Water Polo

UC Irvine junior Mitch Wise was named third-team All-American for the second straight season by the Assn. of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches. Wise scored 62 goals for the Anteaters in 2012 and ranked seventh in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation with a scoring average of 2.48 per game. Wise, from Beaverton, Ore. has scored 162 goals in three seasons with UCI, which finished 14-12. Junior Bojan Hrlec, who led UCI with 63 goals in 2012, received honorable mention in the All-American voting.

Corona del Mar High twin seniors Stephania and Ioanna Haralabidis hope to help the Sea Kings win the CIF Southern Section Division 1 girls' water polo title in February. But over the weekend, the transfers from Greece earned another big title - and a gold medal. The Haralabidis sisters helped Greece's youth national team win the inaugural FINA Youth World Championships in Perth, Australia. Greece beat the United States, 8-3, in the semifinals before topping Hungary, 9-5, in the championship match on Sunday.

Reid Chase is constantly moving in the water on offense and defense, making things happen for the Corona del Mar High boys' water polo team. Catch him outside of the pool, and you'll see the mustache that the CdM senior is growing. "I've just been growing it for CIF," Chase said. "It's No-shave November right now. " CdM was in a close shave on Saturday night at its home pool, facing rival Newport Harbor in the CIF Southern Section Division 1 quarterfinals. Chase helped the Sea Kings rally for a 7-6 victory, holding the Sailors scoreless for the final 12-plus minutes of the game.

CORONA DEL MAR - Tumua Anae is often seen as reserved, a calming influence on the United States women's water polo Olympic team. Still, do not think for a second that she isn't extremely thrilled to be representing her country in her first Olympic Games. To some extent, she also represented her high school during Sunday afternoon's exhibition game against Hungary. She received a nice ovation from the crowd at her alma mater, Corona del Mar High, when she came into the game in goal midway through the fourth quarter.

NEWPORT BEACH - Newport Harbor High boys' water polo Coach Robert Lynn said he loved the back-and-forth nature of Tuesday's game against Long Beach Wilson. The teams traded goals, field blocks and big saves for the duration. "I liked that game," Lynn said. "Even if we would have lost, I'd tell you the same thing. I wish we had that game every week for 10 months in a row. It's only going to help us get better. " Of course, Lynn also liked that the Sailors were able to come out with the victory.

LOS ANGELES — Terry Schroeder, the first-year U.S. men’s water polo coach, stood at a podium at the Los Angeles Athletic Club Monday and talked about how the Americans went from being a long shot in February to medal contenders now heading into the Olympics. Off to the side, four former UC Irvine standouts could relate to that rise. They’ve shown a similar ascension throughout their careers, which reached a high point of sorts Monday. Ryan Bailey, Tim Hutten, Rick Merlo and Jeff Powers were hardly recruited coming out of high school, but they were taken in by UCI legendary coach Ted Newland, who developed the quartet into Olympic athletes.

The four-team NCAA men's water polo championships, contested Saturday and Sunday at USC's McDonald's' Swim Stadium, include a handful of players with local ties. Top-seeded USC (27-0), the four-time-defending NCAA champion, includes Newport Harbor High product Zach Lucas and former Corona del Mar star Chase Watson. Lucas, a sophomore driver, has scored 18 goals this season, while Watson, a freshman center, has 10 goals. Emery Molnar, a freshman out of Corona del Mar, is also listed on the Trojans' numerical roster, while Ryan Fowler and Park Eddy, both freshmen out of Newport Harbor, are listed on the roster without numbers.

The UC Irvine women's water polo team is the No. 4 seed and will play No. 5-seeded Loyola Marymount in the first round of the NCAA Championship, May 11 at 8:15 p.m. at San Diego State. The Anteaters (24-6) won their fourth straight Big West Conference Tournament title and are making their second straight NCAA Tournament appearance. UCI split two matches with Loyola Marymount (20-9) this season, posting a 12-9 win at LMU on Feb. 18 and absorbing a 9-6 loss on Feb. 25 at UCI. Stanford (23-2)

Morgan Stewart scored her second goal of the game, a lob shot with just under a minute to play in regulation, to give the Corona del Mar girls' water polo team a 5-4 victory over Santa Barbara in the title game of the California State High School Championships Sunday at CdM. The game-winner gave defending champion CdM its first lead of the game and a solid defensive effort led by the goalie play of CdM captain Erica Weed (five saves) held off Santa Barbara's talented offense led by rising senior Kelsey O'Brien.