Briefs

UCI signs Hayes, Mulloy in men’s basketball

Ben Hayes and Kevin Mulloy have signed national letters of intent with the UC Irvine men’s basketball program, Anteaters Coach Pat Douglass announced.

Hayes, a 6-foot-5 guard at Mission Viejo High, averaged 18.6 points for the Diablos as a junior last season. The team MVP was named first-team All-South Coast League.

He scored a game-high 29 points in the Elite Underclassmen Game at the O.C. All-Star Basketball Games last spring.

Mulloy, a 6-7 forward from Oxnard High, averaged 14.4 points and 9.5 rebounds as a junior last season. He was named the Pacific View League’s Player of the Year and was a first-team all-league performer.

“Ben Hayes has a high basketball IQ and he not only plays the game cerebrally, but he is an outstanding shooter and competitor,” Douglass said in a release.

“Kevin Mulloy is a very athletic player with long arms who continues to improve in every facet of the game,” Douglass said.

Anteaters’ Garcia, Prieto earn accolades

UC Irvine senior Irving Garcia and freshman Jonathan Prieto each earned honors from TopDrawerSoccer.com Thursday.

Garcia was named first-team Men’s College Soccer Team of the Season while Prieto was named to the All-Rookie second team. Garcia leads the Big West in scoring with 25 points. Prieto has started 17 of the 21 matches in which he has played this season. He has three goals and an assist and is sixth on the team in scoring with seven points.

Wells finishes strong

Fordham junior Katie Wells, a Newport Harbor High product, was named second-team All-Atlantic 10 Conference in women’s volleyball.

Wells, a second-team all-conference pick last season, started all 33 matches for the Rams, leading the team with a .309 hitting percentage, a career-high 101 total blocks, and a personal-best 0.78 blocks-per-set average. She also ranked second on the team in kills (316, a career high) and kills per set (2.43).

In conference play, Wells was the team leader in kills (142), hitting percentage (.307), total blocks (42), and blocks per set (0.71).

Overall, she had 16 matches of at least 10 kills, which was also career-high, and set the Fordham record for hitting percentage in a four-set match against Rutgers with a .778 mark (15-1-18).

— From staff reports