Pablo Yrizar

Steve Gill's five goals and UC Irvine's defense helped the Anteaters to an 11-8 victory over Cal State Long Beach in the first round of the NCAA water polo tournament Friday at Belmont Plaza, sending Irvine into a semifinal at 6 p.m. today against defending champion California. "They're a really dominant team," Gill said of the Golden Bears (24-1) whose only loss this season is to UCLA.

Devon Coate Sandlin's year away from competitive swimming cost her bunches of seconds on her best times, but she doesn't fret much about that. She gained 40 pounds while she was away, then lost 50 by the time she returned. First and foremost, she gained a new focus--her son Bobby, whose birth was the reason for her redshirt season. Bobby, now 1 1/2, was born in May, 1990, Sandlin's sophomore year at UC Irvine. She returned to the swim team last season. It proved to be a difficult year.

Dana Chalais' demeanor is easy and calm. She's nice--"almost too nice," UC Irvine volleyball Coach Mike Puritz said, laughing. Chalais was part of a team that endured a 9-21 season last year, and she and her teammates are determined this season will be different. "I didn't want to go through another year like last year," said Chalais, the team's only senior starter.

The last two NCAA championship trophies for water polo have ended up in Berkeley. But California's attempt to win its third in a row will face a flurry of early challenges this weekend at the UC Irvine water polo tournament, with 11 of the nation's top 13 teams competing. Cal is still ranked No. 1, but the Golden Bears have lost Chris Humbert, a senior on last year's team who was a two-time NCAA player of the year and a member of the Olympic team.

The problem with the UC Irvine women's soccer team last year was a basic one. It couldn't score. The Anteaters were goal-less in their first six games last season and, predictably, lost all six. With the arrival of 11 freshmen this season, that has changed. The youngsters are leading a charge that already has produced more than twice the number of goals the team had all last season.

This year's UC Irvine water polo tournament gave Anteater Coach Ted Newland a big headache. First, Newland tried to accommodate his fellow coaches by pairing teams in a nonbracketed format. Then, he watched his Anteaters lose four of five matches this weekend, including a 9-7 loss to California in the third-place match Sunday at Corona del Mar High. The tournament field featured the top eight teams in the nation, according to last week's American Water Polo Coaches Assn.

Even without its top women's runner, UC Irvine continued its dominance of Big West Conference cross-country Saturday by winning the women's and men's team titles and the women's individual title at the conference meet in Las Cruces, N.M. The Anteater women, ranked 11th nationally, have won eight of nine team championships, losing only to Fresno State in 1988.

When water polo teams play UC Irvine, they look at last season's statistics and make a decision: Try to stop Steve Gill. Gill scored 77 goals for Irvine, which was without its second-leading scorer, Pablo Yrizar, during the last part of what turned into 13-16 season. It is the only losing season in the program's proud history. But if teams decide to concentrate on Gill this season, they are asking for trouble. Double-team Gill, and you open up opportunities for the rest of the Anteaters.

Traci Webb has been concentrating of her freshman volleyball season, which ended Tuesday in a loss to Cal State Long Beach and a 9-21 record. She dealt with the pressure of being a freshman setter, one who was in the lineup long before she had adjusted to the difficulties of college volleyball. And the Anteaters' season wasn't an easy one. "It's hard to keep losing," Webb said. "We are getting better." Every once in a while, she heard something that encouraged her, even if it was a bit puzzling.

Popi Edwards brought a certain exuberance to UC Irvine when she arrived at Viento dorm in Mesa Court on campus. She'd hardly moved in before she was passing out flyers, urging her new neighbors to come to her first volleyball match. "I was saying, 'Y'all are gonna come, aren't you?' " she said. "Then half the dorm--well, about 10 people--showed up and made signs and everything. They're so supportive. As far as my dorm, it's a great dorm. They're great people."