BRIEFS

UCI’S HARRELL LAUDED

UC Irvine junior middle blocker Aaron Harrell has been named Division I-II National Player of the Week in men’s volleyball.

Harrell hit .545 (20 kills with just two attacking errors) to help the No. 2-ranked Anteaters sweep matches against UC Santa Cruz, Stanford and Pacific.

Harrell had a match-high seven block assists, six kills and two aces Saturday at Pacific.

Heading into Wednesday’s Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match at No. 3-ranked UC Santa Barbara, Harrell is sixth all-time in UCI annals in block assists (267).

PIRATES’ FORD IS MVP

Orange Coast College freshman Courtney Ford, who led the Pirates to an unbeaten season in the Orange Empire Conference, has been named Player of the Year by conference women’s basketball coaches.

Sophomore Robin Smith and freshman Rachel Maulit are first-team honorees, while Mike Thornton is Coach of the Year.

Ford, a 5-foot-7 guard, averaged 20.2 points, 7.2 rebounds, 3.5 steals and 2.9 assists. She ranked second among conference players in scoring and steals and led the conference in three-point shooting (39.5%). She also shot 46.7% from the field to help the Pirates win all 14 conference games and finish the regular season 28-3.

Smith, an all-conference performer as a freshman at Irvine Valley College, averaged 10.9 points and 1.8 steals this season. The 5-4 guard led the conference in free-throw shooting (81.9%) and was second to Ford in three-point shooting (39.3%).

Maulit, a 5-5 point guard, led the conference with 6.5 assists per game and also led the conference in steals (4.4 per contest). She averaged 6.0 points per game.

UCI’S MORRIS RECOGNIZED

UC Irvine senior outfielder Matt Morris, who went nine for 13 in a three-game sweep completed Sunday at Houston, has been named Big West Conference Player of the Week in baseball.

Morris, who leads all Big West hitters with a .563 batting average, drove in four runs and scored five in the series.

He had three doubles and one stolen base agains the Cougars.

Morris was five for five in the Anteaters’ 15-6 victory Saturday. He has hit safely in eight straight games, heading into tonight’s nonconference game at USC.

He also tops the conference with a .622 on-base percentage and an .875 slugging average. His 10 RBIs are second on the team.

OCC’S CORNETT SELECTED

Orange Coast College sophomore Steven Cornett has been named first-team All-Orange Empire Conference by conference men’s basketball coaches.

Cornett, a 6-foot-8 center, averaged 17.1 points and 8.3 rebounds to help the Pirates finish 16-14, 7-5 in the conference, good for a tie for third place.

Irvine Valley College freshman Carlos Pinto, an Estancia High product, received honorable mention. He averaged 11.8 points and 3.1 rebounds and shot 90.2% from the free-throw line (74 of 82).

UCI’S PRINE HONORED

UC Irvine senior Jackie Prine was named Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Player of the Week in women’s water polo for the week ending Feb. 11.

Prine led the Anteaters with nine goals in four games to help them finish third in the Triton Invitational, Feb. 10-11 at UC San Diego.