Rough seas in store for UCI

The UC Irvine men’s water polo team will be against great odds

next week when the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation playoffs begin.

Factor in UCI’s chances of advancing to the four-team NCAA Tournament

and the Anteaters are the ultimate longshot, the David up against an

incredible Goliath.

UCI will have one more game to prepare for the MPSF Tournament, as

it will take on UC Santa Barbara Saturday at 1 p.m., which will be

the Anteaters’ fifth consecutive road game.

To qualify for the NCAA Tournament, the Anteaters will have to

sweep the tournament. UCI has not reached the NCAAs since 2000, when

the Anteaters won the MPSF title but finished fourth in the NCAA

Tournament.

UCI, led by senior two-meter man Jeff Powers and sophomore Dreason

Barry, is the sixth seed for the MPSF Championship Tournament at the

Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base Nov. 29-Dec. 1. The Anteaters will face No. 3 seed California at 2:30 p.m. Nov. 29. They lost to

Cal, 11-7, last week. If UCI wins, it will most likely take on

Stanford, which defeated the Anteaters, 10-9, last week. The loss to

Stanford was the fourth of the season to the Cardinal for the

Anteaters.

“The champ is going to be who is hot at the right time,” UCI Coach

Ted Newland said of the MPSF Tournament. “We can finish second in the

tourney and still not get in the NCAAs. Anybody can beat anybody in

this tournament any day. But we’ll need some luck against Cal.”

Most coaches in the MPSF would agree with Newland, who also said

the MPSF is the most tightly contested its ever been. The team that

wins the MPSF always goes on to win the NCAA Tournament, just like

Stanford did last year and UCLA the year before.

“We could get hot, you never know,” Newland said. “Stanford has

the best chance to go. They’ve only lost two games all year. Their

record is the best. If they don’t win it all they’ll still probably

get picked as the at-large team. If you’re in the MPSF and you’re not

Stanford you have to win out to go on to the NCAAs. It’s going to be

fun next week.”

* UCLA, which features Newport Harbor High product Peter Belden

and former Corona del Mar standout Michael March, opens the

tournament facing rival USC, which includes Newport Harbor product

Robert Weiner. The Bruins face the Trojans at 1 p.m. Nov. 29.

Stanford, coached by former UCI All-American and former CdM head

man John Vargas, will take on University of the Pacific at 5 p.m. The

winner will take on the winner of the UCI-Cal matchup. UCI features

defensive stud Garrett Gentry, a former CdM standout.

UC Santa Barbara, which has freshman Sherwin Kim, a CdM product,

starting at goalie, will kick off the tournament, meeting Long Beach

State at 10:30 a.m.

* This could be a disappointing weekend for Chanda McLeod, or it

could be one of the greatest for the senior leader of the UCI women’s

volleyball team. Last week, McLeod injured her back while she was

warming up to play against Long Beach State. She called it the most

painful injury of her life. Of course, she said she has been blessed

because she has never had to deal with a serious injury throughout

her playing days.

McLeod, who will be honored along with teammate Rebecca Larsen on

senior night before Saturday’s match against Utah State, practiced

only one day this week, with the hopes of playing Friday and/or

today.

“It’s really hard to have to sit out and watch my teammates

practice,” said McLeod, who is third in the UCI season records for

service aces with 44 this season. “It’s really hard not being able to

help them. I’m not used to sitting out. I haven’t been injured, I’ve

been lucky. It’s been hard emotionally and physically.”

* UCI sophomore Kelly Wing became UCI’s all-time season kill

leader last weekend. The outside hitter’s fourth kill in Crawford

Hall against Long Beach State was the record-breaker, as she passed

current AVP pro Ali Wood’s 1989 record of 491 kills. Wing has amassed

517 kills this season and a career total of 818, which puts her

eighth in the career records.

* UCI women’s water polo coach Julie Swail won the 2002

International Triathlon Union Triathlon World Championship Nov. 13 in

Cancun, Mexico. Swail not only won her age group, but also defeated

every other women’s amateur competitor. She completed the 1.5k swim,

40k bike, and 10k run in 2 hours, 8 minutes, 45 seconds.

“I loved every minute of the event,” Swail said. “From getting to

meet all of the other athletes from around the world, to the bond

with the other American athletes, to the beautiful weather and

location, to the grueling competition.”

The UCI women’s water polo team opens its season Feb. 2, playing

at the University of Redlands Invitational.