Briefs: Five on first team

Newport Harbor High senior Maddy McLaren and Sailors juniors Carly Christian and Elissia Schilling, as well as Corona del Mar High seniors Alex Musselman and Diana Murphy, have all been named first-team All-CIF Southern Section Division 1 in girls’ water polo.

Sailors Coach Bill Barnett earned Coach of the Year laurels after guiding the Tars to their fifth Division 1 title, rallying to defeat CdM, 8-7, in the championship match.

McLaren, a UCLA-bound defender and repeat All-CIF first-team selection, led the Sailors (27-4) with 72 goals. Christian had 56 goals, a team-high 32 assists and 44 steals, and Schilling had 45 goals and 32 steals.

Musselman, a UCLA-bound goalie, is also a repeat first-team selection. She made 291 saves this year for Corona del Mar (28-3), and an Orange County-record 889 saves in her career. Murphy, a two-meter player bound for Princeton, tied for the team lead with 81 goals and added 43 steals.

The CIF Southern Section only released first-team honorees, as selected by the Southern California Water Polo Coaches Assn., but second and third teams were also voted on and selected.

University of Michigan-bound Newport Harbor senior Presley Pender and junior Avery Peterson, as well as Cal-bound CdM senior Pippa Saunders and juniors Cassidy Papa and Ally McCormick, were all second-team Division 1 honorees. Brown-bound CdM senior Victoria Pierotti and Newport Harbor senior Sophie Leveque both made the third team.

Los Alamitos senior Rachel Fattal was the Division 1 Player of the Year.

—From staff reports

UCI’s Spencer lauded

UC Irvine freshman Connor Spencer was named the Big West Conference Player of the Week on Monday after hitting .533 to lead the Anteaters to three wins in four baseball games, including a three-game sweep of visiting Pacific to open conference play.

Spencer, used primarily at designated hitter, went eight for 15 in four games to up his batting average to .426 on the year. He had multiple hits in three games, beginning with a two-for-four performance against USC.

He tripled and scored in the opener against Pacific on Friday, when he reached base in all four plate appearances.

After getting one hit Saturday, Spencer was three for four with a triple and two runs batted in on Sunday.

Spencer leads the team with five triples, he is second with 10 multiple-hit games, and tied for first with four multiple-RBI games.

Spencer and the Anteaters continue Big West action with a three-game series at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo that begins Thursday.

— From staff reports