College Roundup: OCC women’s volleyball edges Santa Barbara

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Orange Coast def. Santa Barbara

The Pirates scored a 17-25, 17-25, 25-23, 25-19, 15-12 win in the first round of the SoCal Regional Playoffs Tuesday.

No statistics were provided.

OCC advances to Saturday’s second round.

—

MEN’S SOCCER

UC Irvine 1, Stanford 0

STANFORD — Michael Sperber’s first goal of his two-year UC Irvine career on Sunday propelled the visiting Anteaters into the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Sperber, an All-Big West Conference defensive midfielder, converted an assist by senior Cameron Iwasa in the 97th minute to eliminate the No. 6-seeded Cardinal in the second round.

UCI (16-5-3) matched the 2011 Anteaters for most victories in a season and became the first team in program history to win two NCAA Tournament games.

UCI, which posted its third straight shutout and has 10 this season, will visit No. 11-seeded Providence (14-4-2) in the round of 16 on Sunday at 4 p.m.

Iwasa has nine points in five postseason matches this season, including the Big West Conference Tournament, and his six assists share the team lead.

Michael Breslin made three saves to preserve the shutout, as Stanford (13-3-3) posted an 11-9 advantage in shots.

It’s the third Sweet 16 appearance for UCI, which lost its previous two trips. UCI was eliminated at Maryland last season and lost in the round of 16 in 2008 at St. John’s.

—

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Saint Mary’s 72, UC Irvine 69

MORAGA — Sophomore Luke Nelson led the visiting Anteaters with 19 points and six assists in the nonconference game Sunday.

A Mamadou Ndiaye dunk put UCI up, 69-68, with 1:16 left, but the ‘Eaters (2-2) did not score again and a pair of free throws gave the Gaels (4-0) the lead for good with 17 seconds left.

Ndiaye had 14 points and a team-best seven rebounds and was four for four from the foul line.

Alex Young had 13 points and Travis Souza added 12 for UCI, which plays at Loyola Marymount on Saturday at 8 p.m.

—

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

South Dakota 96, UC Irvine 52

Vermillion, S.D. — The 44-point drubbing was the worst suffered by UCI since a 75-23 loss at Arizona State, Dec. 6, 2008.

Sophomore Mokun Fajemisn led the Anteaters (1-4) with 15 points, making five of eight field-goal tries.

Methlyn Onogomuho had 13 points for UCI, which missed all nine of its three-point attempts, lost the rebounding battle, 51-30, and committed 19 turnovers, four more than the Coyotes (3-2).

UCI returns to action Friday when it meets Bowling Green in the Loyola Marymount tournament at 1 p.m. at LMU.

—

MEN’S WATER POLO

UC Santa Barbara 10, UC Irvine 5

LONG BEACH — Newport Harbor High product Chris Whitelegge made eight saves for the Gauchos in the seventh-place game of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament on Sunday at Long Beach State.

Kyle Trush had two goals to pace the Anteaters, who conclude the season 15-14.

UCSB is 11-15.