Three UC Irvine Players Advance in Tournament

Three UC Irvine tennis players won Thursday, advancing to today’s third round of the Blue-Gold Invitational at UC Irvine.

UC Irvine freshman Natalie Exon, the second-seed, defeated Cal State Northridge’s Shaheen Bhanji, 6-2, 6-2. Exon’s teammate, fourth-seeded Darian Chappel, also advanced, defeating Cal State Fullerton’s Alejandra Arredondo, 6-1, 6-1. The Anteaters’ Liz Yim defeated Cal State Fullerton’s Eleanor Luzano, 7-5, 7-5.

Fullerton’s Debbie Vonusa defeated UC Santa Barbara’s Jackie Jocson, 6-0, 6-3.

UC Irvine’s Patty Villaroman, Nickole Kabe, Carla Nasca and Amber Christiansen were eliminated in the second round.

In Big West Conference women’s volleyball:

Long Beach State 3, New Mexico State 0--Jessica Alvarado had seven kills, six digs and three aces to lead Long Beach State (15-1, 7-0) to a 15-1, 15-2, 15-1 victory. Veronica Walls added eight kills. New Mexico is 7-12, 3-4.

In Mountain Pacific Sports Federation water polo:

California 19, Long Beach State 8--Cal, ranked second in the nation, outscored the 49ers, 7-3, in the second quarter to take a 10-6 lead. Phinney Gardner, from San Clemente High, scored four goals for the Golden Bears (10-2, 4-1). Matt Sakatani’s two-pointer gave Long Beach (5-9, 1-4) an early lead.