UCI year in review (part one)

Kiana Palacios of UC Irvine advances the ball against Oregon.

Here’s a look back at some highlights from the 2017-18 season for UCI athletics.

(First of three parts)

WOMEN’S SOCCER

UC Irvine women’s soccer won the Big West regular season title (5-2-1), its third all-time, after defeating Cal State Fullerton, 1-0, on the final day of the regular season

Head Coach Scott Juniper was named Big West Coach of the Year for the second time in his career and became the program’s all-time winningest coach on September 10 defeating Oregon, 1-0, for his 114th career win. His current overall record stands at 121-78-25.

UCI swept almost all of the major Big West awards with Noel Baham recognized as the Big West Offensive Player of the Year, while Kiana Palacios was the Big West Midfielder of the Year and Sydney Carr was Big West Freshman of the Year.

To see the slide show, please click on the first photo.

A total of seven Anteaters were named to the All-Big West squad including four first-teamers – Noel Baham, Kiana Palacios, Grayson Galbraith, Andrea Mensen – one second-teamer – Sydney Carr, who also landed on the All-Freshman Team alongside Claire Grouwinkel – and Honorable Mention star in sophomore keeper Maddie Newsom

Palacios was named All-West Region, her second inclusion with the squad in her career, as she finishes top five all-time in goals (24), game-winning goals (9), and points (62). The senior was later drafted in the fourth round of the National Women’s Soccer League Draft by Sky Blue FC

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
UCI ended the year 24-8 overall which tied the school record for wins, matching the 2009 squad who went 24-10.

The Anteaters were third in the Big West standings, the highest finish since the club was second in 2009.

Head coach Ashlie Hain’s team advanced to the quarterfinals of the National Invitational Volleyball Championship, falling to Texas Tech, 3-1. It was the first postseason appearance since 2004 with the two postseason victories marking the most in program history.

UCI was 6-2 on neutral courts, winning both the Molten Classic and Marcia E. Hamilton Classic to start the year.

Harlee Keauoha, Idara Akpakpa and Haley DeSales were named to the All-Big West first team, while Ali Koumelis and Luna Tsujimoto were honorable mention selections.

Kekauoha became the fifth Anteater player to be named All-Big West first team three consecutive years. The opposite became the 14th player to eclipse the 1,000 kills mark, ranking 13th in the UCI career records with 1,026 over her first three years.

MEN’S WATER POLO
No. 7 UC Irvine advanced to the Golden Coast Conference Championship game, falling to No. 5 Pacific. Seniors Lovre Milos and Kyle Trush were named to the All-Tournament Team.

UC Irvine had four players named to the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches All-America Team. Milos was named to the second team, while Trush, Matej Matijevic  and Fynn Schuetze were named honorable mention.

All four All-Americans were also All-Golden Coast Conference selections with Milos and Matijevic on the first team and Schuetze named Newcomer of the Year.

Senior Antoine Lena was named both the GCC Player of the Week and the D1 Men’s Water Polo HERO of the Week following his game-winner in UC Irvine’s 9-8 victory over top-ranked UCLA on Sept. 30.

Milos led the Anteaters with 66 goals.

MEN’S SOCCER

In head coach Yossi Raz’s first season at the helm, UCI upset No. 8 Denver, 1-0, in a neutral site match at New Mexico on Sept. 8

Senior Giovanni Godoy led the conference with 13 goals and 29 points to earn Big West Offensive Player of the Year, the eighth such award for the program

Six Anteaters in total earned All-Big West honors starting with Godoy on the First Team, three second-teamers in Mario Ortiz, Jose Soto, and Daniel Crisostomo, and Ivan Canales was rounded out the Honorable Mention squad for his third career appearance on All-Big West. Erick Gallinar was the team’s lone representative on the All-Freshman Team

Godoy was also recognized on the All-Far West Region’s Second Team along with a pair of Big West Player of the Week mentions.

MEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

Sophomore Hector Garcia earned All-Big West distinction with a sixth-place finish at the conference championships, the highest finish by a UC Irvine sophomore in over 25 years.

Garcia also picked up his first collegiate victory at the Pepperdine Invitational (5K), and claimed runner-up honors at The Master’s University XC Invitational (8K).

Senior Izzak Mireles added a pair of top-three finishes as he took second at the Highlander Invitational (6K) and third at The Master’s University XC Invitational (8K).

WOMEN’S CROSS COUNTRY

UC Irvine went 4-1 in dual-meet scoring at the Pepperdine Invitational (4K) and had a season-best second-place finish at The Master’s University XC Invitational.

Sophomore Anastasia Karnaze was the Anteaters’ top finisher in both meets, coming in fourth and 13th, respectively. Karnaze was the team’s No. 1 runner in five of six races on the year.

IN THE CLASSROOM

Women’s golfer Avery French was UCI’s Big West Conference Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year, while men’s tennis player Sebastian Heim was the Men’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

French graduated with her second master’s degree in Demographic and Social Analysis. Her first master’s degree was in Accountancy as she graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2017.

IN THE COMMUNITY
The men’s water polo team was the 2017-2018 Life Skills winner. Head coach Marc Hunt’s team took the opportunity to not only support fellow student athletes and work on personal development with leadership/mentor speakers, but gave back to the community with such events as collections for Hurricane Relief to a recent beach clean-up. They also participated in Career Building and Mental Health workshops and activities.

UCI held the first Teddy Bear Toss at halftime of the men’s basketball game against Nevada to help collect toys for the Annual Teddy Bear Drive in conjunction with the UC Irvine Police Department. Toys were delivered to children receiving care in the Neonatal Intensive Care and Burn units at UC Irvine Health.

Other community projects included UC Walks, Reading Program, National Girls and Women In Sports Day, Torch Relay as well as several camps and clinics.