Usa Volleyball

Cody Caldwell, a recent Newport Harbor High graduate, continued his stellar year as he was named MVP of the 18 Open Gold Division at the 2011 USA Volleyball Boys' Junior National Championships, formerly the Junior Olympics, in Minneapolis, Minn. Saturday. Caldwell and the Costa Mesa-based Balboa Bay Volleyball Club went 11-0 to win the 18 Open Gold Division title. Spencer Haly, a recent Corona del Mar graduate, was named to the all-tournament team, as were Zachary Lacavara and Taylor Hammond of BBVC.

On the Sage Hill School volleyball court is where Kent Kawaguchi feels at his best. It makes sense why he invited the entire student body sitting on the bleachers down to the court on Monday. The junior wasn't in his usual volleyball outfit, shorts and T-shirt. He wore a collared shirt and tie with gray pants to this gathering, nothing too fancy or casual. Students made their way down to listen to what Kawaguchi had to say on this morning. More than 400 students stood around him in a circle.

PHUKET, Thailand — Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh reached another watershed mark in their careers Sunday when the team tied the record for international beach volleyball gold medals. May-Treanor and Walsh defeated fourth-seeded Nicole Branaugh and Elaine Youngs, 21-18, 16-21, 15-13, in the first all-American women’s final on the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball circuit since August 2005. In doing so, the three-time world champions and reigning Olympic champions won their 31st FIVB world tour gold medal, tying Brazilians Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede for the most world tour golds of all time.

Corona del Mar High graduate Juliane Piggott, headed to UCLA, and Sea King Gus Ellis were both named to the 18 Open All-Tournament Team at the recently completed USA Volleyball Junior Olympics. The girls' competition was in Minneapolis, Minn., with the boys playing in Atlanta. Both players helped their team to bronze medals for third-place finishes. Piggott, an outside hitter, and fellow CdM graduate Kelly Christian, a setter who is University of Washington-bound, played for the TCA 18-Third Degree team.

Trent Jackson only had enough time to answer his phone before his plane took off from Dallas on Thursday night. The coach and players from his boys' team, the Balboa Bay Volleyball Club 14 Hurley, couldn't talk. It was understandable, and they really didn't have to say much, anyway. That's because Balboa Bay let its play do the talking at the USA Volleyball Junior National Championships by winning the gold medal in the 14-year-old open division in Dallas. Balboa Bay claimed the title after sweeping Pacific Palisades Quiksilver, 25-19, 25-18, in the best-of-three format.

The UC Irvine men's basketball team's gaping hole in the middle left by the transfer of three-year starter Eric Wise to USC looks a little less huge with Coach Russell Turner's announcement Monday of the addition of Fresno State transfer John Ryan. Ryan, a 6-foot-10, 250-pound center, played in 17 games for the Bulldogs as a freshman last season. He produced 19 points, 18 rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots. He will sit out the 2011-12 season, per NCAA transfer rules, then have three years of eligibility remaining for the Anteaters.

To say Hayley Hodson had a busy summer playing volleyball would be more than a bit of an understatement. If she wasn't at USA Volleyball High Performance team tryouts in Colorado Springs, she was competing in the Junior Olympics in Columbus, Ohio, helping her TStreet Volleyball Club 17-and-under team win bronze in the open division along with Corona del Mar High teammate Alexis Cage. If you missed her there, you could find her in Europe competing with the USA Youth National Team, or in Mexico at a NORCECA competition.

Former Newport Harbor High standout Kirby Burnham and UC Irvine starters Aly Squires and Kristin Winkler are among 48 players selected to participate in the U.S women's national A2 volleyball team program this summer. Burnham, a 6-foot-3 outside hitter at USC, started seven matches for in 2011, helping the Women of Troy reach the NCAA semifinals, where they were defeated by Illinois to finish 29-5. Burnham had 72 kills, five aces and nine block assists as a sophomore. Winkler, a junior libero in 2011, led the Anteaters with 573 digs, while Squires, a 6-1 outside hitter, led UCI with 372 kills.

The UC Irvine women’s volleyball team has been picked to finish second in the Big West, according to the preseason coaches poll announced Tuesday by the conference office. The Anteaters, under first-year head coach Paula Weishoff, received three first-place votes and a total of 73 points and sit two points behind conference favorite Long Beach State (75). Cal Poly was selected to finish third with 62 points and received two first-place votes. Pacific was picked to finish fourth, followed by UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Fullerton.

UC Irvine women's volleyball coach Paula Weishoff will join the United States women's national team as an assistant coach, Team USA Coach Hugh McCutcheon announced Tuesday. Weishoff, who will remain the coach at UCI, joins Team USA on May 1 and will remain in that role through the 2012 Olympic Games. "She is a wonderful volleyball coach and we expect her knowledge and experience to be invaluable," McCutcheon said. "We could not have hired a better person for this job. " Weishoff, a three-time Olympian is considered by some the greatest indoor player this country has ever produced.