Briefs: UCI women’s volleyball adds assistants
Kimberly McConaha and Megan Moenoa have joined UC Irvine women’s volleyball coach Ashlie Hain’s staff as assistant coaches.
McConaha is coming off a professional playing career in Tunisia. She most recently played for Club Sportif Sfaxian, but had stints in France, Spain, Switzerland, Puerto Rico, Indonesia and Iran.
She was the head coach at the American University of Kuwait from 2011-2015 after serving as an assistant coach at Earlham College in 2011. McConaha is also the owner and coach of Infinity Athletics in Indiana.
McConaha was a middle blocker at Purdue from 2000-04 and earned first-team All-Big Ten honors as a senior. She ranks in the Top 10 in six career records for the Boilermakers, including fourth in block assists with 382. She is one of 25 Purdue players to record at least 1,000 kills in a career. McConaha graduated in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in management and minors in marketing and organizational business human resources. She was a four-year letter-winner in volleyball, basketball and track at Centerville High.
Moenoa, who will step in as the volunteer assistant, is a 2014 graduate of UCLA, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology. The setter was a part of the Bruins’ 2011 NCAA championship team and averaged 8.42 assists per set over her four-year career.
At Lakewood High, she was named an ESPN Rise All-American, first-team All-CIF Southern Section, and Moore League Co-Player of the Year as a senior.
Moenoa earned Moore League Co-Player of the Year acclaim as a junior in 2009 and was also a three-time Press Telegram Dream Team selection. The two-time Lakewood High Athlete of the Year helped the Lancers to the 2007 CIF state championship.
She was selected to the U.S. women’s junior national training team in 2010.
Moenoa helped the Mizuno Long Beach Club program win gold at the 2009 junior nationals. She went on to coach at Mizuno and is currently the director of the Long Beach Volleyball Club Girls’ program.
“Kim is an enthusiastic coach with many years of international experience,” Hain started. “I have coached with her in the past and believe she will bring great energy to the gym.
“Megan is a rising star in coaching and has shown a commitment to excellence this past offseason,” Hain said. “I look forward to having her on our bench this season.”
— From staff reports
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Costa Mesa Mayhem eliminated
The Costa Mesa Mayhem, a Palomino division team representing Costa Mesa Pony Baseball, saw their historic run end, losing both of their games in the Palomino West Zone Tournament recently at the Major League Baseball Urban Youth Academy in Comption.
Costa Mesa opened the eight-team, double-elimination tournament losing to the Colton Nighthawks, 5-1, on July 28, and then falling to the Arcadia Astros, 12-5, on July 29.
The Costa Mesa 18-year-old All-Stars advanced to the tournament by winning the Southern California Super Region title for the first time in its 20-year history.
The team featured recent Costa Mesa High graduates Grady Conner and Jame Barton, as well as Costa Mesa residents Daniel Morales, a recent Calvary Chapel graduate, and Brian Cromwell, from Servite. Carter Chapman, an incoming senior at Costa Mesa, also played for the Mayhem.
— From staff reports