Kamalani, Poia key Orange Coast sweep

The Orange Coast College men’s volleyball team took down another

Orange Empire Conference foe, this time sweeping host Palomar, 30-20,

36-34, 30-19, Friday.

Sophomore outside hitter Kaimana Kamalani led the Pirates (15-2,

7-1 in the OEC), ranked second in the state, with 15 kills while

Poyer Poia tallied 12.

OCC Coach Chuck Cutenese praised the play of John Hepler, who

finished with eight kills, four blocks and two service aces.

Sophomore libero Matt Skolnik led the Pirates with 16 digs.

Palomar fell to 4-10, 2-5.

OCC hosts Irvine Valley at 6 p.m. Wednesday in the second to last

conference match.

Coast led IVC by a match heading into Friday’s play. The Lasers

faced Golden West, who headed into the match undefeated in conference

and the top-ranked team in the state.

OCC visits Golden West in the conference finale Friday.

Chandy, Barnett double

* TRACK AND FIELD: Zach Chandy and Braden Barnett each claimed two

events to lead the Sage Hill School boys track and field team to

victories against St. Margaret’s and Capistrano Valley Christian in a

three-team Academy League meet Thursday at Saddleback College.

Sage Hill’s girls team lost to St. Margaret’s, 82-64. Capo Valley

Christian didn’t field a team.

Chandy ran the 100 meters in 11.1 seconds and finished the 200 in

23.8.

Braden Barnett took first in the shot put (44 feet, 5 1/2 inches)

and discus (111-0).

Chris Neale claimed the 400 (1:00.9) while both Sage Hill (2-0 in

league) relay teams finished first.

Neale, Ian Dull, Barnett and Matt Sanford ran the 400 relay in

47.6 while Tim Lefler, Dull, Eric Good and Mike Voge claimed the

1,600 relay in 3:58.8.

Sage Hill girls had five individual winners: Elle White in the 400

(1:08), Kelsey Rose in the high jump (4-2), Laura Gordon in the

triple jump (33-7 1/2), Megan Curry in the shot put (25-9) and Amy

Werblin in the discus (74-8).

Rachel Blitzer, Amelia Fletcher, White and Rose won the 400 relay

in 55.8.

Lion of Week shared

* TENNIS: Vanguard University has chosen the women’s tennis team

as its latest Lion of the Week.

The Lions (18-1), ranked third in the NAIA, won their first Golden

State Athletic Conference Championship with a perfect 10-0 conference

mark.

The GSAC title guarantees the Lions a place in the NAIA Region II

tournament and the high NAIA ranking nearly assures them an at-large

berth into the NAIA tournament in May.

Junior Olga Hlushchanka is 17-0 in singles this season and

considered to be among the top players in the NAIA.

Teamed with freshman Amy Brown, the duo is 16-2 in doubles.

Amanda Poynter is 15-0 in singles, while Brown is 14-3.

Seniors Silina Yohner and Sara Bradley are 13-5 and 14-4 in singles, respectively, and, as the No. 2 doubles team, have a 15-3

record.

Junior Alena Votavova is 10-6 at No. 3 singles and, along with

Poynter, has a 14-1 doubles record. Votavova is also 2-0 with doubles

partner Kristen Eichenmuller, who is 3-0 in singles.

UCI’s Poncino honored

* GOLF: UC Irvine senior Vinnie Poncino has been named Big West

Conference Male Golf Athlete of the Month for March.

Poncino finished ninth in the PING/Arizona Intercollegiate and

third at The Highlander Braveheart Classic. Both finishes were tops

among Big West golfers.

The PING/Arizona field included 83 other golfers from top-rated

teams such as Arizona State, Arizona, New Mexico, California and USC.

Poncino was just two strokes off the winning total at the

Braveheart Classic.

This marks the second time this season he has earned the

conference’s monthly award. Poncino leads UCI with a scoring average

of 72.41 through 27 rounds this season.