OCC topples Irvine Valley

In a battle of two of the state’s top three powers, the visiting

Orange Coast College women’s volleyball team defeated Irvine Valley,

33-35, 30-25, 30-28, 30-25, in Orange Empire Conference action

Wednesday night to remain undefeated and break the Lasers’ six-match

unbeaten streak.

Donka Drozd led the Pirates, ranked second in the state, with 25

kills while setter Amber McCarthy finished with 67 assists and 11

digs. The Lasers, No. 3 in the state, led, 15-13, in the fourth game,

but couldn’t hold on as Brenda Bailey’s block gave OCC (7-0, 2-0 in

the OEC) the lead for good at 18-17.

Babel leads Vanguard

* SOCCER: Mark Babel scored his first goal of the season and it

proved to be the difference as host Vanguard University’s men’s

soccer team defeated Point Loma Nazarene, 1-0, in a Golden State

Athletic Conference game Wednesday that was postponed from 3 p.m. to

4:30 p.m. because the Sea Lions were caught in a traffic jam on the

freeway.

Matt Hess took a pass from Armando Ortiz and one-timed it to Babel

for the winning goal in the 80th minute.

Tommaso Bianchi earned his fifth shutout of the season with six

shots for Vanguard (10-4, 3-1 in the GSAC).

VU falls to Point Loma

* SOCCER: Point Loma Nazarene University, ranked No. 15 in the

NAIA, shut out Vanguard, 1-0, in Golden State Athletic Conference

women’s soccer action Tuesday evening at VU. The win lifted PLNU’s

overall record to 9-0-2, while the Lions dropped to 7-4.

Point Loma’s only goal came 22 minutes into the game as the Sea

Lions found a crack in the Vanguard defense and took advantage. A

corner kick and several headers set Sea Lion senior Michelle Thuotte

up for the play.

Thuotte was in the right place at the right time and sent a volley

over the VU goalie for the eventual game-winning goal, almost exactly

halfway through the first half of play.

The Lions created offensive opportunities but could not penetrate

the PLNU defense. Tara Curtis recorded five saves and the shutout in

goal for the Sea Lions, who improved to 1-0-2 in GSAC.

Vanguard had won six games straight, but drops to 2-1 with its

first GSAC loss. The Lions travel to Hope International at 7 p.m.

Saturday.

Hutton Lion of Week

* SOCCER: For the second week in a row a freshman from the

Vanguard University women’s soccer team has been chosen as Lion of

the Week -- Heather Hutton.

Hutton has assisted the Lions in streaking to four straight wins,

all by shutout, in the past two weeks.

In last week’s play, Vanguard ousted Region II opponents Cal State

Monterey Bay and Bethany College, 1-0 and 6-0, respectively.

Hutton dominated the opponents in the Bethany game as Vanguard

improved to 5-3 with the win.

The 5-foot-7 midfielder converted two goals and collected her

team-leading seventh assist of the season.

She is now second on the team in goals with four this year, and

tied for the most total points with 15.

Won paces UCI women

* GOLF: The UC Irvine women’s golf team finished in a tie for

fourth place at the olorado/Heather Farr Memorial at the Omni

Interlocken Golf Course in Broomfield, Colo., Tuesday.

The Anteaters shot a second-round 309 to finish the 36-hole

tournament with at 610. Idaho shot 5-over 293 Tuesday to tie the

Anteaters for fourth. Portland State won the tournament title, going

from third to first with a 593 (303-290), four strokes ahead of

first-round leader San Diego State (597) and eight ahead of Denver

(601).

Idaho’s Cassie Castleman, who was in 18th after Monday’s first

round with a 4-over-par 76, carded a tournament-record 65 to win the

sixth annual tournament.

UCI sophomore Angela Won led the ‘Eaters with a 17th-place finish,

shooting a two-day total of 150 (74-76). Junior Shelly Raworth was

18th after carding a season-low 152 (75-77). It was Raworth’s fourth

career top-20 finish.

Minnie Choi had a two-round total of 153 (76-77), placing 23rd,

while Channing Lovejoy finished 29th with a 155 (76-79).

Reana Yun was 81st with a total of 171 (87-84).

‘Eater men eighth

* GOLF: The UC Irvine men’s golf team finished eighth in the Club

Glove Intercollegiate tournament that concluded Tuesday at the

Saticoy Country Club in Somis.

Host Pepperdine won the 54-hole tournament with a total of 871, 11

shots better than runner-up Arizona State (882). UCI finished at 907.

Pepperdine’s Michael Putnam was the medalist with a three-round

score of 215 (67-73-75), winning in a playoff against Tulsa’s David

Inglis. UCI’s top performer was freshman Neno Boonyaplanun, who

placed 18th with 222 (74-77-71).

Sophomore Jay Choe was 21st at 225 (74-77-74), senior Vinnie

Poncino was 38th at 230 (76-80-74), and sophomore Will Park

(76-79-78) and freshman Derek Uyesaka (77-77-79) tied for 48th place

at 233.

Thune, Huipe pace VU

* CROSS COUNTRY: Jenny Thune and Liz Huipe paced the Vanguard

University women’s cross country team with top-30 finishes Saturday

at the Willamette Invitational in Willamette, Ore., where the Lions

placed 18th as a team among 260 runners.

Thune (18:28), Huipe (18:36), Christol McDonald (20:23), Bridget

Lonsdale (20:36) and Jennifer Saxton (22:59) are enjoyed

personal-best times in the meet. McDonald finished in the team’s No.

3 spot for the first time this season. Carrie McIntyre was sixth for

VU in 25:24.

In the men’s race, VU competed without Matt Meyer (flu), but

Robbie Jones raced for the first time in two years and came within

seven seconds of the Lions’ top runner, Tony Magana (26:28). The VU

men ended 19th overall, an improvement over last year’s 23rd-place

finish.

After Magana came Mikael Larsson (26:30), Jones (26:35), Erick

Garcia (26:50), John Nelson (27:45), Alex Castro (28:05), Derek

Arnesen (32:10) and Zach Powell (32:27), who made his collegiate

debut.