College Roundup: UCI women’s water polo grabs Big West title

WOMEN’S WATER POLO

UC Irvine 10, Long Beach State 7

The host Anteaters clinched their third straight Big West Conference regular-season championship behind four goals from Danielle Warde and eight saves from Jillian Yocum on Thursday.

No. 6-ranked UCI (21-7, 5-0 in conference) has now won five Big West regular-season crowns.

The ‘Eaters led, 3-1, after the first period and were not outscored in any of the three remaining quarters.

No. 10-ranked Long Beach State fell to 18-10, 2-3.

UCI finishes the regular season Friday at 7 p.m. against No. 12 Loyola Marymount at Anteater Aquatics Complex.

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MEN’S TENNIS

Vanguard 5, Concordia 0

INDIAN WELLS — The top-seeded and No. 4-ranked Lions cruised to their second straight Golden State Athletic Conference title and extended their GSAC winning streak to 25 on Thursday at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Juniors Roger Muri and Miguel Saiz Perez, as well as sophomores Daymon Johnson and Filip Burnac won in singles and doubles, while sophomore Stefan Kilchhofer teamed with Muri for a doubles win and was leading in the second set of his No. 1 singles match, before it was halted when the match was decided. Kilchhofer is 20-0 in singles this season.

Sophomore Michael Rjazanov swept 12 games at No. 6 singles for the Lions to improve to 22-0 this season.

Vanguard (18-4), which defeated Westmont, 5-2, in the 2013 tournament final, advances to the NAIA Tournament, May 13-17, in Mobile, Ala.

No. 3-seeded Concordia is 11-9.

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WOMEN’S TENNIS

Vanguard 5, Westmont 3

INDIAN WELLS — The top-seeded Lions prevailed in the title match of the Golden State Athletic Conference tournament on Thursday at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Sophomore Sophie Angner won at No. 2 singles for one of four singles points earned by the No. 8-ranked Lions (16-8), who are 12-0 against GSAC competition this season. Angner is now 18-5 for the season.

Other singles wins were claimed by Vanguard’s Ashley Wao-Udin (No. 4), Michaele Sullivan (No. 5) and Brook Ferslov (No. 6).

Angner and Gabriele Alford earned an 8-3 triumph at No. 2 doubles for the Lions, who advance to the NAIA Touranment, May 13-17 in Mobile, Ala.

No. 11-ranked Westmont, the No. 2 seed, is 11-12.

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UC Irvine 7, UC Riverside 0

The host Anteaters won 72 of 74 singles sets and 24 of 27 doubles sets to close out the regular season with a Big West Conference blowout on Thursday.

Seniors Marivick Mamit, Brooke Schweyer and Franziska Goettsching played their final home match of their careers for the Anteaters (15-6, 7-1 in conference).

UC Riverside fell to 0-18, 0-7.

UCI will be the No. 2 seed in the Big West Conference Tournament that opens with a quarterfinal match on April 25 at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

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BASEBALL

Doubleheader

LA MIRADA — Vanguard split a pair with Golden State Athletic Conference host Biola on Thursday, dropping the opener, 10-9, and winning Game 2, 11-2.

The No. 24-ranked Lions (28-18, 19-14 in conference) have lost six of their last eight and fell to fifth place in the seven-team GSAC, one game behind Westmont and Concordia.

Taylor McKnight homered in each game, drove in four combined runs and scored four times for the Lions, who scored four in the ninth in the opener to close to within one and had runners on first and second when the final out was recorded.

John Collins was five for seven with a home run, two RBIs and two runs in the two games for the visitors.

Ian Sakry and Brett Collins had two hits and one RBI in Game 2, in which starting pitcher Clayton Voechting went six strong innings (one earned run) to improve to 7-4.

In the opener, Nick Rodda, John Schwer, and Brandon Sandoval also had two hits apiece.

Biola is 14-35, 10-23.

After playing host to Bethesda in a nonconference game Tuesday, Vanguard completes the regular season with a three-game home series against Concordia on April 25-26.

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MEN’S TRACK & FIELD

Mt. SAC Relays

WALNUT — UC Irvine junior Tommy Newton-Neal recorded a personal-best in the 3,000-meter steeplechase Thursday night.

Newton-Neal finished seventh of 20 runners in his race with a time of 9:09.81, over 11 seconds faster than his previous best of 9:20.91 that he ran at UCI’s Spring Break Invitational March 21.

His Thursday time of 9:09.81 currently ranks No. 3 in the Big West Conference this season.

Friday’s competition at Mt. SAC begins at 10:00 a.m.

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WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD

Mt. SAC Relays

WALNUT — Freshman Hannah Ruby opened competition for the UC Irvine women’s team Thursday night.

Ruby, UCI’s lone female competitor on Thursday, finished 23rd in her race of the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 11:48.05.

Friday’s action at Mt. SAC begins at 10:00 a.m.