Briefs: Maly-Karros singled out

Anteaters’ junior forward’s two double-doubles help her earn Big West Player of Week recognition.

UC Irvine junior Mikah Maly-Karros was named Big West Conference Player of the Week in women’s basketball Monday.

Maly-Karros recorded a pair of double-doubles to lead the Anteaters (11-4, 3-0 in conference) to victories over Cal State Fullerton (Wednesday) and Long Beach State (Saturday).

The 6-foot-1 forward had a season-high 26 points and added 10 rebounds in the 70-65 win over the host Titans. She had 14 points in 17 first-half minutes against the Titans to lift the Anteaters to a 35-31 lead at intermission.

She followed that up with her third consecutive double-double, registering 25 points and 11 boards in the 77-59 home win over Long Beach State.

Maly-Karros was 10 for 13 from the field against the 49ers (76.9%), and made all four of her free-throw attempts. She also blocked two shots 32 minutes.

For the week, Maly-Karros averaged 25.5 points and 10.0 rebounds while shooting 57.6% from the field. Her 10 double-doubles lead the conference and rank No. 3 nationally.

A first-team All-Big West performer last season, she is averaging 19.2 points and 10.1 rebounds this season.

UCI, 7-0 at home this season, plays host to UC Santa Barbara on Thursday at 7 p.m. and Cal Poly on Saturday at 4 p.m.

— From staff reports

Two Anteaters chosen

Kari Pestolesi and Juliane Piggott, both senior outside hitters for the UC Irvine women’s volleyball team last fall, have been invited to train with the U.S. national team, beginning Monday and continuing through mid-April at the team’s headquarters in Anaheim.

Twelve players will participate in the three-month session, while additional players may be added to the roster during the training block.

Pestolesi, the Anteaters’ first four-time All-Big West Conference honoree, ranks second in UCI annals in career kills (1,602) and digs (1,491). The three-time all-region choice led UCI in 2010 with 2.92 kills per set. She is also expected to see time at libero in Anaheim.

Piggott, a Corona del Mar High product, averaged 2.84 kills per set as a senior, when she led the team with 21 aces. She helped the American A2 Blue capture a gold medal at the USA Volleyball Open National Championships last summer.

UCI Coach Paula Weishoff is an assistant on the women’s national team, which is guided by head coach Hugh McCutcheon.

— From staff reports

Rask earns accolade

University of Pennsylvania junior Erik Rask, a former Corona del Mar High football standout, was named first-team All-Ivy League as a linebacker.

Rask led the Quakers in tackles with 65, including 41 solo stops. He was second on the team with eight tackles for loss and four pass breakups. He was part of the second-best rush defense in the country.

The Quakers (9-1) went 7-0 in the Ivy League for the second straight season.

— From staff reports

UCI trio recognized

UC Irvine seniors Danielle de Seriere and Tanya Taylor were voted first-team Scholar All-American by the National Soccer Coaches Assn. of America.

The duo also were named to the Scholar All-West Region women’s team that included Anteaters junior Lexi Kopf.

The Big West Conference Goalkeeper of the Year, de Seriere tied a conference single-season record with 11 shutouts and boasted the league’s lowest goals-against average at 0.69. The history major leaves with the best career goals-against average (0.80) in UCI history and her 31 shutouts and 271 saves are also tops in school career annals.

Taylor, a criminology, law and society major, was a finalist for the Soccer News Net Player of the Year. The prolific forward was also named Big West Offensive Player of the Year after leading the conference in scoring with 34 points on 11 goals and 12 assists. She was one of nine NCAA Division I players to record double-figure goals and assists this season and concludes her collegiate career tied for third in assists at UCI with 21.

Kopf, a forward, had six goals and two assists. The biology major started in all 24 games for the Anteaters, who went 19-3-2, reached the round of 16 in the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance. The Anteaters also claimed their first conference regular-season title.

To be considered for the award, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.30 grade-point average throughout his or her career, start more than half of all games and be a significant contributor to the team.

— From staff reports

Three ‘Eaters lauded

UC Irvine senior Corey Attaway was named first-team Scholar All-American by the men’s National Soccer Coaches Assn. of America.

Anteaters senior Spencer Thompson and junior Brett Berman were named to the NSCAA Scholar All-West Region team.

Attaway, the lone Big West Conference representative on the All-America teams, is a criminology, law and society major. The first-team all-conference defender had five goals and three assists while also helping UCI register a single-season record 11 shutouts.

Berman, majoring in political science, was fifth on the team with 11 points. The midfielder tallied five assists and three goals in 20 games, helping Coach George Kuntz’s Anteaters (14-3-3) claim the Big West regular-season crown.

Thompson, a business economics major, collected his third consecutive all-conference honor by being voted to the second team this season. Thompson was second on the team with 18 points. He had six goals and six assists.

— From staff reports

UCI’s Goodson shines

UC Irvine junior women’s soccer standout CoCo Goodson was named to the MVPs second team by Soccer America.

Goodson, named first-team All-American by the National Soccer Coaches Assn. of America, helped the Anteaters make their first NCAA postseason appearance in the program’s 27 year history. She led the Big West with five game-winning goals and finished second in the conference with 18 points, scoring nine goals in her first year at UCI after transferring from Texas.

The Anteaters advanced to the round of 16 and set a school single-season victories record by finishing 19-3-2. Goodson, the Big West Defender of the Year, also helped the Big West regular-season champions tie a Big West single-season record of 11 shutouts.

— From staff repo