic team. Edison High graduate Karl Van Reusen also starts for the 49ers.

Former Corona del Mar standouts Ty Price and Jason Perkins start for USC, and defending NCAA champion Pepperdine features former Laguna Beach player Dain Blanton and former Marina standout Duane Cameron.

UC Irvine (2-20 overall) finished last in the conference with a 1-18 record and didn’t qualify for the tournament.

The semifinals are scheduled for 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Friday, and the finals are 7 p.m. Saturday. The winner of Saturday’s match earns an at-large berth to the NCAA tournament.

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Add volleyball: Junior Chad Milling, a 6-foot-7 middle blocker from Poway, set school records for block assists in a match (12 against Loyola Marymount) and in a career (202). His mark of 79 block assists last season was second on the school’s all-time list.

Setter Jason Hinchman, a setter from Dana Hills, moved into second place in the school’s career assists with 1,875.

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Track: Distance runner Buffy Rabbitt graduated from UC Irvine two years ago, but her presence is still strong with the Anteater track and field program.

Rabbitt, a five-time All-American in cross-country and track, set an example by winning the 1,500 meters in 4 minutes 20.76 seconds and finishing second in the 800 in 2:11.84 last weekend at the Nike-Irvine Invitational.

Rabbitt, who competed for Nike Coast at the meet, trains a few days a week with the Irvine runners.

“She has been all over the Irvine history books,” Irvine Coach Vince O’Boyle said. “You could put her in the same category with Steve Scott.

“It’s super to have someone like her around. It’s inspiring for our runners, especially the younger ones, to see come out here and bust her butt a couple times a week.”

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Golf: The Anteater men’s team hopes to improve on last season’s seventh-place finish at the Big West championships Monday and Tuesday at Spanish Trail Country Club in Las Vegas.

Sophomore Steve Holmes leads the Anteaters with a 75.48 stroke average and has been their top finisher in the last three tournaments.

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Lacrosse: Irvine’s club team finished first in Division II in the West Coast Lacrosse League, beating Arizona State, 14-10, in the last regular-season game. The Anteaters (9-5, 7-1 in division) are top-seeded entering the WCLL playoffs this weekend at UC San Diego.

Seven Irvine players made the all-star team: Jon Fox, Tony Falati, Paul Balagot, Steve Zurfluth, Eric Norquist, Tom Sakaguchi and Barkly Sive.

Notes

As of Tuesday afternoon, Georgia Tech’s basketball office still hasn’t received a signed letter of intent from New York City prep star Ed Elisma. Elisma, who averaged 12.5 points and 16.5 rebounds for LaSalle Academy, turned down Irvine and committed to Georgia Tech last week.

The Big West track and field championships will be May 7-8 at Irvine’s track stadium. . . . Irvine’s volleyball clinics for boys and girls are scheduled for July 12-16 and July 19-23 at Crawford Hall. Each camp is 9 a.m. to noon each day. The cost is $110 per player. For more information, contact Mike Puritz at 714-856-7218. . . . The Irvine tennis camp is offering eight clinics between July 4 and Aug. 22. For more information call 1-800-433-6060.