Anteater

His teammates call him fossil and at age 24, in his sixth year out of high school, UC Irvine senior Daman Starring might have more life experience than all but a few college basketball players. That that experience has not always been good, has only helped forge his character and status as a leader for the Anteaters, who open Big West Conference Tournament play Thursday against Hawaii at approximately 8:30 p.m. at Honda Center. "He has strong belief in himself and strong core values as a person," UCI Coach Russell Turner said of Starring, a second-team All-Big West performer who leads the Anteaters in scoring at 13.3 points per game.

IRVINE - Battle of the Bay contests are usually a big deal in any sport. The Corona del Mar High and Newport Harbor baseball teams turned it up a notch Monday, as the Sea Kings and Sailors played a nonleague doubleheader at UC Irvine's Anteater Ballpark. The teams did their best to take their game to the next level, while saving enough energy and preparing for their respective league openers on Friday. The result was both teams earned a win. CdM (3-3) showed poise with a 7-4 victory in the first game.

MEN'S BASKETBALL UC Irvine 88, UC Davis 85 DAVIS - Sophomore Will Davis and senior Mike Wilder both scored 18 points to lead the visiting Anteaters in the Big West Conference game Saturday. The win secures fourth place for UCI (18-14, 11-7 in conference). The Anteaters will face fifth-place Hawaii in the opening round of the Big West Conference Tournament on Thursday at approximately 8:30 p.m. at Honda Center. UCI split with Hawaii, a first-year Big West member, this season.

IRVINE - It was '80s night at Anteater Ballpark on Tuesday. Very few dressed the part for UC Irvine's baseball game. But in the bottom of the third inning, Cal State Bakersfield starter Taylor Aikenhead showed up throwing in the low 80s. The Anteaters finally undressed him. They collected four hits, half of them for extra bases, and four runs, two on a home run by junior Dominique Taylor. That was all the No. 21-ranked Anteaters needed. They took the lead and never looked back, winning the nonconference game, 6-1. It took the Anteaters (11-2)

IRVINE - Moments after storming the court following UC Irvine's 72-69 Big West Conference men's basketball over first-place Long Beach State on Saturday, numerous Anteater students aimed their cellphones skyward to capture an image of the scoreboard. But years from now, when they gather to retell the story of the ninth home conference victory in nine tries this season, it's the goose bumps, not a photo, that will jump to mind. For 'Eaters Coach Russell Turner, the lump materialized in his throat, as he began to try to relate what the four seniors honored before their final home game have given to his young program.

IRVINE - In a showdown of the nation's men's volleyball elite, two was certainly better than one Friday night. No. 2-ranked BYU consistently came up with more answers than top-ranked UCI, enabling the Cougars to rally for a 22-25, 24-26, 25-23, 25-23, 15-11 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation victory in front of 2,906 at the Bren Events Center. UCI (15-4, 12-4 in conference), which came in on an 11-match winning streak that began after a four-game setback at BYU on Jan. 18, handled the visitors in the opening two sets and held leads of 14-8 and 19-14 in Game 3. But the Cougars (12-3, 11-2)

IRVINE - It took the fourth game of his fifth season to finally find the cleanup spot in the UC Irvine baseball team's batting order. But Ronnie Shaeffer may just linger a while in the four hole, after helping key the Anteaters' 5-3 nonconference win over visiting Cal on Friday. Shaeffer, a former freshman All-American who has since had his ups and downs at the plate, went three for five with the go-ahead run batted in to help No. 25-ranked UCI improve to 4-0. Shaeffer, who redshirted last season after breaking a finger in the 11th game, entered Friday hitting .462.

UC Irvine senior Kristina Smith has been named Big West Conference Player of the Week in women's tennis. Smith is the third straight Anteater to win the award, following Sarah Gong and Ali Facey. Smith won both singles matches and split at No. 1 doubles with partner Franziska Goettsching as UCI downed LSU, 4-3, on Feb. 11, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, 6-1, Sunday. She is 6-3 in singles, including a 7-6 (6), 6-3 win against the LSU rival and a 6-1, 6-0 verdict against Cal Poly.