Sgt. Pepperoni's Anteater of the Week

May 31, 2023
Luke Spillane– Baseball

Junior Luke Spillane has been named Anteater of the Week following his performance this past weekend against UC Riverside. 

Spillane led the Anteaters to a series sweep at home in their final games of the season. 

Thursday, he scored a career-high five runs and drove in six RBIs including the run that broke the Anteater single-game run record in a historic 28-1 win. Friday, Spillane recorded two sac bunts to give him the team lead, Big West lead, and high ranking among national leaders. Saturday, he had three highlight-reel catches to help preserve the win and series sweep. 

On the weekend, Spillane reached 100 career runs scored and 100 RBIs. He finishes the season with a perfect defensive record, no errors, and one outfield assist. 

May 24, 2023
Anthony Martinez– Baseball

Freshman Anthony Martinez has been named the Anteater of the Week following his performance this past weekend against UC Davis. 

Martinez led the Anteaters to a series sweep on the road. The freshman recorded three hits on Friday, two on Saturday, and one on Sunday. On the weekend, he hit .429, scored five runs, and had five RBI.

In the field, Martinez played first base, recording six putouts Friday, five on Saturday, and seven on Sunday.

The freshman is currently on an eight-game hit streak and leads the team with a 0.408 batting average. The Fairfield, California native looks to continue his stellar play against UCR in the final series of the regular season, beginning Thursday.

May 17, 2023
Elena Flynn– Women’s Water Polo

Redshirt sophomore Elena Flynn has been named the Anteater of the Week following her performance this past week in the 2023 NCAA Women’s Water Polo Championship.

Flynn paced the Anteater offense behind her six goals in the 14-12 loss to No. 4 seeded UCLA. Four of the six goals were scored consecutively for UCI. 

The attacker drew two exclusions and stole the ball from a Bruin during her minutes in the pool. Flynn was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Second Team for her efforts in the quarterfinals match. 

May 10, 2023
Jolie Robinson– Women’s Track and Field

Sophomore Jolie Robinson has been named the Anteater of the Week following her performance this past week in the 2023 Big West Track and Field Championships.

Robinson became the Anteaters’ first Big West heptathlon champion since 2007 as she won the two-day, seven-event competition with a personal-record 5,343 points. Her score ranks fifth in program history. After the conclusion of the first day, Robinson was in third, but took the after putting up the top marks of the meet in the long jump (5.96m, 19-6.75) and javelin where she registered a lifetime-best 42.63 meters (139-10).

The Mission Viejo native did more than enough in the final event, clocking an 800m PR 2:28.89 to claim the title. Robinson also established personal-bests of 14.76 in the 100m hurdles and 11.83m (38-9.75) in the shot put on the first day of competition.

Robinson and the rest of the ‘Eaters return to Fullerton this weekend for the remainder of the Big West Championship events.

May 3, 2023
Libby Alexander– Women’s Water Polo

Sophomore Libby Alexander has been named the Anteater of the Week following her performance this past week in the 2023 Big West Women’s Water Polo Championships.

Alexander scored six goals, had two assists, and two steals over three matches to help No. 1 seeded UC Irvine to the Big West Championships title. In the 18-5 victory over the No. 8 seed Cal State Fullerton, Alexander went a perfect 2-2 at the cage.

The utility player scored two more goals on four shots to take the Anteaters to the championship match on Sunday. In a closely contested 10-9 overtime victory over Hawai’i, Alexander scored two goals on three attempts, dished the ball twice, and striped the ball from a Rainbow Wahine player. 

April 26, 2023
Hilir Henno– Men’s Volleyball

Sophomore Hilir Henno has been named the Anteater of the Week following his performance this past week in the 2023 Men’s Volleyball Big West Championships.

Henno averaged 5.10 kills, 1.30 digs and 0.70 aces last week helping No. 5 UCI to the title match of the Big West Championship. The outside hitter started the tournament with 12 kills and four aces, before tying his career-high with 22 kills and hit .471 in an upset of No. 4 Long Beach State in the semifinals. He also shared the team lead in digs with seven against the Beach. In the championship match, the native of France paced UCI with 17 kills, five digs and an ace.  

The two-time All-Big West first team honoree leads the nation in ace average (.879), recording 87 aces on the season the second most in NCAA history for a season. He was tied nationally for most aces in a match with nine, a feat he did three times in 2023. The sophomore ended the season ranked ninth in the country in points (4.56) and 31st in kills (3.46). 

April 12, 2023
Jenna Schlatter– Women’s Tennis

Senior Jenna Schlatter has been named the Anteater of the Week following her performance this past week, earning two No. 1 singles victories and a No. 2 doubles win in two-conference matches.

In the 6-1 team win at UC Riverside, Schlatter coasted to the No. 1 singles win in straight sets, 6-1 and 6-1. With partner Alyssia Fossorier, the duo took down the Highlanders pair of Brionna Nguyen/Niki Shahbazi, 6-3. 

In a tightly contested match with UC San Diego on Saturday, Schlatter clinched the match with her three-set No. 1 singles victory. The senior battled back from a deficit in the first set to force a tie breaker. After dropping 8-6 in the extra points, Schlatter eased her way to a 6-1 win in set two before clinching the 4-3 win for UCI in the third where she won 6-3. 

Schlatter holds a 3-1 record in singles play at No. 1 in Big West contests and is 6-3 overall.

April 5, 2023
Jacob Stinson – Baseball

Junior Jacob Stinson has been named the Anteater of the Week following his performance this past week in the wins over Southern California and UC San Diego.

Stinson, in his 1-3 appearance against the Trojans on Mar. 28, stepped up to the plate in the bottom of the tenth inning. With a runner already on first, the outfielder swung at the first pitch, sending it to the right side for the eventual walk-off for the 5-4 victory.

In game two of the series with UC San Diego, Stinson made contact with the ball in four of his six visits to the plate. With the bases loaded in the bottom of the first inning, the junior knocked the ball deep into right center for a double to clear all three runner’s home. 

March 29, 2023
Enrique Luque Rico – Men’s Tennis

Senior Enrique Luque Rico has been named the Anteater of the Week following his performance this past weekend in their Big West opener against UC Riverside, winning 6-1. 

Luque Rico defeated Daniel Velek from UCR in straight sets in No. 1 singles to remain unbeaten in his last eight outings. He is 6-0 during that stretch with five of his wins coming at the No. 1 position and has not lost since Feb. 18.

Enrique teamed up with Thomas Smart for his first doubles appearance in over a month to clinch the point with a 6-1 victory over Djakouris/Huynh at No. 3.

March 15, 2023
Hannah Chau – Women’s Track and Field

Senior Hannah Chau has been named the Anteater of the Week following her performance this past weekend at the UC Santa Barbara Invitational.

Chau shattered her own school record in her first 3000m steeplechase race of the season. The senior set a program best time of 10:28.19 in her second career steeple race at the 2022 Big West Championships.

In the March 11th race, Chau shaved eight seconds off her time and won the event by a 40 second margin with a 10:20.11 personal best. Her mark ranks first in all of NCAA Division I this season and is the best in The Big West since 2016.

March 1, 2023
Neveah Parkinson – Women’s Basketball

Junior Neveah Parkinson has been named the Anteater of the Week following her performance this past week with back-to-back double-doubles against UC San Diego and Hawai’i to lead UC Irvine to a 2-0 week.

In her first start as an Anteater, Parkinson kicked the week off with career-highs in both points (16) and rebounds (13) while shooting a perfect 8-8 from the field at UC San Diego.

The junior poured in 12 points and grabbed 10 boards in the overtime victory over Hawai’i. With 0.4 seconds left on the clock, Parkinson received the inbound pass to score the winning layup for the Anteaters.

February 22, 2023
Michael Stanford – Baseball

Redshirt senior Michael Stanford has been named the Anteater of the Week following his performance this past weekend in the wins over Tulane.

In his appearance on the mound in day two of the three-game series, Stanford sat down all six batters he faced in the two innings he pitched. The pitcher picked up his first career save.

Stanford then earned a hold in Sunday’s 1-0 effort over Tulane after he delivered four more outs and no runs.

February 15, 2023
DJ Davis – Men’s Basketball

Junior DJ Davis has been named the Anteater of the Week following his performance this past week in the wins against both Cal Poly and UC Riverside.

Davis led the Anteaters in the 55-54 victory over Cal Poly behind his 16-point performance, shooting 5-12 from the field, including three triples. The guard registered a season high five rebounds, just one shy of his career best.

The guard put up 18 points on 6-11 (0.545) shooting, including 4-5 from long distance in the 19-point win over UC Riverside on Homecoming. Davis went 2-3 from the line and grabbed three rebounds.

February 8, 2023
Asha Gidwani – Women’s Tennis

Freshman Asha Gidwani has been named the Anteater of the Week following her performance this past weekend in the dual match against Portland State.

Gidwani was one of two Anteaters to win both their doubles and singles matches.

Asha and partner Amanda Perez first defeated the duo of Nika Beukers and Makoto Ohara at No. 3 doubles, 6-3. In her No. 3 singles match, Gidwani rallied in a true comeback from behind effort to emerge victorious, 1-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3.

Gidwani is 2-0 on the year in both doubles and singles play at the No. 3 spot.

February 1, 2023
Emma McCarthy – Women’s Indoor Track and Field

Graduate student Emma McCarthy has been named the Anteater of the Week following her performance this past weekend at the UNM Team Open in Albuquerque.

McCarthy kicked the weekend off with a program best 1:33.74 time in the 600m race where she claimed runner-up honors in the event. The previous record was set by Crystal Lizaola in 2017 who ran the 600m in 1:33.94.

Emma set a new program standard in the 800m on Saturday with an altitude-adjusted time of 2:12.41. McCarthy’s mark surpassed another one of Lizaola’s records and beat her PR from two weeks ago by over a second.

January 25, 2023
Erin Tharp – Women’s Water Polo

Graduate student Erin Tharp has been named the Anteater of the Week following her performance this past weekend at the Bulldog Invitational.

In her first ever game as an Anteater, Tharp came up big for UC Irvine, blocking 17 shots in the 16-9 win over Fresno State.

Erin notch her spot in the UCI ranks as her 17 saves is good for second all-time in the UC Irvine history book. The school record is 20 and the previous second all-time of 16 was last reached in January 2020.

January 18, 2023
Deandra Tyler – Women’s Indoor Track and Field

Sophomore Deandra Tyler has been named the Anteater of the Week following her performance this past weekend at the Spokane Indoor Challenge.  

Tyler became a double champion in the season-opening meet. Deandra competed in the weight throw first where she set a new personal record of 54-03.25. Her new best moved her up three spots to now rank fourth all-time in school history.

Later in the day, Tyler earned a three-foot victory in the shot put, notching a PR 48-00 which ranks third all-time.

January 11, 2023
Francesco Sani – Men’s Volleyball

Junior Francesco Sani has been named the Anteater of the Week following his performance this past weekend as he helped No. 7 UC Irvine to season-opening neutral site wins against then-No. 14 Lewis and McKendree.  

The outside hitter opened the year with a match-high 22 kills and a .588 attack percentage (22-2-34) against Lewis. The next night, he had 10 kills and three aces versus McKendree. 

The junior leads the Big West in kills with a 4.57 average and in hitting percentage at .474 (32-5-57). He is also averaging 1.29 digs and 0.43 aces which is fifth best in the Big West. 

January 4, 2023
Naomi Hunt – Women’s Basketball

Graduate student Naomi Hunt has been named the Anteater of the Week following her performance this past weekend in the Big West opener against CSU Bakersfield.

In 22 minutes on the court, Hunt shot 6-13 from the field with four of her made shots coming from beyond the arc. She led the ‘Eaters in the 55-49 victory with a season-high tying 18 points with 12 of them coming in the third quarter. 

Naomi also grabbed three rebounds, tallied two steals, and dished out an assist.

December 21, 2022
Hunter Hernandez – Women’s Basketball

Sophomore Hunter Hernandez has been named the Anteater of the Week following her performance this past week against Westcliff and at the Long Beach Classic.

In 23 minutes against Westcliff, Hernandez shot at a 0.700 clip from the field (7-10) while going a perfect 5-5 from the charity stripe. She led the ‘Eaters in the victory with a career high 20 points along with 10 rebounds for the team’s first 20-point effort and first double-double of the season.

Hunter then continued to post her second 20-point showing of the week in the win against Dartmouth. The guard led all players with 20 points on 7-10 shooting from the floor and 3-4 from behind the arc.

Hernandez finished the week with 47 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, and five steals.

December 14, 2022
Dawson Baker – Men’s Basketball

Junior Dawson Baker has been named the Anteater of the Week following his performance this past week in the 83-71 victory at South Dakota.

In 26 minutes, Baker shot at a 0.750 clip both from the field (6-8) and from deep range (3-4) while going a perfect 1-1 at the line helping the Anteaters to a 0.517 shooting percentage.

Dawson posted season bests in rebounds (5, also career high), three-point field goals made (3), and steals (1) in his fifth consecutive double-figure scoring game.

December 7, 2022
Dean Keeler – Men’s Basketball

Senior Dean Keeler has been named the Anteater of the Week following his performance this past week in the contests against then No. 24/24 San Diego State and Fresno State.

In almost 16 minutes at SDSU, Keeler tied his previous career high of eight points on 3-4 shooting while going a perfect 2-2 at the free throw line. The forward added two rebounds and a block.

Dean posted a career high nine points at home against Fresno State going 4-7 from the field and making his and one free throw attempt. Keeler grabbed four rebounds, dished out an assist, and blocked a shot in nearly 22 minutes of action.

The senior shot at a 0.636 clip for the week and has posted career best numbers in the Anteaters last four games.

November 30, 2022
Onye Ofoegbu – Women’s Volleyball

Junior Onye Ofoegbu has been named the Anteater of the Week following her performance this past weekend in the wins against Cal Poly and CSU Bakersfield.

Ofoegbu had a season-high 20 kills to lead UC Irvine to a 3-1 victory over Cal Poly. Onye hit 0.548 (20-3-31) and had five block assists and an ace in the win. With her five block assists, the middle blocker moved into sixth all-time in the UCI record books with 306.

In the five set win against CSU Bakersfield, Ofoegbu recorded a match-high 16 kills and six block assists.

November 23, 2022
Alex Jaquez – Women’s Soccer

Fifth-year Alex Jaquez has been named the Anteater of the Week following her performance this past weekend in the NCAA tournament against Brown and No. 3 Alabama.

Jaquez was one of the predominant defenders in the Anteaters back line in the NCAA Second Round win against Brown. Alex’s competitive edge helped to stop several of Brown’s attacks and shutting down the opponents before the ball would reach UCI’s keeper Hinojosa.

November 16, 2022
Zlatan Nikocevic – Men’s Water Polo

Senior Zlatan Nikocevic has been named the Anteater of the Week following his performance this past weekend against Long Beach State and Whittier.

Nikocevic led the offensive charge for the Anteaters scoring two goals on five shots. The attacker also had two steals in the contest.
 
Zlatan celebrated his senior day against Whittier with a five goal showing. Nikocevic attempted 10 total shots, tallied two assists, and had one steal. The senior finished the regular season with 43 goals and 17 assists.

November 9, 2022
Glo Hinojosa – Women’s Soccer

Redshirt junior Glo Hinjosa has been named the Anteater of the Week following her performance in the team’s wins over Big West opponents, Cal State Fullerton, UC Davis, and Long Beach State in route to the program’s third championship title.

Hinojosa’s defense nailed down a third straight shutout to claim the tournament crown. She was awarded the Big West Tournament MVP behind her three saves on Sunday, and she finishes her Big West career with five shutouts in five Big West Championship matches.
 
Glo earned her eighth shutout of the season over the Titans after she flew into action to stop the Cal State Fullerton penalty shot. Hinojosa made four saves in her 25th career win over UC Davis to help advance the Anteater’s to an appearance in the finals.

November 2, 2022
Amber Huff – Women’s Soccer

Senior Amber Huff has been named the Anteater of the Week following her performance in the team’s wins over Big West opponents, Hawaii and Cal State Fullerton.

Huff assisted on three goals and was the catalyst to the fourth with a throw-in that put the wheels in motion in the 4-1 win over Hawai’i. Amber entered the match with six in her career and now with four on the season ties for the team lead. Her three assists in a single match tie an Anteater record done only three times before in program history and not since Tanya Taylor did so in 2010.
 
Amber then assisted on both goals with corner kicks in the overtime win at Cal State Fullerton for the first round of the Big West Championship. Huff has built an impressive streak with assists on each of UCI's last five goals over the last two matches. In the match, she also recorded three shots on goal on eight shots.

October 26, 2022
Robert Mejia – Men’s Soccer

Graduate student Robert Mejia has been named the Anteater of the Week following his performance in the team’s wins over Big West opponents, CSU Bakersfield and CSUN.

Mejia scored both the Anteater goals in the 2-1 win over CSUN on Oct. 22 while also leading the team with four shots on goal and seven total shots.
 
Robert played an instrumental role in the comeback from behind victory over the Roadrunners on UCI’s senior night. With the game netted at one a piece, Mejia was able to head the ball over to teammate Francesco Montanile who scored the eventual game winner for the Anteaters.

October 19, 2022
Anna Vogtmann – Women’s Cross Country

Sophomore Anna Vogtmann has been named the Anteater of the Week following her performance at the Bronco Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 15.

Vogtmann broke a 14-year old school record to lead the UC Irvine women's cross country team to a sixth-place finish Saturday morning at the Bronco Invitational.
 
Anna became the first Anteater to run a sub 20-minute 6K race, covering the course at Baylands Regional Park in 19:54.7. She broke the previous standard of 20:12.5 which was set by four-time All-Big West performer Laura Olvera in 2008. Vogtmann finished fifth in the race.

October 12, 2022
Kiani Stanton – Women’s Volleyball

Redshirt junior Kiani Stanton has been named the Anteater of the Week following her dominant performance at the net against UC San Diego and Hawaii.

Stanton totaled 13 total blocks (2 solo, 11 assisted) in the 3-2 win against UC San Diego. Kiani’s 13 total blocks and 11 assisted are tied for second most in a UCI match and are also the most in The Big West this season. The last time an Anteater had 11 block assists was 2016.

The middle blocker added two block assists in the loss to Hawaii, averaging 1.88 blocks per set for the week, while adding 1.00 kills.

October 5, 2022
Megan Yang – Women’s Golf

Senior Megan Yang has been named the Anteater of the Week following her performance at the Colonel Wollenberg Ptarmigan Ram Classic where she finished in second place.

Yang carded seven birdies Tuesday to end with a 66, one shy of her own school record of 65 set in 2021. She joins Jane Chin (2008) and Patty Chawalitmetha (2007) as the only other Anteater women's golfers to log a score of 66.

Megan tied her career-best with a second place finish after a three-round total of 206 (69-71-66), the second best 54-hole score in program history. Only Jane Chin had a lower three round total of 203 (68- 66-69) at the 2008 Kent Youel Invitational.

The senior recorded 14 birdies and two eagles over the three rounds.

September 28, 2022
Dylan Patist - Men's Water Polo

Sophomore Dylan Patist has been named the Anteater of the Week following his performance over the weekend at the MPSF Invitational, especially in the 15-14 overtime win against No. 11 Pepperdine.

Patist was a team leader in goals scored over the weekend, recording nine goals on 12 shot attempts along with one steal. Dylan had a perfect shooting percentage in two of the four games 

His offensive effort did not go unnoticed in the overtime win against No. 11 Pepperdine to close out the weekend. Patist shot a perfect 5-5 in the win, with his fifth goal earning the win for the Anteaters. This was Dylan’s first hat-trick of the season. 

September 21, 2022
Ethan Shipman - Men's Water Polo

Sophomore Ethan Shipman has been named the Anteater of the Week following his performance over the weekend at No. 1 Cal and the Aggie Roundup.

Shipman led the squad in goals in two of the three contests played, tallying three goals in the games against No. 1 Cal and No. 14 Harvard. Notching two hat-tricks, Ethan came away from the weekend with seven goals on 15 shots.

His efforts proved vital as the Anteaters played in two overtime competitions on Sunday against No. 11 Princeton and No. 14 Harvard. Shipman recorded three assists and one steal in those two battles.

September 14, 2022
Indy DeSmet - Women’s Volleyball

Sophomore Indy DeSmet has been named the Anteater of the Week after leading the 'Eaters to two wins over the weekend. 

DeSmet helped guide UCI to a .356 hitting percentage against Gonzaga, the fourth best mark in the conference…The setter had 22 set assists and seven digs as the Anteaters won their sixth straight match. She also added an ace to her team-best total of seven on the year. 

To start the week, she recorded her third double-double of the season with 18 set assists and 11 digs versus Weber State.  

For the week, DeSmet averaged 6.67 set assists and 3.00 digs per set. 

September 7, 2022
Lukas Amare - Men's Cross Country

Sophomore Lukas Amare has been named the Anteater of the Week following his performance at the UC Irvine men’s cross country team’s season opener on Thursday, Sept. 1, becoming the first men's cross country champion since 2017.

After setting a personal best in the 6K (18:26.0), Amare won his first collegiate cross country race. Lukas was able to cut 36 seconds off his 6K time from last year’s Anteater Invitational. 

Amare helped the Anteater squad take two of the top three spots for a runner up finish. UC Irvine scored 33 points, finishing just behind Cal Baptist (27), who is ranked seventh in the West Region.

August 31, 2022
Campbell Jensen - Women’s Volleyball

Freshman libero Campbell Jensen has been named the Anteater of the Week after playing a vital role on UC Irvine women’s volleyball defense, ultimately helping to lead the Anteaters to a 3-0 victory over DePaul (0-3) in the final match of the SMU Doubletree Invitational.

In her first career start, Jensen logged 15 digs, two assists, and a service ace in the season opener against SMU. The freshman libero followed that up with career highs in digs (21) and assists (10) in the second match of the day against SFA. Jensen, in the final day of the tournament, scooped up 18 digs and one assist along with going 17-17 in receptions. 

Jensen's efforts pushed her to be ranked 17th nationally in digs per set (5.40) after recording 54 digs over the weekend.

The win against DePaul was UC Irvine’s first of the 2022 campaign. UC Irvine (1-2) will host Holy Cross (0-3) on Friday Sept. 2 at 10 a.m. as part of the UCI/Adidas Invitational. The ‘Eaters will play again at 7 p.m. that same day against Sacred Heart (1-2). UCI will close out their home invitational with a match on Saturday Sept. 3 at 7 p.m. against Dartmouth (0-0).

August 24, 2022
Alyssa Moore - Women’s Soccer

Redshirt sophomore forward Alyssa Moore has been named the Anteater of the Week after leading the UC Irvine women’s soccer team to a 1-0 victory over Cal (0-1) in the season opener.

Moore netted the goal in the 57th minute against the Golden Bears. The game-winning play started when Alyssa Moore stole the ball at the edge of the attacking third. Using her left foot, Moore shot the ball at the top of the 18-yard box with enough curve to pass by the diving keeper to hit inside the far post. It was Moore’s first goal of the season and seventh of her career.

The win was UC Irvine’s second consecutive win over Cal, earning their first win all-time against the Golden Bears in double overtime in the 2021 season. This victory marked head coach Scott Juniper’s 150th career win.

For her efforts, Moore was named to College Soccer News' National Team of the Week.

UC Irvine (1-0-1) will hit the road to face Cal State Fullerton (0-1-1) for non-conference competition on Thursday Aug. 25 with kick-off scheduled for 5 pm.