COLLEGE ROUNDUP : Anteaters Uphold Top Water Polo Rank

UC Irvine moved into the top spot in the national water polo poll Tuesday, then went out and defended the ranking with an 8-7 victory over Cal State Long Beach in a Big West Conference match at Heritage Park Tuesday.

Irvine (13-2 overall, 1-0 in conference play) was ranked second last week, but defeated top-ranked California, 13-12, in overtime Saturday to earn the top spot in the poll.

Long Beach took a 6-5 lead with 4:55 left in the fourth quarter Tuesday on a goal by Mike Burke.

Dan Smoot tied it, 6-6, with 4:11 left for Irvine, but Tom Warde scored with 3:19 remaining to give Irvine a 7-6 lead. UCI’s Skylar Putman put it out of reach when he scored with 2:26 left. Long Beach’s final goal came with 17 seconds left.

Smoot, Putman, Warde and Pablo Yizar scored two goals each for Irvine. Kyle Kopp scored four times for Long Beach (7-5, 2-2), which is ranked fifth.

In Big West Conference women’s volleyball:

UC Irvine 3, Cal State Fullerton 0--Tresa Mergens had 13 kills to lead host Irvine in a 15-11, 15-9, 15-11 sweep. Irvine is 12-5, 3-3. Fullerton is 6-10, 1-6.

In nonconference women’s soccer:

U.S. International 2, UC Irvine 1--USIU took a 2-0 lead in the first half with goals by Sally Weigand and Erin Paterson . Katie Krall scored nine minutes into the second half for the host Anteaters (3-8-2). USIU is 5-8.

Chapman 1, Claremont 0--Maggie Reardon scored 10 minutes into the game and goalie Laurell Angell had nine saves in her fourth shutout of the season for visiting Chapman (4-5-2).

In nonconference water polo:

Cal State Los Angeles 15, Chapman 6--Dave Delgado, a former Saddleback College player, had five goals and Pat Bogue three for host Los Angeles. Chapman’s Mike Reid and Graham Frandson each had three goals. Los Angeles improved to 11-5. Chapman is 8-8.