OCC opens state tourney

sports briefs for Wednesday editionThe Orange Coast College women’s volleyball team will open the state championships against Fresno City at 6 p.m. Friday at Selland Arena at Fresno State University.

The Pirates (22-0) are the top seed from Southern California and were ranked No. 1 in the final coaches poll. They have won all of their 66 games this season, including regional playoff sweeps of Victor Valley and Mount SAC.

Frenso City’s Rams (20-6) are the No. 10 seed from Northern California. They upset No. 2-seeded Sacramento City in five games Saturday after topping No. 7-seeded De Anza in three games in the first round.

It’s the first trip to the state tournament for OCC since 1992, when the Pirates finished third.

OCC won state titles in 1978, 1980 and 1982.

A victory would propel OCC to the second round of the eight-team, double elimination tournament against either West Valley (22-5) or L.A. Pierce (21-2).

The championship match is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday.

OCC Athletes of the Week

Orange Coast College sophomore basketball players Teeya Fernandez (women’s) and Steve Mendoza (men’s), have been named Athletes of the Week by the school.

Fernandez, a 5-foot-3 guard, was named Most Valuable Player of the Conoco Phillips Tournament hosted by Cuesta College over the weekend. She helped the Pirates knock off the host Cougars in Saturday’s championship game, 59-42.

Starting for injured point guard Laurie Denning, Fernandez scored four points to help the Bucs to their eighth-straight win.

Fernandez also scored four points in a 53-41 semifinal win over Citrus on Friday.

Mendoza, a 5-10 guard, sank nine three-pointers in two games last week, including a career-high seven in the Pirates’ 101-76 victory at Oxnard on Friday.

He scored six points, all on three-pointers, in a 65-61 win over San Diego City on Thursday. No other individual statistics were made available from the Oxnard game, which upped the Pirates record to 6-3.

UCI signs golfer

Sean Shahi, who finished eighth at the state community college men’s golf championships representing Irvine Valley College, has signed a letter of intent to continue his career at UC Irvine beginning next fall, Anteaters Coach Paul Smolinski announced.

Shahi was second in the Orange Empire Conference championship and fourth at the Southern California Regional.

He finished second in the Aliso Viejo City Championship the past two years and was fourth in the 2004 Costa Mesa City Championship.

Shani attended Aliso Niguel High.

UCI ranked No. 7

The UC Irvine men’s golf team was ranked seventh in the Pacific Region in the final fall poll.

The Anteaters had four top-five finishes in five fall tournaments, including a second-place showing at the Northwest Collegiate Classic.

The top 12 teams in the final spring poll will receive automatic berths into the NCAA Regional Championships.

The top six in the fall poll were, in order, Arizona State, UNLV, UCLA, Arizona, Pepperdine and Washington.