Former Foothill Player Joins UCI Volleyball Staff

Laura Phillips Alford has been hired as associate women’s volleyball coach at UC Irvine.

Alford has been the head coach at Cincinnati for three seasons. Before that, she was an assistant coach at Arkansas.

Alford is a 1996 graduate of Foothill High and played for the Orange County Volleyball Club, coached by Charlie Brande, the Anteater women’s coach.

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UC Irvine guard Zamiro Bennem will sit out indefinitely, Irvine officials said.

Bennem, a graduate of Magnolia, is not suspended and is expected to return to the team, officials said. He will remain in school and is still on scholarship.

Bennem, a 6-foot-3 sophomore, is averaging 5.7 points this season.