Briefs: UCI opens at No. 2

The UC Irvine men’s volleyball team is ranked No. 2 in the American Volleyball Coaches’ Assn. preseason poll, and is also No. 2 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation poll.

In the national poll, UCI received 258 points, behind BYU (268) and ahead of Loyola of Chicago (235) and Long Beach State (213).

BYU received 13 first-place votes, with six first-place votes going to Loyola.

BYU also topped the MPSF poll, in which it received eight of 12 first-place votes.

UCI received two first-place votes in the MPSF poll to post 106 points, six shy of BYU.

UCLA, Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara rounded out the top five in the MPSF poll.

The Anteaters, who return five starters from a team that lost in the NCAA semifinals last season, will play all 15 teams in the AVCA poll in 2016,

The Anteaters open their season Dec. 30 against Concordia.

Tamir Hershko, a 6-foot-6 opposite who earned first-team All-American honors last season, was named to the Off the Block preseason All-American first team.

Senior Jason Agopian, a 6-7 middle blocker who was first-team All-MPSF last season, was also a first-team Off the Block preseason All-American.

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Kronemann void filled

UC Irvine has named Mike Saunders as interim men’s tennis coach, replacing Trevor Kronemann, who left in the fall to become director of junior tennis for the Southern California Tennis Assn.

Saunders helped the Anteaters win three Big West Conference titles as a player from 1986 to 1990

“The tennis program and university had such a positive impact on my life,” Saunders said in a statement. “I’m honored to have the opportunity to help make this a smooth transition for our players and enable the program to better leverage Trevor’s dedication and success at season’s end.

Saunders served as team captain his junior and senior years under then-UCI coach Greg Patton. During his time as captain, the ‘Eaters defeated tennis powerhouses USC and UCLA, advanced to the finals of the ITA national indoors, and were ranked as high as No. 3 in the nation. Saunders won two Big West singles titles at No. 6, earned Big West Scholar-Athlete honors, and was voted Most Inspirational Player by his coaches and teammates.

After graduating from UCI, Saunders played professionally in satellite and challenge tournaments around the world. He later coached Kronemann and David McPherson on the ATP tour the year the doubles duo finished No. 11 in the world and made the semifinals of the ATP World Doubles Championship. More recently, Saunders has worked as a private coach with WTA tour players, Division I college players, and some of the nation’s best juniors.

Saunders and UCI ‘Eaters are already off to a 3-0 start in dual matches mixed in with fine performances in various fall individual tournaments. UCI resumes its season Jan. 16 at University of San Diego.

— From staff reports