Oden Coaching at Irvine Valley

After four years in the Midwest, two-time All-American and Olympian Elaina Oden has returned home as an assistant women’s volleyball coach at Irvine Valley College.

Oden, the 1984 Southern Section player of the year from Irvine High, was an assistant women’s volleyball coach at Indiana and Notre Dame, where she helped both earn NCAA tournament berths. Oden, 33, also spent two years as head coach of the Orange County Volleyball Club’s 18-and-under team.

Oden said she got tired of scraping ice off her car windows in the winter and going days without sunshine.

“This is where I want to be, Southern California,” she said. “It’s my home. I don’t want to leave it.”

Oden said she also tired of time-consuming recruiting chores, such as writing letters and making phone calls, which are responsibilities of assistant coaches at major Division I schools.

“She’s home and coaching volleyball, which she loves to do,” Irvine Valley Coach Tom Pestolesi said. “I told her she wouldn’t have to do any of the paperwork, just coach.”

Oden’s career started at Irvine High. The Vaqueros won Southern Section 4-A titles in 1981 and 1984. At Pacific, Oden played on two NCAA championship teams. In 1986, she joined the U.S. national team and participated in the 1992 and ’96 Olympic Games and the 1995 World Grand Prix, where the U.S. team won a gold medal.

Older sister Kim, 36, a four-time collegiate All-American and the 1985 national collegiate player of the year, returned to Stanford, her alma mater, this fall as an assistant coach for the top-ranked Cardinal. She was a member of the 1988 and 1992 U.S. Olympic women’s volleyball teams and was the 1981 Southern Section player of the year from Irvine.

CROSS-COUNTRY

UC Irvine will participate in the UC Santa Barbara Invitational Saturday in Goleta. The host Gauchos are coming off two second-place finishes at the Fresno State Invitational.

Lisa Dunn, who attended Troy High, placed 14th for the UCSB women’s team in Fresno.

Brandon Von Guenthner, formerly of Santa Margarita High, placed sixth for the men’s team.

Others who compete for the Gauchos are Jen Blair (Corona del Mar), Kristen Green (Huntington Beach), Dan Gaston (Huntington Beach/Saddleback College) and Kent Roberts (Edison).

NOTEWORTHY

Justin Patterson, a 1998 All-South Coast League linebacker from Mater Dei, got his college football career off to a good start at UC Davis in a 55-7 victory over New Mexico Highlands in the season opener. Patterson, a red-shirt freshman linebacker used primarily on passing downs, intercepted a pass and returned it for 23 yards for a touchdown on his first defensive play from scrimmage. Patterson has made 13 tackles, has one interception and has broken up a pass. Davis (3-0) is ranked No. 4 in Division II.

Junior quarterback Greg Cicero is out for the season at Baylor after breaking his collarbone in Saturday’s loss to Minnesota. Cicero, formerly of Servite High and Palomar College, was 19-30-1 with 228 yards and no touchdowns.

Villanova wide receiver Murle Sango, who played at El Toro High, caught three passes for 77 yards and one touchdown in his team’s 42-0 victory over Norfolk State last weekend.

Bobby Calderon, who attended El Modena High, caught eight passes for 127 yards in Chapman’s 49-22 loss Saturday at Whitworth, Wash. Calderon was the starting shortstop on the Panther baseball team for the last two years and only came out for football this fall.

Kathy Shea, a sophomore for the women’s soccer team at San Francisco, is out for the season with a tear in the anterior cruciate ligament in her knee. The injury happened in the Dons’ season opener at California. The former Huntington Beach High standout will seek a medical redshirt, according to her mother, Joanne Shea.

Women’s volleyball player Stevie Nicholas is the first Baylor freshman to win Big 12 player of the week honors. The Sunny Hills High grad averaged 6.71 kills per game in two matches, including a 25-kill effort in a four-game victory over Texas.

Rochelle Currier, formerly of Capistrano Valley High, is a backup outside hitter for the women’s volleyball team at Utah State, which plays at Cal State Fullerton Friday and at UC Irvine Saturday. Her brother Rikpitched for the USC baseball team last season.