UCI NOTEBOOK / ROBYN NORWOOD : For All It’s Worth, Water Polo Team Is Ready to Cash In

Steve Gill and Skylar Putman spent part of the summer helping the U.S. water polo team win the gold medal at the World University Games in England. Pablo Yrizar spent part of his summer playing for Mexico in the Pan American Games in Cuba.

Now they’re together again in Irvine, with another task--trying to dim the memory of the only losing season in the history of UC Irvine’s water polo program.

Irvine went 13-16 last season. Until then, the school never had a team finish fewer than three games over .500 since the first Anteaters took to the water in 1966.

As if that weren’t trouble enough, during the off-season water polo became one of five sports programs designated as “self-supporting,” meaning it would no longer receive university funds because of a budget crisis that called for more than $500,000 in reductions.

Ted Newland, coach for 26 years, rallied some of his prominent and influential supporters and former players to the cause, and--presto--now there are only four self-supporting sports.

Water polo will receive about $45,000 of its budget of about $60,000 from the university after supporters persuaded school officials that a program with three national titles deserved funding.

That crisis behind, Newland and his players turn to the season, which begins this weekend with the 12-team UCI tournament. The event starts Friday, with most of the games at Corona del Mar High School.

The prestigious tournament, which includes defending NCAA champion California, Pepperdine, Cal State Long Beach, USC and Stanford, is a good indicator of the season to come. In 10 of the past 16 years, the winner of the UCI tournament has reached the NCAA championship game.

Newland was pleased with his team after it won four scrimmages against Long Beach and USC Saturday, and said the team is ahead of where it was last year.

“I think we should be better than we were last year, but there are a lot of really strong teams,” said Newland, who coached the gold-medal winning World University Games team. “Everybody else is better, too--Berkeley, Long Beach and Pepperdine are real strong. Stanford is pretty good.”

But can Irvine return to its winning ways?

“I would hope so,” Newland said. “I think we should. You never know.”

Yrizar, a junior, was chosen first-team All-Big West Conference and third-team All-American last season when he scored 54 goals despite missing the final 11 games because of a broken finger. Gill, also a junior, was the Anteaters’ leading scorer, with 70 goals.

Defense was one of the shortcomings last season, and Newland said it will be critical this season.

“Some days everything goes in, some days nothing,” he said. “You always win with your defense.”

The tournament title game is scheduled at 4:20 p.m. Sunday at Corona del Mar High. All-tournament passes are $15, and single-day passes are $7 for adults and $4 for students.

New men’s basketball Coach Rod Baker says his players have already begun conditioning drills three days a week at 6 a.m., even though classes don’t begin until Sept. 30. Once school starts, the team will work out five days a week.

NCAA rules allow on-court basketball practice to begin Oct. 15.

Women’s basketball Coach Colleen Matsuhara, also preparing for her first season at Irvine, has sent conditioning programs to all her players.

“We’ve let them know when we start back here, we’ll see who’s in shape,” she said. “No one is guaranteed a spot on the team. Everyone will have to earn it.”

Matsuhara said she will hold an open tryout but promised that no players will lose their scholarships.

The men’s and women’s cross-country teams, both defending Big West champions, open the season Saturday at the Fresno State Invitational.

The women have five of their top seven runners back, but lost their two best, Buffy Rabbitt and Swedish half-miler Maria Akraka. Akraka had remaining eligibility in cross-country but chose to remain in Europe and concentrate on her track career.

The men’s team should be particularly strong with the return of Aaron Mascorro, who finished second in the Big West in 1989 but was redshirted last season.

The men’s soccer team, which had a 5-14-2 record last season and won only one game against Big West competition, opened with a victory against Cal State Northridge Saturday at Crawford Field.

With a roster of experienced young players and a strong recruiting class, the Anteaters expect to be better this season.

“This team has a lot of skill and it is just a matter of time before they begin to blend together and play very well with each other,” Coach Derek Lawther said.

Among the top returning players: junior Kevin Smith, who led the team in scoring with six goals and seven assists last season and was named second-team all-conference, and John O’Brien, a sophomore midfielder who was chosen first-team all-conference after scoring six goals and adding five assists.

Chris Taylor, a redshirt freshman, replaces Mike Gartlan, the team’s senior goalkeeper last season.

Ray Smith opened his second season as women’s soccer coach with a tie against Chico State Saturday and a loss to the University of San Francisco Sunday, both at Crawford Field. The Anteaters finished 6-12-2 last year.

Dawn Evans is Irvine’s leading returning scorer, despite having just one goal and three assists last season. But she is moving from forward to defense for her senior season.

Among several freshmen expected to help on offense is Shawna Berke, a graduate of El Toro High.

Freshman goalkeeper Carrie Bengston recorded a shutout in her collegiate debut against Chico State. The scoreless tie was called in overtime because of darkness.

The women’s volleyball team, coming off a 9-21 record last season and picked to finish eighth in the 10-team Big West this season, opened with a 1-2 record last weekend at the Cal State Northridge tournament.

Scotleen Risley, a junior outside hitter, is the leading returning kill leader with 215 last season. Risley also had 248 digs.

The team lost Kim Collins, who finished her career as the Anteaters’ all-time kill leader.

Another top returner is Dana Chalais, one of only two seniors on the team and the only Anteater to play in every match last season. She led the team in blocks with 107, and also had 184 kills and 133 digs. In three matches last weekend, Chalais had 45 kills, 41 digs, five aces and 10 block assists, making the all-tournament team.