BRIEFS

HUTTEN ON TEAM USA

UC Irvine men’s water polo standout Tim Hutten, who is slated to be a senior in the fall, was named to the USA men’s national water polo team.

Hutten, who scored 64 goals last season and was a second-team All-American, joins three former UCI stars on the squad.

Former Anteaters slated to compete for the national team include Rick Merlo, who was an All-American in 2003 and 2004, as well as 2004 Olympian Jeff Powers and two-time Olympian Ryan Bailey.

The national team defeated Brazil, 13-3, and Canada, 16-10, in the preliminary round of the FINA World League tournament and advanced to the semifinals at the USA Water Polo National Training Center at the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base, which started on Wednesday.

The round-robin tournament runs through July 23, ending with a game between rivals Team USA and Australia at 3 p.m.

Team USA takes on Canada today at 8:45 p.m., before facing France on Friday at 8:45 p.m. and Brazil on Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

BONNER JOINS ‘EATERS

UC Irvine women’s volleyball Coach Charlie Brande has named Patrick Bonner assistant coach. Bonner guided the Epic Volleyball Club’s girls’ 18s to a fifth-place finish in the Southern California Volleyball Association last season.

Bonner has coached at Epic Volleyball Club the last three years.

Bonner coached at San Diego Volleyball Club from 1999 to 2003. In 2001, he served as an assistant for the women’s program at Alliant International University and for the men’s program at Mesa College in San Diego.

Bonner replaces John Hawks, who departed UC Irvine to become the assistant men’s volleyball coach at USC.

HANSEN IN WORLD LEAGUE

The United States men’s national volleyball team, featuring former Corona del Mar High star Kevin Hansen, fell to Poland, 26-24, 25-13, 20-25, 25-22, in its 2006 FIVB World League match Saturday at the “E” Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Team USA travels to Hiroshima, Japan, for matches starting July 22. Team USA opens with a match against Japan at the Hiroshima Green Arena.

CRAWFORD LEAVES UCI

Kelly Crawford, who led the UC Irvine women’s golf team to three Big West Conference championships in five seasons, has left the school to become coach of the Iowa women’s golf team.

Crawford, the first coach at UCI, which began playing women’s golf in 2001, guided the Anteaters to conference titles in 2002, 2005 and 2006.

UCI finished 18th at the NCAA championship and captured nine regular-season tournament crowns under Crawford’s tutelage.

Crawford replaces Bobbe Carney, who retired in May.

UCI PROMOTES RAY

Robby Ray has been named Director of Corporate Relations for the UC Irvine Athletics Department.

Ray, a 2003 UCI graduate, has been a member of the UCI marketing staff for four years. In his new role, Ray will focus exclusively on securing corporate partners, corporate group nights and corporate season tickets.