Orloff, Pettis All-Stars

Former UC Irvine baseball standouts Ben Orloff and Eric Pettis have earned spots in Tuesday night's New York-Penn League All-Star game at Staten Island, N.Y.

Both will compete for the National League affiliates team against the American League squad at Richmond County Bank Ballpark.

Orloff is in his second season with the Tri-City ValleyCats and leads the team in batting with a .311 average and 12 stolen bases. The versatile infielder has played at second base, shortstop and third base this season. Orloff, a 2009 All-American at UCI, won the Brooks Wallace Award as the nation's best shortstop that season and also was voted to Lowe's Senior CLASS All-America first team. He was named the 2009 Big West Conference Player of the Year.

Pettis, who is playing this season for the Williamsport Crosscutters, is 7-0 with four saves and a 1.41 earned-run average. Pettis has pitched in 12 games with five starts and has struck out 46 in 442/3 innings. He was a three-time, All-Big West Conference first-team pitcher for the 'Eaters and a two-time All-American.

— From staff reports

Ross, Kessy advance

Newport Harbor High product April Ross will partner with her U.S. women's volleyball teammate Jen Kessy and face fellow Americans Angie Akers and Tyra Turner today in the third round of the main draw of the Otera Open in Kristiansand, Norway, part of the SWATCH FIVB World Tour.

Ross and Kessy, who are seeded fifth, defeated Kjersti Hansen and Mari Berget of Norway in the first round, 21-11, 21-12, in 33 minutes on Wednesday. In the second round, they beat 21st-ranked Ying Huang and Yuan Yue of China, 21-19, 21-18, in 41 minutes.

Ross and Kessy, the reigning FIVB world champions after capturing the 2009 title in Stavanger, Norway, have won all seven previous World Tour matches with Akers and Turner.

Today's meeting will be the first this year between the two teams on the international tour. Akers and Turner defeated their compatriots earlier this season at the Assn. of Volleyball Professionals Nivea Tour event in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for their only win against Ross and Kessy.

The 13th-seeded Akers and Turner advanced to the third round by upsetting fourth-seeded Vivian Cunha and Taiana Lima of Brazil, 21-19, 21-23, 15-11, in 54 minutes in the second round on Wednesday. Akers and Turner won their first-round match over France's 20th-seeded Eva Hamzaoui and Mathilde Giordano, 21-19, 21-5 in 31 minutes.