UCI women’s volleyball team shocks Pacific

The UC Irvine women’s volleyball team upset 20th-ranked University of

the Pacific, sweeping the Tigers for the first time in the Anteaters’

history, as the host ‘Eaters recorded a 30-28, 30-26, 30-27 Big West

Conference win Saturday at Crawford Court.

The Anteaters (13-3) are off to their best conference start, 4-0

in the Big West, in UCI history.

UCI provided a balanced attack with Kelly Wing (13), Terbrie

Taylor (12) and Sami Cash (11) all in the double-digit kill category.

Wing also provided five service aces to lead all players while Taylor

had a match-high four block assists.

Cash was errorless for the second consecutive night, connecting on

11 of 21 attempts for a .524 average. Setter Ashlie Hain controlled

the tempo of the match, dishing out 47 set assists and recording 14

digs on the defensive end, while libero Brenda Waterman had 15 digs

for the team-high. Pacific fell to 7-4, 2-2.

Sailors win three times

* FIELD HOCKEY: The Newport Harbor High girls field hockey team

earned three victories to win their pool in the Orange County

Invitational at Marina High Saturday.

The Sailors (8-0) did not allow a shot on goal throughout the day

and outscored their opponents, 14-0. Newport Harbor opened the

tourney, which has eight teams, with a 3-0 victory over Bonita. The

Sailors defeated Marina, 3-0, in the afternoon, and then ended the

day with an 8-0 win over Fountain Valley.

Amanda Wittman scored three goals, while Danica Kalmbach, Kristen

Jendrusina and Victoria Swigert, Tiffany Vandersloot, Harrison and

Reese Simmons scored one goal each.

Newport falls to Mitty

* VOLLEYBALL: Senior Alyson Jennings produced 12 kills, 14 assists

and seven digs, but that could not prevent Newport Harbor High’s

girls volleyball team from being swept, 25-10, 25-22, 25-16, by

nonleague host Archbishop Mitty Saturday.

Junior Taryn Tarnutzer recorded nine kills, while junior Kiley

Hall had seven digs and senior Kellie King provided 15 assists for

the Sailors (6-4). Mitty improved to 8-1 on the season.

Lions swept by Sunbirds

* VOLLEYBALL: The Vanguard University women’s volleyball put up a

fight in the third game but could not avoid a sweep by Golden State

Athletic Conference host Fresno Pacific Saturday.

The Fresno Pacific Sunbirds, the No. 2 team in the NAIA, won

30-16, 30-11, 30-23, to remain undefeated at 20-0, 6-0 in the GSAC.

The Lions fell to 7-5, 2-4.

Keri Dehass led Vanguards with six kills, while Kelli Whittaker

had five and Marissa Cothran amassed 20 assists.

VU shuts out Bethany

* SOCCER: The Vanguard University women’s soccer team scored five

goals en route to a 6-0 nonconference victory over visiting Bethany

College Saturday.

The Lions probably could have won by more if it were not for

goalie Terra Bliss who had 28 saves for Bethany, which did not have a

shot on goal.

Heather Hutton scored two goals, one in each half, while Heather

Tape, Ashley DeLoach, Katie Dynice and Amber Waddle added single

tallies for the Lions (5-3). Bethany College fell to 2-3.

Coast teams surging

* CROSS COUNTRY: Orange Coast College’s men’s and women’s cross

country teams each won the team titles at the Orange Coast Classic

Saturday at Fairview Park.

Sophomore Ava Jones won the women’s race in 18:47, the third fastest time in the event’s history, to lead the Coast women to 36

points, 47 ahead of second-place Bakersfield.

The Coast men were just as dominant, tallying 16 points while

Cerritos came in second with 66.

The top four places and 10 of the first 13 men’s finishers were

Pirates, led by individual champion Humberto Rojas (20:24.20). He was

followed by Jose Casillas (20:28.18), David Ojeda (20:32.95) and Art

Diaz (20:36.82).

Sandra Montoya finished third in the women’s race in 19:45.20

while Annie Garton placed ninth (20:34.23). Jessica Huerta finished

11th (20:53.11) while places 13-16 were taken by Pirates featuring

Ludi Valdez (21:00.52), Emilie Vo (21:08.21), Jane Alder (21:09.22)

and Sarah Delano (21:09.81). Jennifer Swila ran to 20th place in

21:19.12.

Newport boys improve

* CROSS COUNTRY: The Newport Harbor High boys cross country team

finished seventh and with a better team time by almost a minute than

the previous year at the Huntington Beach Invitational that had 18

teams Saturday.

Junior Nick St. Andre finished 19th (17:10) to lead the Sailors,

while sophomore Kenny Rakestraw finished 22nd (17:16) and was

Newport’s No. 2 runner. Senior Nick Miller, the top runner for the

Sailors, did not compete because he was testing for the SAT.

Martin Bernard, who finished 41st (18:12), Mike Donald, 47th

(18:21) and Adam Mayfield, 63rd (18:59), also contributed for the

Sailors, who ran for the first time as a team this season. Before

they were competing in class divisions and not in varsity team

competition.

Newport will take the week off and use Saturday’s Harbor Heritage

Run for training purposes.

Zich leads Eagle boys

* CROSS COUNTRY: Senior Matt Zich led the Estancia High boys cross

country team to a seventh-place finish in 16:53 at the Huntington

Beach Invitational on Saturday. Junior Alex Cahuantzi, who has

overcame nagging injuries which plagued his track and field season,

finished 10th (16:57).

Senior Panfilo Elias, who finished 40th in 18:10, senior Geovani

Rodea, 24th (19:06), senior Martin Diaz, 88th (20:00) and Julio

Agama, 93rd (20:24), also contributed to the Eagles’ performance.

Chandy tops for Sage

* CROSS COUNTRY: Sage Hill School’s Zach Chandy finished seventh

in the sophomore boys race in 17:15, while classmate Tim Lefler

placed 14th in 17:47. Nick Gross ran in 18:43 to finish 40th.

Tristan Cordier ran in 17:52 to finish 23rd in the junior boys

race while Chris Chiboucas placed 30th in the senior boys event.

“We were a little tired from a hard week of training, so we

weren’t quite as fast,” Sage Hill Coach Nate Miller said. “But in

general, it was a good effort.”

Sage Hill faces Capistrano Valley Christian in an Academy League

dual meet at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday at Mason Park in Irvine.

CdM finishes 14th

* WATER POLO: The Corona del Mar High boys water polo team (3-6)

finished 14th in the South Coast tournament after defeating

University, 13-7, but losing to Esperanza, 16-8, Saturday.

Lions maim Warriors

* SOCCER: A first-half hat trick by Vanguard forward Matt Hess

triggered a 7-0 first half lead by the Lions over San Jose Christian.

VU continued to dominate the second half and ended with a 15-0

victory on Friday over the NAIA Region II opponents.

Matt Hess scored his three goals in under 27 minutes, and rested

the remainder of the period while his teammates continued with a

barrage of shots toward the Warrior goal. Aaron Rossi, Christopher

Swift and Nathaniel Kramer each recorded their first goals of the

season, while Armando Ortiz added a goal and an assist. Mark Babel

and David McAulay picked up two assists apiece in the half.

Athletes earn kudos

* HONORS: UC Irvine women’s soccer goalkeeper Marissa Welliver has

been named Big West Conference Co-Player of the Week after posting

back-to-back shutouts.

Welliver, a freshman, helped the Anteaters (5-2-2) tie USC Sunday,

0-0, holding the Women of Troy scoreless through two halves and two

overtimes.

She also anchored the defense in a 2-0 victory over Boise State

Friday and takes an 0.35 goals-against average into Sunday’s clash

with visiting Nevada. With five shutouts this season, Welliver ranks

eighth on UCI’s all-time list.

Jenifer Zipprich, among five freshmen starters on the Vanguard

University women’s soccer team, has been selected VU’s Lion of the

Week and Player of the Week for the Golden State Athletic Conference

and the NAIA Region II.