Three CdM volleyball players named to first team

Corona del Mar High junior outside hitter Jordan Smith is a repeat

first-team All-Pacific Coast League girls volleyball selection and

joins teammates Lindsey Ensign and Ashley Bill on the squad.

Ensign posted a match-high 16 kills and tallied 15 digs in a

three-game sweep for CdM (21-10) against Sherman Oaks Notre Dame in a

CIF Southern Section Division III-A semifinal. With the win, CdM

reached a CIF final for the first time since 1997 and qualified for

the CIF State Division III tournament. Smith led the Sea Kings,

second in the PCL to Northwood, with 11 kills in a loss to top-seeded

Bishop Montgomery in the Division III-A final.

Senior captain Lauren Snell (opposite) garnered second-team

All-PCL status, providing consistent serving and offense with strong

defense.

Northwood’s Jaci Bayley and Laura Black were voted the league’s

Co-Most Valuable Players by the coaches.

Lightning honored

* VOLLEYBALL: Sage Hill School sophomores Cat Dailey and Sophia

Hillgren were selected first-team All-Academy League by the league’s

coaches.

The Lightning (9-8) advanced to the second round of the Division V

playoffs under the guidance of Ingrid Gustavson, voted the league’s

Coach of the Year by her peers. Hillgren, an outside hitter, was a

second-team all-league pick last year while Dailey, who also saw time

at middle blocker, earned honorable mention.

Senior captain Samantha Burns and sophomore middle blocker Vista

Murphy were each named to the second-team while freshman setter

Kelsey Lawler earned honorable mention.

St. Margaret’s Suzy Trimble, a senior middle blocker, was voted

the league’s Most Valuable Player.

Sage runners lauded

* CROSS COUNTRY: The Sage Hill School boys cross country team, the

Academy League champion, featured five runners on the all-league

teams, while two girls also received season-ending honors.

Senior Chris Chiboucas, junior Michael Voge and sophomores Zach

Chandy and Tim Lefler earned first-team All-Academy League

recognition. Junior Tristan Cordier, who also helped lead the

Lightning to the school’s first league title and its first appearance

in the CIF Southern Section Division V finals, received second-team

all-league laurels.

Mollie McGann, an up-and-coming freshman, stood out for Sage Hill

with first-team All-Academy League honors, while freshman Kara

Percival also produced excitement for the future with a spot on the

all-league second-team.

Capistrano Valley Christian’s Kyle Hughes was named the boys MVP,

while Patricia Anderson of Oxford Academy received the award on the

girls side.

OCC loses to Cerrritos

* BASKETBALL: Alisa Carrillo led Orange Coast College with 14

points Sunday, but the host Pirates shot just 25% from the field (12

of 48) and dopped the third-place game of the 2003 Coast Christmas

Classic, 70-35, to Cerritos.

Carillo, an all-tournament selection, was the only player in

double figures in scoring for OCC (6-7) and made five of the team’s

12 shots. While she was five of nine shooting, the rest of the team

finished 7 for 39.

Freshman Rhondi Naff, from Costa Mesa High, added eight points and

four rebounds for the Pirates, who were outscored 41-13 after

halftime.

Lauren Stepanski led the Pirates with six rebounds, all of them

defensive. But OCC finished the game with just eight assists,

compared to 28 turnovers. Cerritos had 15 assists and 15 turnovers.

*--*

Coast Christmas Classic

Third-place game

Cerritos 70, Orange Coast 35

Cerritos -- Yokoyama 1, Sims 14, Rodriguez 2, Rivera 6, Amete 9, Lovelace 4, Benjamin 9, Aiono 18, Gibbons 7. 3-pt. goals -- Sims 2, Amete 1, Aiono 2. Fouled out -- None. Orange Coast -- Chades 2, Viloria 2, Arganda 4, Shaw 5, Naff 8, Carrillo 14. 3-pt.

goals -- Arganda 1, Shaw 1. Fouled out -- None. Halftime -- Cerritos, 29-22.

*--*

UC Irvine hires Leinen

* ADMINISTRATION: Dave Leinen, who has had various jobs at UC

Irvine for nearly 20 years, has been named director of finance and

administration by the athletic department, the school announced

Monday.

Leinen was, most recently, assistant dean for planning and

resources in the school of social sciences, since June, 1999.

Previously, he served as director of business and finance in the

school of physical sciences for seven years, among other duties.

Leinen assumes the position previously held for 12 years by Ed

Carroll, who died in October.

A graduate of the University of California Management Institute

who earned his bachelor’s degree at Long Beach State, Leinen played

minor-league baseball in the Kansas City Royals’ organization from

1981-83.

“We are extremely fortunate and excited about the opportunity to

have someone like Dave Leinen join our management staff in the

Athletic Department,” UCI Athletic Director Bob Chichester said.

“Dave has contributed a great deal to the campus during his career

here at UCI. Because of his leadership, experience and personality,

he has earned the respect of many people here on campus. We are very

enthusiastic about his abilities to assist our staff in meeting the

challenges of pursuing our goals of developing our athletic programs

to well-represent the quality of student-athletes and academic

community that we have here at UCI.”