BRIEFS

DIGIULIO RANKED NO. 2

Joseph DiGiulio of Newport Beach made it to the final of the Winter Super National tennis tournament in Arizona on Jan. 1, propelling the 11-year-old to No. 2 in the country in the United States Tennis Assn. boys’ 12 singles rankings.

DiGiulio, who has also held the No. 1 ranking in boys’ 12 doubles for several months, topped No. 1 seed Jonathan Huang of Santa Ana in the Super National semifinals at Randolph Tennis Center in Tucson, Ariz.

He then fell to Reo Asami of Irvine in the final, 6-4, 2-6, 10-7 in a third-set super-tiebreaker.

“There’s only four [Super Nationals] a year,” said Paul DiGiulio, Joseph’s father. “It’s very rare you see an 11-year-old near the top of the rankings. Joseph has been on a big roll lately.”

DiGiulio also won the California Bowl tournament in Calabasas on Dec. 20 and the Anaheim Junior Tournament on Dec. 2. He did not lose a set in either tournament.

He said it has helped him training since October with the Advantage Tennis Academy, based in Irvine. DiGiulio also takes independent study classes through the academy.

“The extra training has really helped improve my consistency and all-around game,” Joseph DiGiulio said. “My coaches have really helped make me more aggressive and on my serves. That’s helped me in big tournaments.”

DiGiulio and Asami have played each other in plenty of big tournaments, developing a friendly rivalry. And, although DiGiulio was winless in four tries against Asami in 2006, he remains very optimistic for the future.

“The last time I played him, I really thought I could take him,” DiGiulio said. “I have more confidence against him now and I feel like I’ll beat him a lot of times in the future.”

And DiGiulio does appear to still have quite a future. He said the No. 2 national ranking will only help his progress down the road.

“It gives me a lot of confidence going into higher divisions. I know I’m improving and still doing well in the tournaments,” DiGiulio said.

— Matt Szabo

ANTEATERS PICKED THIRD

The UC Irvine baseball team has been picked to finish third in the Big West Conference, according to the 2007 preseason poll.

Cal State Fullerton collected seven first-place votes and 63 points as the Titans claimed the top spot in the poll. UC Riverside (50) was tabbed to finish second while the Anteaters received one first-place vote and 48 points. Long Beach State (43) finished fourth in the voting with Cal Poly (31) tabbed fifth. UC Santa Barbara (23) received the sixth-place nod and Pacific (22) and Cal State Northridge (eight) were selected seventh and eighth, respectively.

UC Irvine, ranked 38th in Baseball America’s preseason poll, reached the NCAA Tournament last season for the second time since the program was reinstated in 2001-02.

The Anteaters ended the season 36-24, recording the highest number of wins since 1980 when it won 37. They also set school records with 107 stolen bases while posting a nine-game win streak, the longest in UCI’s Division I history.

Three All-Big West Conference selections return for the Anteaters as Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year Scott Gorgen and Collegiate Baseball preseason All-American Blair Erickson headline the pitching staff.

Coach Dave Serrano’s Anteaters open the season Feb. 2-4 at Cal.