‘Eaters Wing it

The UC Irvine women’s volleyball team, on the heels of Thursday

night’s upset loss at Idaho, responded well on the road Saturday

night as Coach Charlie Brande’s squad swept Utah State, 30-27, 30-23,

37-35 in Big West Conference action at the Smith Spectrum in Logan,

Utah.

After a wild third game, Kelly Wing finished with a match-high 15

kills for the Anteaters, while adding 11 digs. Sami Cash contributed

14 kills, four block assists, one stuff block and one service ace for

UCI (14-4, 5-1 in the Big West). Dana Kurzbard, Terbrie Taylor and

Amanda Vazquez each pounded home 10 kills for the winners, who play

again next Saturday at Long Beach State. Setter Ashley Bain recorded

54 assists for UC Irvine.

Utah State fell to 9-6, 2-3.

UC Irvine splits pair

* WATER POLO: The UC Irvine men’s water polo team split its two

games in the first day of the Northern California tournament at

Stanford Saturday. The ninth-ranked Anteaters opened with a 7-6 win

over No. 8 Loyola Marymount, then lost to No. 1 USC, 9-7. With the

loss, UCI will head into the consolation bracket, facing No. 6 UC San

Diego at 8 a.m. today.

In the win over LMU, Nate White scored what proved to be the

game-winning goal with 40 seconds remaining in the third quarter to

give the Anteaters a 7-4 lead and UCI held off the Lions. Rick Merlo

led the Anteaters with two goals in the second quarter as UCI built a

5-3 halftime lead. A goal by Chris Peters with 3:57 left in the third

quarter extended the lead to 6-3. Joe Wynne had five saves in goal

for the Anteaters.

Endre Rex-Kiss led the Lions with three goals.

In the loss to USC, Dan Noon, Chris Peters and Rick Merlo scored

two goals apiece. Merlo’s second goal of the game at 3:21 of the

fourth quarter drew the Anteaters to within one at 7-6, but

back-to-back goals by Juraj Zatovic and James Shin sealed the win for

the top-ranked Trojans. Zatovic and Shin scored three goals each to

lead USC.

Joe Wynne had four saves for the Anteaters and Bozidar Damjanovic

had seven stops for USC.

*--*

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA TOURNAMENT First round

UC Irvine 7, Loyola 6

Score by Quarters

UC Irvine 2 3 2 0 -- 7

Loyola Marymount 2 1 2 1 - 6

UCI - Rick Merlo 2, Peters, Noon, Bitter, Garcia,

White. Saves -- Wynne 4. LMU - Rex-Kiss 3, Smith,

Chapatte, Wagner. Saves - Elliott 5.

*--*

*--*

Second round

USC 9, UC Irvine 7

Score by Quarters

UC Irvine 2 1 1 3 -- 7

USC 1 2 3 3 - 9

UCI - Noon 2, Peters 2, Rick Merlo 2, Hutten.

Saves -- Wynne 4. USC - Shin 3, Zatovic 3, Hadar

2, Damjanov. Saves -Damjanovic 7.

*--*

Zipprich scores lone goal

* SOCCER: Vanguard University earned a 1-0 win over The Master’s

College in Golden State Athletic Conference women’s soccer action

Saturday. The host Lions, 7-3 overall, have won six consecutive

games, four coming by scores of 1-0.

The Master’s dominated the first 20 minutes of play. The Lions

took the lead in the 22nd minute when Stacia Hoover delivered to

Jenifer Zipprich, who was in motion. Zipprich used her quickness to

dribble by the remaining Mustang defenders and beat the goalkeeper,

finishing the goal in the upper-left corner.

CdM finishes fifth

* VOLLEYBALL: Corona del Mar High’s girls volleyball team finished

fifth out of 16 teams at the Capistrano Valley tournament Friday and

Saturday.

The Sea Kings (9-6) went 1-1 Saturday, defeating Lakewood in the

fifth-place match, 25-20, 25-20, 25-20, but losing to Edison, 20-25,

25-22, 23-25, 19-25.

Alexine Rodenhuis had four kills and five blocks against Lakewood

while Ashley Bill added five digs and four assists.

Jordan Smith had 11 digs with Britta Nielsen adding eight digs in

the loss to the Chargers. Lauren Snell added three blocks and Lindsey

Ensign led with 16 kills. Mackenzie Conover tallied 22 assists.

CdM went 2-1 in play Friday.

The Sea Kings defeated Tesoro, 25-19, 25-20, and then downed

Fountain Valley, 25-11, 25-20, before losing to Dana Hills, 25-21,

18-25, 10-15.

Smith, Ensign and Nielsen were the kill, dig and assist leaders

for CdM, which hosts San Clemente at 5 p.m. Wednesday in a nonleague

match before the Pacific Coast League opener against host Tesoro at

5:30 p.m. Thursday.

DeHaas paces Vanguard

* VOLLEYBALL: Keri DeHaas piled up a match-high 20 kills,

including her eighth in the third game to conclude the match, as host

Vanguard University swept Azusa Pacific, 30-28, 30-27, 30-28, in

Golden State Athletic Conference women’s volleyball action Saturday

night.

Marissa Cothran paced VU with 46 assists. It was Vanguard’s first

victory over Azusa Pacific in five years.

Vanguard men defeated

* SOCCER: The Master’s College edged the Vanguard men’s soccer

team, 1-0, in overtime Saturday night, ending the Lions’ three-game

winning streak. The Mustangs’ goalie, Ryan Burton, stopped a penalty

kick by VU’s Matt Hess late in the second half.

UCI men ranked 23rd

* GOLF: Coach Paul Smolinski’s UC Irvine men’s golf team is

currently ranked 23rd nationally in the latest Golfstat rankings.

The Anteaters are coming off the team title in the Northwest

Collegiate Classic at Trysting Tree Golf Club in Corvallis, Ore.,

Sept. 25-26.