UC Irvine Notebook : Anteaters’ Volleyball Team Is Taking a Tough Route to Respectability

For years, the obvious question had been raised. Why didn’t UC Irvine, smack in the middle of Southern California’s volleyball hotbed, have a men’s volleyball team?

Well, the Anteaters finally have done something about it. The 1988 season marks the entrance of Irvine’s men’s volleyball team into Division I competition.

“It’s both natural and overdue,” said Coach Bill Ashen.

Men’s volleyball had had two false starts at Irvine. A Division I program was launched in 1976, and nine years ago, a team with club status was established. But both efforts fizzled because of a lack of funds and support.

But recently, Anteater boosters have been actively raising money for the team. After it started up again as a club last season, the team raised enough funds to operate on the Division I level this season. Next year, the Anteaters are scheduled to enter the Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Assn. (WIVA), the toughest conference in the country.

Already the team is playing two-thirds of its schedule against WIVA teams, which include top-ranked USC and third-ranked Hawaii. The tough schedule is one of the reasons why the Anteaters, with only a 3-13 record, are ranked 20th in the country.

“We’ve chosen to make it tough on ourselves,” said Ashen. “We could have a better record, but we want to build a competitive program. The other teams know we’re at a big disadvantage, and we’ve earned their respect.”

Ashen already has earned the respect of the volleyball community with his successful high school programs. When he coached the Laguna Beach High School boys’ team from 1980 to ‘86, his team won three consecutive Southern Section 4-A championships and went undefeated for 69 games over two years. Ashen, a former Cal State Long Beach player who was a member of the 1979 U.S. national indoor championship team, also coached the girls’ teams at Laguna Beach (1982-86) and Corona del Mar (1979-81) high schools.

Although Irvine is surrounded by strong high school and community programs and is located only a few miles from the beach volleyball courts, local athletes aren’t lining up for the program. Not yet.

This year’s team is made up almost entirely of walk-ons, and the players have discovered that an extra amount of dedication is involved in helping to get a new program off the ground.

“You have to be real flexible,” outside hitter David Pettker said. “Last year, we never even had a set gym time to practice.”

Pettker, who led the team in kills before he missed the last month with a sinus infection, came to Irvine from Brentwood High School. He had hoped to go to UC Santa Barbara and try to make the team, but he had trouble with his application because of overcrowding at Santa Barbara and came to Irvine instead.

“I decided that maybe I’d be able to start at Irvine,” he said.

Another leader on the team is Brian Kehe, a junior outside hitter who came from Long Beach College, where he played for the team that was the state runner-up last year.

“Sometimes it’s really frustrating,” Kehe said. “At Long Beach, we’d played together for two years and developed a lot of camaraderie. Here, we’re just starting to get to know each other. I guess it’ll come with time.”

But Kehe has found that playing at Irvine has definite advantages, which were illustrated when Kehe played against a former teammate, now playing for San Diego State.

“Now all he is is a back-row specialist,” Kehe said. “He never even gets in the front row. I was a streaky player at Long Beach, but here I’ve been playing constantly. It’s given me a lot more confidence.”

One thing Irvine is lacking is height. Ashen hopes that the active volleyball booster club will raise enough money to get a scholarship to attract taller players. The team’s middle blockers average 6-feet 3-inches, whereas its WIVA competition often has middle players who are 6-7 or 6-8.

“You just can’t get intimidated,” Pettker said. “You just have to play that much harder. Other teams know Bill Ashen. They know we’re going to be a good team.”

One of Irvine’s goals this season was to beat a WIVA team. The Anteaters came close against San Diego State; they won the first two games before losing in five. They will get another chance, at San Diego State, on April 19.

Irvine is on a two-game winning streak, with victories over La Verne and UC San Diego.

“There’s great improvement every day,” Pettker said.

The volleyball team will have a chance later this month to earn a little money for the program. The Anteaters will be hosts for the 1988 Men’s Intercollegiate Volleyball Western Regional, at the Bren Center April 28 and 30. Profits from ticket sales will go to the Irvine volleyball program.

The Western Regional features the second- through fifth-place WIVA finishers. The top WIVA team automatically advances to the NCAA championship, to be held May 6-7 in Fort Wayne, Ind. The winner of the Western Regional tournament, which could include UCLA, Pepperdine, Cal State Northridge, UC Santa Barbara and Hawaii, also will earn a berth in the national tournament.

The semifinals will be played April 28 at 6 and 8 p.m., with the championship scheduled for April 30 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at the Bren Center and through Ticketron outlets.

The Irvine baseball team (20-19-1) opened the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. season inauspiciously, dropping five of its first six games. The only victory was against San Jose State. The Anteaters lost all three games to Fresno State, which is ranked third in the nation. The Anteaters, whose five-game losing streak is its longest of the season, will play host to UC Santa Barbara this weekend. The three-game series begins Friday night.

Anteater Notes

Former Anteater Brady Anderson went 3 for 5 in his major league debut with the Boston Red Sox Monday, but the Red Sox lost the season opener, 5-3, to Detroit. And he scored the decisive run on a bases-loaded passed ball in a 6-5 victory over Detroit Wednesday. . . . The women’s tennis team (13-5) will play its first match since March 15 this weekend, in the Cougar Tournament in Houston. . . . The men’s and women’s track teams will compete in the Fresno Relays Saturday. Sophomore Mike Morales continued his successful season Saturday at Irvine, winning the hammer throw with a lifetime best of 182-feet 2-inches and winning the discus at 154-10. The Anteater men won the three-way meet against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Cal State Long Beach. Irvine women finished third in a four-way meet, behind winner Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and Arizona.