ATHLETE OF THE WEEK

Nickole Kabe

Tennis

Kabe, a sophomore, helped the Anteaters to a 6-3 victory over Cal State Northridge with her fourth consecutive win at No. 4 singles. She also teamed with Carla Nasca for a victory at No. 3 doubles. Kabe is 12-10 in dual matches, which is second best on the team.

The Irvine women (10-12, 5-1 in the Big West) are seeded No. 2 heading into the Big West Conference Championships Thursday-Sunday at Ojai.

THIS WEEK

Men’s volleyball: The ninth-ranked Anteaters (14-10) face second-ranked Long Beach State (20-2) at 7 p.m. Saturday in a first-round match in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament. Irvine swept the 49ers, then ranked No. 1 in the nation, in three games at Crawford Hall on March 31.

Men’s golf: Irvine and Long Beach State will co-host the Big West Conference men’s golf championships Wednesday-Thursday, April 28-29, at Santa Ana Country Club. Play begins daily at 7:30 a.m. Senior Mike Lawrence, who finished as runner-up last year, leads Irvine with a 74.24 average and is currently ranked 93rd in the nation.

Track and field: The Anteater men’s and women’s teams will participate Saturday and Sunday in the Cal-Nevada Championships at UC San Diego in La Jolla. Sophomore Mike Murray, from Santa Margarita High, is the meet’s top-seeded runner at 800 meters and senior Kristine Bostick returns in the 400 hurdles, looking to improve on her third-place finish last year.

Men’s and women’s tennis: The men’s team, winner of 11 Big West Conference championships since 1978, hopes to make it a dozen this weekend at Ojai. The Anteaters, the tournament’s No. 3-seeded team, have finished third the last three years. Their first-round opponent Friday at 2:30 p.m. is sixth-seeded Idaho. The women’s team will face the winner of No. 7 Cal Poly San Luis Obispo-No. 10 Long Beach State at 10:30 a.m. Thursday.