COLLEGES:

John Speraw, who missed six early season matches while helping the U.S. men’s national team qualify for the 2008 Olympics as an assistant coach, is once again minding the store for the UC Irvine men’s volleyball program.

UCI, the defending national champion, went 3-3 in Speraw’s absence, then lost Mountain Pacific Sports Federation matches to Long Beach State and UC San Diego upon his return.

But the Anteaters appear to have turned things around after topping then-No. 2-ranked Pepperdine in four games Wednesday on the road, then knocking off No. 11-ranked USC in four in another MPSF road clash Friday.

The Anteaters (5-5, 3-3 in the MPSF) moved up one spot to No. 9 this week, when they will play host to UC Santa Cruz tonight at 7 at Crawford Court, then visit No. 4-ranked UCLA (6-3), Friday at 7 at Pauley Pavilion.

Youth appears to be the biggest constant in the ’Eaters’ recent success, though Taylor Wilson, a 6-foot-7 junior opposite, has also stepped up to become the team’s go-to hitter.

Freshman Kevin Carroll, a 6-4 outside hitter has blasted 65 kills in five matches since Speraw and his staff scrapped plans to redshirt the Los Alamitos High product.

Anthony Spittle, a redshirt freshman, has emerged at setter, amassing 68 and 57 assists, respectively, against Pepperdine and USC.

Another redshirt freshman, Cory Yoder, a 6-3 outside hitter, had 14 kills against the Waves and a career-high 16 against USC.

It’s no surprise Yoder had a little extra for the Trojans, against whom he hit .469. His father, Bob Yoder, not only played for USC’s 1977 NCAA championship team, he was also USC’s head coach when it won the 1988 NCAA title.

 When UCI visits Westwood Friday, it will encounter three Bruins who starred at Newport Harbor High.

Jamie Diefenbach, a 6-8 junior middle blocker, is second on the team with 80 kills, including 21 in Friday’s five-game win over Pepperdine.

Brett Perrine, a 6-5 redshirt sophomore, has 61 kills, third best on the roster. He had 13 of those in the Bruins’ surprising five-game loss to archrival USC on Wednesday.

Weston Dunlap, a 6-7 true freshman, has 40 kills this season, which ranks fifth on the team.

UCLA, of course, is the former home of Speraw, who both played for and coached with legendary Bruins’ head man Al Scates.

 The Orange Coast College women’s basketball team needed double overtime to procure a huge victory Friday at home against Saddleback.

Thanks to a career-high 34 points from sophomore Courtney Ford, Coach Mike Thornton’s Pirates, helped maintain their status atop the rugged Orange Empire Conference.

With Friday’s win, OCC improved to 20-3, 4-1 in conference, allowing it to stay ahead of Santa Ana and Fullerton (both 4-2 in conference), as well as Irvine Valley (3-2) and Saddleback (3-3).

Had OCC lost, the defending conference champion, which saw its 17-game Orange Empire Conference winning streak snapped in a 68-56 setback Jan. 16 at Fullerton, would have fallen into a fourth-place tie with Irvine Valley, behind tri-leaders Fullerton, Santa Ana and Saddleback.

OCC, ranked No. 5 in the state and No. 3 in Southern California in the latest poll announced Sunday, defeated visiting Riverside Monday in a game postponed last week due to a leaky gym roof.

The Pirates are at Santa Ana, coached by former OCC point guard Flo Luppani, on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. and at home Friday at 5:30 p.m. against Irvine Valley.

The IVC roster includes Megan Benbow, a sophomore guard out of Corona del Mar High who is averaging 2.9 points per game, as well as Ivy Melo, a 5-4 freshman out of Newport Harbor High.

 The OCC baseball team opened impressively with a three-game nonconference home series against Cuesta Friday and Saturday, winning two games and tying the other.

Not only did the Coach John Altobelli’s squad produce 14 extra-base hits to score its 13 combined runs, Pirates’ pitchers surrendered just two earned runs in 30 innings against a team ranked No. 2 in the Southern California preseason poll.

 UCI senior men’s basketball center Darren Fells was at the epicenter of a physical war contested Saturday night against Big West Conference visitor UC Riverside, producing 10 of his 16 points at the foul line.

And though Fells earned All-CIF Southern Section honors as a football tight end at Fullerton High, he attributes the reason for his toughness to his three brothers, two of whom are older.

Fells said he and oldest brother David, a defensive lineman at UC Davis, and older brother Daniel, now a tight end for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Dwayne, now a high school senior, were part of a household game invented by David.

“During commercial breaks, we used to wrestle each other, to see how much a guy could take before he submitted,” Darren Fells said.

Fells noted the phrase “I give up” was usually sufficient to bring an end to the torture. Usually.

“Depending on what kind of mood David was in, it might have been ‘Who’s your daddy?’ ” Fells said with a smile.

 The OCC men’s basketball team defeated Saddleback, 72-56, Friday to end a season-high six-game losing streak.

Coach Steve Spencer said the Pirates (5-16, 1-3 in the Orange Empire Conference heading into Monday’s home game against Riverside City College) have received consistently hard play from freshman Matt Ching, averaging 6.7 points per game, and 6-5 freshman Brian Helmuth (11.7 points and a team-leading 6.5 rebounds).

Shaun Engle averages a team-high 13.2 points.

BARRY FAULKNER may be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at barry.faulkner@latimes.com.