'Eaters garner respect

The UC Irvine men's volleyball team finished tied for first in the 2011 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation preseason coaches' poll.

The Anteaters and USC each finished with 100 points and three first-place votes in the 12-school conference.

Six teams earned at least one first-place vote, including reigning NCAA champion Stanford (two) and BYU (two). Pepperdine and UCLA received one first-place vote.

Stanford finished third (96 points), followed by Pepperdine (90), BYU (85), Hawaii (83) and UCLA (68).

UCI, which claimed NCAA titles in 2007 and 2009 under Coach John Speraw, finished eighth in the MPSF last season. The 'Eaters were 15,15, 10-12 in conference. They return All-Americans Carson Clark, Jordan DuFault and Kevin Wynne.

UCI opens the season Jan. 7-8 in a tournament at UC Santa Barbara. Its first home match is the MPSF opener against UC San Diego on Jan. 12.

— From staff reports

Locals recognized

Orange Coast College defensive end Bryce Brantley and Santa Ana College quarterback Andrew McDonald, a Newport Harbor High product, have earned first-team All-East Conference honors in football.

OCC placed six players on the second team in the six-school conference.

Brantley, a sophomore, had 9.5 sacks, third in the 37-school Southern California Football Assn. Of his 36 tackles, 12.5 were made behind the line of scrimmage. The 6-foot-5, 255-pounder had 6.5 sacks as a freshman in 2009. His nine solo sacks in 2010 ranked No. 2 in the SCFA.

McDonald, who led the Dons to a 52-43 win over Grossmont in the Beach Bowl on Nov. 20, is a 6-3, 200-pound freshman transfer from the University of Arizona.

McDonald, the Newport-Mesa Offensive Player of the Year as a senior in 2008, helped Santa Ana lead the SCFA in passing efficiency. He completed 167 of 242 passes for 2,196 yards and 28 touchdowns. He threw 10 interceptions. He also rushed for 289 yards and six touchdowns on 60 attempts. He threw for two touchdowns and rushed for another in the bowl win.

McDonald ranked second in the SCFA in passing efficiency, was seventh in passing yards per game and 11th in total offense. The Dons, second in the SCFA in scoring at 38.5 per game, were 10-1, 4-1 in conference.

Freshman tailback Robert Penny and sophomore tight end Jeff Waldron, a Costa Mesa High product, represented OCC (2-8, 1-4) on the second-team offense.

Sophomore strong safety Bryan Pali, sophomore tackle Isaiah Reupena and sophomore outside linebacker Travis McNaughton represented OCC on the second-team defense.