Remembering the past

Tony Altobelli

One dominated the community college volleyball scene; one rippled

through the water with the grace of a dolphin.

One was having his volleyball jersey number retired; one was being

inducted into the UC Irvine Hall of Fame.

Unfortunately, only one is still with us.

Former Newport Harbor High and Irvine Valley College volleyball standout

Billy Nguyen Iller, who was killed in an June 27 auto accident, had his

uniform No. 13 retired by the Lasers before their Feb. 8 home opener

match against the Orange County Spikers.

Iller was 26 when the accident occurred.

The plaque under the hanging jersey will read, “A great friend, leader

and teammate, you will always be remembered.”

The Irvine Valley players will also wear a patch in Iller’s honor this

season.

Lasers Coach Tom Pestolesi said that a memorial scholarship fund has been

started at Irvine Valley in Iller’s name. Contributions can be made to

the Irvine Valley College Foundation at 5500 Irvine Center Drive, Irvine,

CA 92618.

Iller was the Orange Empire Conference most valuable player and captain

of the Lasers’ 1993 championship team.

On a much happier note, Pat Glasgow a Daily Pilot Sports Hall of Fame

inductee, is now a member of the UC Irvine Hall of Fame.

Glasgow was honored Feb. 5 by UCI for his legendary aquatic career, both

as a swimmer and water polo player.

Glasgow was a 1965 NCAA All-American in water polo, as well as an

All-American swimmer in 1967.

In ‘67, he placed second in the 1,650-yard freestyle and third in the 200

butterfly at the NCAA Championships, the first year UCI was eligible for

such competitions.

Perhaps even more lasting is that Glasgow was one of the originals to

come up with UCI’s Anteater mascot.

Now you know who to blame.

Before UCI, Glasgow was a two-time state swimming champion at Orange

Coast College. He won the state title in the 500 free as a freshman and

took part in the title-winning medley relay team in 1965. Both were

national records.

Glasgow was a Sunset League champion in the 200 and 400 at Newport Harbor

High, Class of ’63.

The injury bug is back at Orange Coast College and is currently infesting

the outfield of the Pirates baseball team.

Starting left fielder Chris Laws, center fielder Brian Wahlbrink and

right fielder Jason Reuss were out of the Pirates’ lineup in Saturday’s

7-5 loss to East Los Angeles College in the Apache Classic.

Laws and Wahlbrink are hampered with back problems, while Reuss has a

hyperextended knee.

Their status for Tuesday’s game at Palomar and this weekend’s Cy-Coast

tournament remains uncertain.

Reuss, who had 15 home runs for the Pirates as a freshman last year, hit

three dingers in the Bucs’ first four games.

“It’s something we’re going to have to fight through,” Coach John

Altobelli said. “Every team goes through it every year. We’re just

getting it sooner than most teams.”