Briefs: Cornwall leads honorees

Vanguard University sophomore Kevin Cornwall has been named Golden State Athletic Conference Player of the Year in men’s soccer.

Cornwall, who led the Lions to the program’s first regular-season and GSAC Tournament titles, as well as its first appearance in the NAIA Tournament, has 16 goals and three assists heading into the NAIA second-round game Monday against Notre Dame of Ohio in Orange Beach, Ala.

Cornwall, a forward, is joined by five teammates on the 30-member all-conference team.

Vanguard’s Randy Dodge is the GSAC Coach of the Year after producing an 9-1 conference record.

The other honorees from Vanguard are senior goalkeeper Trevor Herrera, senior defender Jeremy Hampton, junior defender Jack Plummer and sophomore midfielders Alex Lopez and Kyle O’Brien.

Herrera, credited with eight of the team’s 11 shutouts this season, was also an all-conference performer as a sophomore in 2008. His goals-against average is 0.74 this season.

Hampton, an integral part of a defense that has helped the Lions (14-7, including six wins forfeited for an eligibility violation) allow just 14 goals in 21 games, was also named all-conference in 2008.

O’Brien has 11 goals and seven assists to total 29 points (two points for a goal and one for an assist), which rank second on the team.

Plummer, who along with O’Brien are the only two Lions to start every game this season, has a team-best 11 assists to go with two goals.

Lopez has four goals and six assists.

Lions Hampton, Herrera, senior Andrew Holstein and senior Landon Herrera were also among 18 players named GSAC Scholar-Athletes.

— From staff reports

UCI women add one

Methlyn Onogomuho, a 5-foot-11 forward at Etiwanda High, has signed to continue her women’s basketball career at UC Irvine, Anteaters Coach Molly Goodenbour has announced.

Onogomuho averaged 7.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.0 steals per game as a junior when she led the Baseline League in rebounding. She helped the Eagles go 24-8 and advance to the CIF State quarterfinals.

“Met is a tremendous athlete and fierce competitor,” Goodenbour said. “She will bolster our defense and rebounding. We expect her to be able to contribute immediately and are very excited to have the opportunity to work with her.

— From staff reports

‘Eaters add recruits

The UC Irvine women’s volleyball program added two recruits in the November signing period, Anteaters Coach Paula Weishoff has announced.

Ella Rosenfeld, a 6-foot-3 middle blocker at Mira Costa High in Manhattan Beach, and Marisa Bubica, a 6-2 outside hitter out of San Pedro High, will join the Anteaters for the 2011 season.

Rosenfeld helped the Mizuno Long Beach Volleyball Club win a bronze medal at the 2009 Junior Olympics and she earned all-tournament honors at the 2010 Junior Olympics.

Bubica, whose older sister Alexandra is in the UCI program, also plays for the Mizuno Long Beach club. She was named a Top-50 recruit in the class of 2011 by PrepVolleyball.com.

— From staff reports

UCI schedule set

The UC Irvine baseball team will face as many as four 2010 NCAA Tournament teams in an attempt to earn its sixth straight trip to the postseason in 2011.

Coach Mike Gillespie’s Anteaters, coming off a 39-21 season that ended in the Los Angeles Regional against host UCLA, will face the Bruins, who reached last year’s College World Series championship round, in home-and-home nonconference games. UCI visits UCLA on April 26 and plays host to the Bruins, coached by former UCI head man John Savage, on May 24.

Big West Conference and Orange County rival Cal State Fullerton, the defending conference champion, will play host to the ‘Eaters in a three-game conference series April 8-10.

Connecticut, which represented the Big East in the 2010 NCAA Tournament, visits Anteater Ballpark for a March 8 nonconference date.

San Diego, another postseason team in 2010, visits on April 19. The Toreros play host to UCI on April 5.

Grambling, the Southwest Athletic Conference representative in the 2010 NCAA Regionals, is among four teams in the RBI Tournament in which UCI will compete Feb. 25-27.

The Anteaters, led by senior third baseman Brian Hernandez, a first-team All-Big West performer last season, open their 56-game regular season with a three-game nonconference home series against Nevada, Feb. 18-20.

Three-game series at Anteater Ballpark include March 11-13 against Sacramento State, a conference-opening set April 1-3 against Cal State Northridge, April 21-23 against UC Davis, May 6-8 against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and May 27-29 against Long Beach State.

UCI plays three-game series at Saint Mary’s (March 4-6), at Gonzaga (March 25-27), at Pacific (April 15-17), at Cal State Bakersfield (April 29-May 1), at UC Santa Barbara (May 13-15) and at UC Riverside (May 20-22).

In addition to San Diego, Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga, West Coast Conference opponents will include Loyola Marymount (three games) and Pepperdine (one).

The only regular-season game scheduled outside of California is a March 23 midweek date at UNLV.

— From staff reports