Sage Hill volleyball rolls on

Senior outside hitter Kevin Joyce slammed a game-high 16 kills to

lead the visiting Sage Hill School boys volleyball team to a 25-11,

25-11, 25-16 nonleague triumph over Calvary Chapel of Downey

Thursday.

Macsun Frederick tallied eight kills while Julian Smith-Newman,

playing his third match since returning from a torn meniscus, amassed

20 assists for Sage Hill (9-1), which committed few serving or

hitting errors, Coach Merja Connolly-Freund said.

The Lightning will rest during spring break next week before

beginning the second round of league play at host Capo Valley

Christian at 5 p.m. April 20.

Lasers edge Pirates

* TENNIS: The host Irvine Valley College men’s tennis team took

two of three doubles sets to defeat Orange Coast, 5-4, in the final

Orange Empire Conference match Thursday.

OCC’s first two doubles teams each won the first set, but both

Laser duos rebounded to post the two key victories.

Mike Hoevel, Richard Nguyen and Mike Truong each won their singles

sets while Truong and Nguyen teamed for Coast’s lone doubles win.

OCC (3-11, 2-8 in the OEC) finishes fifth in conference.

The Pirates will compete in the conference doubles and singles

tournament, which begins Tuesday at Cypress.

*--*

Orange Empire Conference

Irvine Valley 5, Orange Coast 4

Singles -- Hoevel (OCC) def. Mousel, 6-4, 6-3; Fielder (OCC) lost to Pau, 6-3, 6-3; . Duncan (OCC) lost to Moody, 7-5, 6-2; Manus (OCC) lost to Pearce, 7-5, 7-5; R. Nguyen (OCC) def. Fermin, 6-3, 6-1; M. Truong (OCC) def. Roshanzamir, 6-4, 6-3. Doubles

-- Hoevel-Fielder (OCC) lost to Pau-Moody, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3; Manus-Duncan (OCC) lost to Mousel-Pearce, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4; Nugyen-Truong (OCC) def. Fermin-Roshanzamir, 6-3, 6-2.

*--*

‘Eater paces Sri Lanka

* TENNIS: UC Irvine senior Renouk Wijemanne, representing his

native Sri Lanka in the 2004 Davis Cup international tennis

tournament, won singles matches to key victories over Bangladesh

Monday and Iraq Thursday at Al Hussein Sport City in Amman, Jordan.

Wijemanne defeated Sree Roy from Bangladesh, 6-3, 6-1, to help Sri

Lanka earn a 3-0 victory, then topped Nasir Hatam, 6-1, 6-0, to

contribute to a 3-0 triumph over Iraq.

Sri Lanka, competing in Group IV of the Asia/Oceania Zone, is

scheduled to meet Myanmar today and Kyrgyzstan Sunday.

Wijemanne, from Colombo, Sri Lanka, previously competed for Sri

Lanka in the Davis Cup in 1999 and 2001. With his two wins this week,

he has a 7-3 career record in Davis Cup matches, including a 6-1

singles mark.

Other nations competing in Group IV are Brunei, Jordan, Saudi

Arabia, Singapore,Turkmenistan and United Arab Emirates.

Young ends Ball’s run

* TENNIS: Second-seeded Donald Young defeated Corona del Mar High

junior Carsten Ball (the No. 7 seed), 7-6 (4), 6-4, in the

quarterfinals of the boys 18s singles draw in the Easter Bowl

national tennis championships Thursday at the Riviera Resort in Palm

Springs.

UCLA defeats UCI

* WATER POLO: The third-ranked UCLA women’s water polo team jumped

to an 8-2 lead and held strong to defeat host UC Irvine, 9-5,

Thursday in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation game.

Erica Horman led the Anteaters (8-14, 2-7 in the MPSF), ranked

16th, with two goals while Aleah Amr, Erika Ranes and Robyn Kaake

each tallied one goal. Amr’s goal in the second period pulled the

‘Eaters within 3-2 before the Bruins scored the next five goals.

Former Newport Harbor High standout Katherine Belden scored the

Bruins’ final goal.