David Smith

MEN'S GOLF U.S. Intercollegiate STANFORD, Calif. — The UC Irvine men's golf team finished fourth in the 15-team tournament that concluded Sunday at the Stanford University Golf Course. UCI sophomore Tim Cha finished 11th individually, after shooting 66-73-73—212 in the 54-hole event. Sophomore Sean Shahi (19th at 215), senior Brian Edick (24th at 217), freshman John Chin (41st at 221) and senior Jay Choi (46th at 222) helped the Anteaters post a team total of 862. Stanford (838)

Six area stars collect All-American honors Four seniors who led the UC Irvine men's volleyball team to the program's first national championship have been named Asics/ Volleyball Magazine All-Americans. The magazine's July edition also recognized high school All-Americans Phil Bannan of Corona del Mar High (first team) and Newport Harbor's Kyle Caldwell (second team). UCI's Jayson Jablonsky, a 6-foot-5 outside hitter, and David Smith, a 6-7 middle blocker, were first-team honorees.

June Casagrande Even as the end of her life loomed just around the corner, former Newport Beach Mayor Ruthelyn Plummer kept looking straight ahead, eyeing the future with the anticipation of a young woman with her whole life yet to live. Plummer died Thursday morning from cancer she knew would be fatal. Yet just two weeks before she died, she was having new wallpaper put into her home. She was 79. "She's been such an inspiration to everybody," said Janie Arnold, a longtime friend of Plummer's who stayed close by her side until the end. Plummer had been in hospice care since shortly after she was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer.

PROVO, Utah — While the altitude wreaked havoc on their serving and, to some degree, their hitting, the No. 2-ranked UC Irvine men's volleyball team was thoroughly brought down to earth by a 30-21, 30-22, 30-27 loss to top-ranked BYU Friday night. An overflow crowd of 5,753 at the Smith Fieldhouse witnessed a dominant Mountain Pacific Sports Federation victory for the Cougars (9-0, 5-0 in conference) and a humbling loss for the Anteaters (10-2, 5-2), who committed 20 service errors, hit a season-low .146 as a team, and were bested in the blocking department, 11-5 1/2 . "We haven't played our best volleyball the last couple weeks, but tonight we were just dead terrible," UCI Coach John Speraw said after the Anteaters' second loss in three matches (both sweeps)

IRVINE ? It may have been Matt Webber's birthday on Saturday, but he was the one in a giving mood. The 6-foot-5 junior outside hitter gave the UC Irvine men's volleyball team a match-high 19 kills on his 21st birthday. In the process, he helped the Anteaters rally to defeat Long Beach State, 28-30, 30-21, 34-32, 30-26, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match. Webber, UC Irvine's leader in kills with 441, helped the Anteaters (23-2, 16-2 in conference) down the 49ers in four games for the second time this season.

IRVINE -- A portion of the sizable Long Beach State contingent taunted No. 1-ranked UC Irvine with the chant of "Overrated." Overwhelmed might have been a better word to describe the Anteaters (27-4) after they lost, 30-26, 30-20, 30-23 to the 49ers in the semifinals of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men's volleyball championship Thursday at the Bren Events Center. The Anteaters now must hope their 21-match winning streak to finish the regular season and their 20-2 regular-season conference mark are enough to get them the lone at-large berth in the four-team NCAA Championships that begin Thursday at Penn State.

The neighboring Wasatch Mountains will serve as a majestic backdrop to UC Irvine's pair of Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men's volleyball matches tonight and Saturday at BYU. Both matches begin at 6 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. But it's a mythical mountain the No. 2-ranked Anteaters (10-1, 5-1 in the MPSF) will be trying to summit against the No. 1-ranked Cougars (8-0, 4-0). Just as it did last year, Coach John Speraw hopes UCI can ascend to the top national ranking at the expense of the Cougars.

IRVINE — Brent Asuka has had an up-and-down sophomore season for the UC Irvine men's volleyball team. But things were mostly up after Saturday night's 30-25, 30-24, 24-30, 30-18 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation win over Cal State Northridge at the Bren Events Center. The No. 2-ranked Anteaters' spirits were up after winning their fifth match in a row. And the ball was up off the ground plenty of times after Asuka recorded one of his career-high 21 digs. The 21 digs for the libero from Hawaii, last season's National and MPSF Newcomer of the Year, is No. 2 in UCI's all-time record book for most digs in a match.

IRVINE — Bored is how Coach John Speraw had described his UC Irvine men's volleyball team. The mood troubled the fifth-year coach with the postseason around the corner. "We've got a lot of seniors on the team and that shouldn't be happening," Speraw said. "Maybe I didn't understand how much of an issue it was for us until the UCLA match." For one night, the attitude issue seemed to solve itself a week after allowing the Bruins to come back two games down to win. Those helping correct the third-ranked Anteaters' frame of mind were Speraw's four seniors, Matt Webber, Jayson Jablonsky, David Smith and Brian Thornton.