Briefs: UCI women's volleyball opens on radar

The UC Irvine women's volleyball team received votes in the American Volleyball Coaches Assn. preseason poll for the second straight season.

The Anteaters collected 24 points. They spent nine weeks in the AVCA poll last season, ranking as high as No. 18.

UCI, led by senior outside hitters Kari Pestolesi and Juliane Piggott, who were both All-West Region and All-Big West Conference honorees last season, finished 22-8 in 2009. Coach Paula Weishoff's squad was 11-5 in the Big West Conference, in which it finished tied for second.

The Anteaters are scheduled to open the season Aug. 27 at Washington State.

— From staff reports

'Eaters picked fifth

UC Irvine has been picked to finish fifth in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men's water polo coaches' preseason poll announced Monday.

The Anteaters collected 32 points to sit behind Cal (58), UCLA (55), Stanford (54) and USC (44), respectively, in the nine-team conference.

Cal received nine first-place votes with UCLA and Stanford earning two each. USC, the two-time-defending NCAA champion, collected one first-place vote.

UCI, led by seniors Brandon Johnson and Tom Kruip, comes off a season in which it finished 17-12. It was 3-5 in the MPSF last fall, finishing fifth. Coach Marc Hunt's squad was also ranked No. 5 in the final national poll.

Johnson earned second-team All-American and All-MPSF honors after scoring 49 goals, one fewer than Kruip, who earned third-team All-American recognition.

UCI is scheduled to open the 2010 season Sept. 4 at home in the UCI Invitational.

— From staff reports