COLLEGES:

The UC Irvine men’s soccer team is in a position to make a stand this week, as the Anteaters (7-0-2), ranked No. 22 by College Soccer News, play host to No. 16-ranked UC Davis (8-1) Wednesday, then No. 17-ranked UC Santa Barbara (5-3) Saturday. Both Big West Conference matches are 7 p.m. at Anteater Stadium.

A pair of victories would surely establish Coach George Kuntz’s squad as a Big West title contender. But it would also go a long way toward validating Kuntz’s decision to add a key element to his players’ traditional off-season training.

After watching his Anteaters open 5-0 and go 5-1-2 in preconference action last season, Kuntz and his staff found themselves bailing water through a 1-8-3 Big West campaign that gave the players more adversity than they could fathom.

“We hit a couple of speed bumps,” Kuntz said of last season’s collapse, which he obviously hopes to avert after a glistening beginning in 2008.

“The largest body of work in the off-season usually deals with strength and conditioning, as well as the technical and tactical aspects of the game.” Kuntz said. “But we added a huge arm to that, which was the mental aspects. We had leadership workshops in the spring and every day during the summer, we tried to give the guys a little dose [about the mental side of the game]. Early in fall practice, we gave a PowerPoint presentation to the team. It talked about where we are as a program and about what we stand for.”

UCI is hoping to stand tall against the foremost teams in the Big West this week.

The Anteaters have been led by senior midfielder Matt Murphy (five goals and three assists), as well as sophomore forward Spencer Thompson (four goals and four assists).

Kuntz also singled out the leadership and strong play of senior center backs David Sias and Kyle Schmid.

“The attitude of this team and the actions they have shown in training this preseason has been fantastic,” Kuntz said Monday.

Kuntz believes playing six road games has also helped prepare his team for what he believes may be the best Big West, top-to-bottom, in his 14 seasons.

UCI was ranked No. 23 in last week’s National Soccer Coaches Assn. of America poll (the next poll comes out today), while UC Davis was ranked No. 22 and UCSB, the five-time defending Big West champion, which claimed the NCAA crown in 2006, was not in the top 25.

 The Vanguard University women’s volleyball program continues to rise in the NAIA polls, owning the No. 10 spot in the latest poll (rankings will be updated today).

After a pair of Golden State Athletic Conference sweeps over Concordia and Hope International last week, Coach Marissa Cothran’s Lions are 10-1, 5-1 in conference.

VU is home against The Master’s tonight, before visiting No. 1-ranked Fresno Pacific Thursday.

 UCI women’s volleyball opened Big West play with a sweep at UC Riverside Saturday. The Anteaters hope to stay on a roll with home matches against Cal State Northridge (Friday) and Cal State Fullerton (Saturday). Both are 7 p.m. at Crawford Court.

The Anteaters (6-8, 1-0 in conference) are led by junior setter Taryn Robertson, whose 11.04 assists per set lead the conference and rank No. 19 nationally.

 The Orange Coast College football team’s 4-0 start has resulted in a No. 5 ranking in Southern California.

The Pirates play host to Fullerton (3-1), which is tied for No. 6 in the SoCal rankings, Saturday at 6 p.m.