Trio to play for U.S.

UC Irvine senior Jimmy Pelzel and junior Rick Merlo and Newport

Harbor High grad Nicole Mackey will compete for the USA this week at

the World University Games in Daegu, South Korea.

Pelzel, a first-team All-American for the Anteaters last season,

is a member of the 11-player U.S. men’s volleyball team that will

participate in Group B with Ukraine, Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands

and host South Korea.

Pelzel competed in the Japan-USA Men’s Challenge Cup in Japan from

July 26 through Aug. 3.

Merlo, who scored 15 goals for UCI last fall, is playing for the

USA men’s water polo team that opens against Greece on Saturday.

Mackey, who is entering her freshman year at the University of

Hawaii, will compete in the 200-meter individual medley in the

swimming competition, which begins Aug. 24.

The World University Games, held every two years and organized by

the International University Sports Federation, is a multi-sport

competition open to men and women between the ages of 17 and 28 (born

between Jan. 1, 1973, and Dec. 31, 1985) and who are, or have been

within the past year, a student at a college or university.