A New World for Bailey

A year ago, Ryan Bailey was a jet-setter. He took a sabbatical from the UC Irvine water polo team and traveled around Europe. He made stops in France, Italy, Germany, Croatia, Hungary and Yugoslavia. He even made a little jaunt to Australia.

But this wasn’t a year spent with the rich. This was a work release program, sort of a parole from Anteater Coach Ted Newland.

Bailey, a fifth-year senior, spent the year with the United States’ national team, where he learned the latest tricks of his trade. Now he’s ready to unleash them on Anteater opponents.

“He’s been hammered on by the best in the world,” Newland said. “He has a little more self-confidence after playing at that high level.”

That should translate into a big year for Bailey and the Anteaters, who are ranked second behind Stanford in the U.S water polo preseason rankings.

Even before his national team training, Bailey was a force to be reckoned with. At 6 feet 6, 250 pounds, he displaced a lot of water in the pool. He was a second-team All-American two years ago after scoring 74 points his junior season in 1997.

Bailey scored 158 points in his first three seasons. Then he took last year off at the request of Newland, who often redshirts players.

“It helps with the maturity process,” Newland said. “There’s a big difference between a 22-year-old and a 23-year-old. It’s the golden age. I don’t know if it’s the same with girls, but boys are a lot easier to deal with when they are 23.”

It was perfect timing, as Bailey had an opportunity to play for the national team, coached by former Irvine player John Vargas. Bailey had played for the junior national team previously.

“It had been a goal of mine since high school,” said Bailey, who played at Long Beach Millikan. “I had to work hard because Newland and Vargas are friends. If I screwed up, it was going to reflect on him.”

Actually, Bailey got little chance to mess up. As one of the youngest players on the team, he mostly watched, practiced and learned. The team finished seventh in the world championships.

It was quite a class room.

“I got to travel all over, be at the world championships in Australia,” Bailey said. “We were in Croatia in this one town by the sea. We chartered a boat and it was the nicest water. The people were super.”

Bailey has brought back more than just souvenirs.

“He’s able to control his anger better,’ Newland said. “He’s been beat on by players from all over the world.”

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One would think that Bailey, with his size, would have been pushed toward football. Especially since his father, Dan, played at Utah.

“I played football the summer before my freshman year at Millikan,’ Bailey said. “I played both sports, but the football coach wanted me to make a decision.”

He did. Bailey played water polo in the fall and threw the shotput and discus in the spring. His brother, Joe, was a shotputter at UCLA.

Of course, Newland and Bailey seem to disagree whether his size helps him in the pool.

“Water is a great equalizer,” Bailey said.

Said Newland: “He’s a big boy. Like anything else, a good big man will always beat a good little man.”

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The women’s soccer team won its first three games, using two different goalkeepers.

Senior Jennifer LaFemina started the opener, a 2-0 victory over Toledo. Sophomore Kirsten Roy, who started 22 of the 26 games last season and had six shutouts, started in a 5-1 victory Saturday over Oregon State and shut out Oral Roberts, 2-0, Monday.

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On the men’s soccer team, senior Tyler Reid and freshman Kevin Mehrens, a first team All-Southern section pick from San Clemente, were in competition for the starting goalkeeper spot.

The veteran wasn’t about to yield to the kid.

“We took the morning off from double days and I was having coffee when I saw Tyler outside running,” Coach George Kuntz said. “I asked him why and he said, ‘I can’t afford to relax.’ He runs four to 15 miles a day before practice.”

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The priority for women’s volleyball Coach Merja Connolly was recruiting height. She came up with freshmen Carmen Schmidt and Michelle Wong.

Schmidt is a 6-foot-3 outside hitter from Sheldon High in Eugene. Wong is a 5-11 outside hitter from Harvard Westlake, who has tremendous leaping ability.

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Coming Attractions

Here’s a look at key upcoming events for UC Irvine:

Cross-country: Arkansas’ Amy Kieresz, an NCAA champion in 1996 and runner-up last season, will compete Saturday in the Anteater Cross-Country Invitational. The women’s race begins at 9 a.m. and men’s race at 9:45 a.m. at Central Park in Huntington Beach.

Men’s soccer: Walter Camargo, one of 100 players invited to play in the adidas Summer League, is the Anteaters’ top returning scorer up front. He had five goals and five assists last season. Shaun Callahan, who also scored five goals last season, has been moved to sweeper. “He has an advantage because he was a forward,” Coach George Kuntz said. “He knows what they are thinking. It’s secret-agent stuff.” Irvine hosts Fresno State at 6 p.m. Friday.

Women’s soccer: Senior forward Nicole Bucciarelli has three goals and one assist in the first three games, giving her 104 points in her career. The Anteaters, who won the FILA Classic Monday at Cal State Fullerton, face Fresno State at 8 p.m. Friday and Air Force at 1 p.m. Sunday in the La Quinta/Nike UCI Invitational.

Women’s volleyball: Tandie Wade, a junior outside hitter, appears to be fully recovered from the knee surgery that cost her last season. She was named the most valuable player at the Anteater Invitational. Along with Wade, the Anteaters have nine returning players. “Our goal is to finish in the top four [in conference] this season,” Coach Merja Connolly said. “I expect us to have more five-game matches and less 3-0 losses.” Irvine competes in the Pepperdine tournament Friday and Saturday.

Water polo: Coach Ted Newland has to find a replacement for goalkeeper Tom Davis, who started all 98 games the last four years. Either junior Genai Kerr or sophomore Dan Hipp will start when No. 2 Irvine hosts No. 6 UCLA at Heritage Park at noon Saturday.