Showdowns will unfold on volleyball court

The upcoming week in Newport-Mesa sports area could be best described as, “Rivalry Week.”

Yes, the big football games — Battle of the Bay and Battle for the Bell — are behind us, but there are plenty of rivalry matchups on this week’s slate.

Don’t believe it? Check it out. These rivalry matches are of the bump-set-spike variety.

On Tuesday, the Sage Hill School girls’ volleyball team gets it started with its home match against St. Margaret’s.

Last year, the Lightning beat St. Margaret’s two out of three times. Their final meeting in 2005 was the one that meant the most as Sage won its first CIF Southern Section title in Division IV-A with a sweep over the Tartans.

In the previous matches, the teams split in five-game victories.

On Wednesday, Costa Mesa plays at Estancia in their third meeting this season. Estancia has already clinched the series with two wins.

Then it’s on to Friday, when there’s two heated matches on the slate.

In Costa Mesa, the Orange Coast College women play host to rival Golden West. The last time the teams met, Golden West ended the Pirates’ school-best 36-match winning streak.

The teams’ last meeting of 2005 saw OCC defeat the Rustlers for the state title.

Also on Friday night, the Back Bay rivalry of girls’ volleyball will take center stage at Corona del Mar High.

The Sea Kings hope to have Juliane Piggott back from a knee injury in their match against the Newport Harbor Sailors.

College men’s soccer, UC Santa Barbara at UC Irvine, 7 p.m. Wednesday: If the Anteaters want to make a statement, this is most definitely an opportunity.

Last year, the Gauchos defeated UCI in the regular-season finale that essentially bounced the Anteaters from their first conference title to third place. The ‘Eaters also lost out on an NCAA Tournament bid.

But now comes a chance for revenge, and perhaps some payback for UCI’s loss to UCSB earlier in the season, when Brad Evans and Matt Murphy sat out because of red cards they had been assessed in the previous game.

Evans is the reigning Big West Conference Offensive Player of the Year.

Murphy leads the Big West in points with 23 and Evans is fourth with 17.

The Gauchos (11-6, 6-2 in conference), who enter with a four-game winning streak, sit atop the Big West standings with 18 points (three points for a win, one for a tie), while UCI (11-3-3, 5-2-1) is in second with 16 points.

High school football, Corona del Mar vs. University at Irvine High, 7 p.m. Thursday: The Sea Kings, on the strength of Taylor Hughes’ brilliant performance, overpowered Irvine to gain some ground in the Pacific Coast League.

Laguna Hills, the league favorite, tied University on Friday night, 17-17. The teams actually played overtime and Laguna Hills’ kicker Steen Sargent hit a 25-yard field goal.

But according to league rules, because the game ended as a tie in regulation it will go down as a tie. And, it did. The overtime tiebreaker will come into play only if needed to decide playoff positioning within the league.

Now, CdM will take on Uni with a chance to clinch a CIF Southern Division playoff berth, as well as chance to remain in the thick of the title race.