Vikings sweep Mesa in first-round match

The Costa Mesa High boys volleyball team lost to visiting Santa

Monica, 25-18, 25-21, 25-19, Friday in the opening round of the CIF

Southern Section Division III playoffs.

Coach Dave Sorrells said the biggest factor in the loss was Mesa’s

playoff inexperience.

“We’ve played tougher teams this season and we had the best four

days of practice all year,” he said. “That’s what makes it so tough

to loose like this.”

The junior-laden team was led by outside hitter Ryan Bagwell’s 12

kills. Setter Andrew Melcer finished with 28 assists for the

Mustangs, who finish the season 12-5.

UCI in 7th and 8th

* TRACK AND FIELD: UC Irvine’s Aaron Corbett finished fifth in the

men’s pole vault and Orlisha Henlon finished sixth in the women’s

high jump Friday in the preliminaries of the Big West Conference

Track & Field Championships at Anteater Stadium.

Corbett cleared 15-feet, seven inches and Henlon cleared 5-5.

Other top performances of the day by Anteaters were posted by Kim

Harper in the women’s long jump with an eighth-place finish of 18-4

1/4 and Eric Nyberg, who finished seventh in the men’s javelin throw

at 179-2.

The UCI men are in seventh place with 16 points and the women are

in eighth with four.

The UC Santa Barbara women’s team and the Cal Poly men’s squad

lead heading into Saturday’s finals.

The UCSB women have 61 points, Cal State Northridge is second with

55 and Utah State third with 40. The Gauchos had three winners Friday

as Amy Haapanen set conference and meet records in the hammer throw

with a mark of 194-10, eclipsing the previous records of Syretta

Waller of UC Riverside at 189-9 (conference) and Laura Sauoa of Cal

State Northridge at 189-5 (meet). UCSB’s Heather Quinn won the discus

throw with a mark of 160-5 and Megan Lewis placed first in the 10,000

meters in 36:15.06.

Conference and meet records were also set by Cal Poly’s Sharon

Day, who went 6-2 3/4 to win the high jump, passing the previous

mark of 6-2 set by Tayyiba Haneef of Long Beach State in 2001.

In the men’s team race, Cal Poly leads with 60 points, UCSB is

second with 50 and Utah State third with 39. Ben Bruce of Cal Poly

won the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 8:42.11, setting a new meet

record previously held by Frank Bruder of Idaho at 8:44.49 in 1997.

Newport bows out

* LACROSSE: The visiting Newport Harbor lacrosse team fought back

late, bowed out of the playoffs following an 8-6 victory by

second-seeded El Toro Thursday.

The Sailors jumped to a 4-2 halftime lead on goals by Donnie

Hoover, Bobby Ward and Trent Sladics, but the Chargers scored four

straight goals to open the second half to build a 6-4 advantage.

Hoover scored twice more in the second half while goalkeeper

Andrew Morris tallied 11 saves in the third quarter to go with nine

in the first half. Stuart Ashurst and Ben Nesbit anchored Newport’s

defense while Kyle Brown contributed to the Sailors’ last-ditch rally

in the second half.

Anna Bentzer lauded

* TENNIS: UC Irvine senior Anna Bentzer, the Big West Conference

Player of the Year in women’s tennis the last two seasons, has won

the ITA/Arthur Ashe Jr. Award for leadership and sportsmanship for

the West Region.

One of eight regional winners recognized for outstanding

sportsmanship, leadership, scholastic, extracurricular and tennis

achievements, she is a candidate for the national award, announced

May 22 in Athens, Ga.

Bentzer was a first-team All-Big West Conference performer in

singles and doubles as a junior and senior and is UCI’s Big West

Female Scholar Athlete of the Year. She compiled a 92-25 career

record in singles, as well as a 64-48 mark in doubles.

Gregg Wallis honored

* BASEBALL: UC Irvine senior Gregg Wallis is the lone three-time

selection on the ESPN The Magazine District 8 All-Academic baseball

team.

Wallis, a utility man who was hitting .321 with 18 hits and nine RBIs in 24 games this spring, has been used in left field, second

base and at designated hitter. He missed some time with a strained

oblique muscle.

Wallis is the only Big West Conference representative on either

the first or second teams and he is among only 11 baseball players

recognized.

Recipients must be a starter or important reserve, have at least a

3.20 grade-point average, and be at least a sophomore.

Davis to coach USA

* BASKETBALL: Vanguard University women’s basketball coach Russ

Davis, fresh off leading the Lions to a 32-4 season, will serve as

one of the court coaches at the USA women’s basketball team trials

scheduled May 19-22 at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado

Springs, Colo.

Davis, the NAIA Coach of the Year who has compiled a 227-74 record

in nine seasons at Vanguard, was one of four coaches the USA

Basketball Women’s Collegiate Committee selected for the honor on

Thursday.

The trials coaching staff will conduct drills, hold scrimmages and

instruct approximately 57 players who will vie for spots on the USA

under-19 World Championship and World University Games teams.

Davis has led the Lions to six Golden State Athletic Conference

championships, including the last three, and seven NAIA tournaments.

Vanguard reached the quarterfinals of the NAIA tournament last

season, finishing 32-4.

Hartwell paces ‘Cats

* VOLLEYBALL: Former Estancia High standout Kris Hartwell helped

lead Denver-based Johnson and Wales University to the No. 8 ranking

in NAIA men’s volleyball this spring.

Hartwell, a freshman, led the team in kills and service aces. He

had a team-high 24 kills in the Wildcats’ first-round Mid-America

Conference tournament triumph over Peru State College last month.

Johnson and Wales was eliminated in the second round of the

conference tournament by No. 3-ranked Park University.

Hartwell received honorable mention in the all-conference voting

and is a big part of what the Wildcats, with only freshmen and

sophomores on their roster this season, believe is a bright future.

Welch to Indiana

* COLLEGE: Corona del Mar High senior Kevin Welch will continue

his football career at Indiana University, according to his father.

Welch, who is expected to play for the South in the Orange County

All-Star game July 8, was a two-time All-Pacific Coast League

selection for the Sea Kings and was named to the All-CIF Southern

Section Division IX team last fall after grabbing 39 catches for 735

yards and nine touchdowns.

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound receiver will be a preferred walk-on for

the Hoosiers, who are led by new coach Terry Hoeppner.

Hoeppner led Miami of Ohio University to a pair of consecutive

Mid-American Conference East Division titles and bowl game

appearances for the first time in 30 years the last two seasons with

Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback.

Indiana has gone a combined 3-21 in the Big Ten Conference the

past three years and is the only Big Ten team to never win a Rose

Bowl, losing, 14-3, to USC in 1968, the Hoosiers lone appearance in

the Granddaddy of ‘em All.

Senior Courtney Roby (6-0, 190) was Indiana’s leading receiver

last year, catching 55 passes for 810 yards and seven TDs.

Hansen All-American

* VOLLEYBALL: Kevin Hansen, a former CIF Southern Section Division

I Most Valuable Player at Corona del Mar High, was named first-team

All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches’ Association after

completing his senior season for the Stanford men’s volleyball team.

The 6-foot-5 Hansen averaged 12.07 assists per match and finished

with 5,036 in his collegiate career. He is the third Stanford setter

to tally 5,000 or more assists.

Hansen, who led CdM to two CIF championships in his final three

seasons, also earned first-team All-Mountain Pacific Sports

Federation accolades -- the fourth time he has garnered

all-conference laurels.

He finished ninth in Stanford’s career annals in assists per match

(12.85).

Hansen was named to the All-American third-team in 2004.

The Cardinal finished 11-15, 10-12 in the MPSF, this season.

UCI event on tap

* FUNDRAISER: Hundreds of silent and live auction items, live

entertainment, complimentary wine tasting and the Taste of UCI,

offering food from Orange County restaurants, will be featured at the

UC Irvine athletic department’s Sports O’Call social and auction May

21 at the Anteater Recreation Center.

The event begins at 5 p.m. and continues till around 10 p.m.

Admission is $60 per person or $120 for a VIP ticket that includes

premier dinner seating. The event is limited to the first 800 guests.

For information, call (949) 824-5550, or send e-mail to

bgrugger@uci.edu.