A Look Back At 2025

From the diamond to the pitch, from the courts to the track, 2025 proved to be another banner year for UC Irvine Athletics. The Anteaters captured conference titles, earned NCAA Tournament berths, and produced double-digit All-Americans—cementing their place once again among the nation's elite programs. As we close out an unforgettable year, let's celebrate the remarkable achievements that defined the 2025 season.

2025 Highlights
 2 Big West regular season titles
 3 Big West Championships
NCAA appearances in baseball, men's tennis, and men's soccer along with individual appearances by track & field athletes Zharia Taylor and Liam Miksic

10 All-Americans across five sports
11 All-West Region nods
81 All-Big West accolades
4 Big West Player of the Year honors 
4 Coach of the Year honorees
5 Teams Nationally Ranked

UCI won the Dennis Farrell Big West Commissioner’s Cup awarded annually to the Big West institution that has the highest degree of success in all men’s and women’s conference-sponsored sports, with the second-highest total of points all-time.

MEN’S BASKETBALL
Men’s basketball reached the championship of the NIT and had a school record 32-7. Only the final four teams (Florida, Auburn, Duke, Houston) had more wins than the Anteaters last season. UCI also led the country in true road wins with 14.

During the season, the Anteaters were receiving votes in the AP and USA Today Coaches polls. UCI also peaked as high as first, twice, in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll for the first time in program history.

Head coach Russell Turner, who led the Anteaters to their 13th straight winning season, earned his 300th career win and became the third most winningest coach in the Big West.

UCI also set school season records for points (2,962), field goals made (1,017), three-point field goals made (278), three-point attempts (782), free throws made (650), highest free throw percentage (0.794), rebounds (1,495), assists (612) and steals (256). Center Bent Leuchten broke the single season rebounds (354), free throws made (213) and attempted (261) record.

All five starters earned All-Big West status, including Leuchten on the first team and Jurian Dixon being tabbed Freshman of the Year. Leuchten was also named to the NABC Pacific District First Team and was a Lou Henson Award finalist.

So far this season, Kyle Evans leads the nation in blocks with 44 overall, while the team has been ranked in the top 10 in blocks per game and field goal defense.

UCI has won its third MTE in as many years with a title at the WestStar Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational at the end of December.

WOMEN’S OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD
UC Irvine women’s track & field made history, winning the program’s first Big West Championship.

UCI had 13 all-conference performances (top-three finish). Jazzmine Davis was named the Big West Women’s Track Athlete of the Meet after scoring 20 individual points and contributing to 11 relay points. She was the conference champion in the 400m hurdles, placed third in the 100m hurdles and came in fifth in the heptathlon, while running the opening leg on UC Irvine’s second-place 4x100 relay. Luz Mercado was also the Big West champion in the 800m. Malia Gay added a pair of runner-up finishes in the 800m and 1500m.

Jeff Perkins was named Coach of the Year.
 
A school-record 10 Anteaters combined for 13 NCAA West First Round qualifying marks, headlined by Zharia Taylor who earned second-team All-America honors with a top-16 showing at nationals. She was the Anteater women’s first NCAA Championship qualifier since 2009 and first All-American since 1997.

BASEBALL
The baseball team earned its 11th trip to a Division I Regional after picking up the program’s third Big West regular season title.

The 'Eaters hit a school record 71 home runs behind Chase Call’s new Anteater career record with 30, and claimed a new all-time RBI leader as Anthony Martinez drove in his 191st run in the regional breaking a mark that had stood for 51 years

UCI ended the year 43-17 overall, including 20-6 on the road, which was top 2 in the NCAA for a third season in a row as it reached 40 wins for the third time under coach Orloff

12 Anteaters were honored as All-Big West including the first sweep of Field Player (Colin Yeaman), Pitcher (Ricky Ojeda), and Coach of the Year (Ben Orloff) since UCI did it in 2009.

MEN’S TENNIS
UC Irvine men’s tennis won their second-straight Big West Championship and third in the last four years.

UCI made its 14th NCAA Division I Championship appearance, ending the year with an 18-6 record, the most victories in a season since 2015. They had two ranked wins, defeating No. 62 Dartmouth and No. 34 UC Santa Barbara, while all six of their losses came to teams that made the NCAA tournament and were ranked at some point during the year.

Senior Noah Zamora was named the Big West Player of the Year. He was the 10th Anteater to earn the top award and first since 2015. He went 21-9 overall in singles and 13-5 in dual matches, all at No. 1. He went unbeaten against conference opponents with a 7-0 mark, including three victories at the Big West Championships.  Zamora was 66th in the final ITA Singles Rankings.

The team was ranked as high as No. 36 and owned a final ranking of No. 44. The Anteaters also ended the year at No. 8 in the ITA Southwest Regional Rankings and 10th in the ITA Mid-Major Team Rankings.

MEN’S SOCCER
UC Irvine men's soccer made its 8th appearance in the NCAA Tournament after winning the Big West Championship for a sixth time with a 2-1 victory at UC Santa Barbara.

The ‘Eaters shared the 2025 Big West regular season title, the sixth in program history, behind the strength of five United Soccer Coaches All-Far West Region selections, which was a school record.

UCI finished with a record of 11-4-6 going unbeaten in Big West play and matching a program record with an 11-match unbeaten streak that extended into the playoffs. Some key wins came against UCLA, Cornell, and North Florida, all postseason participants.

Head Coach Yossi Raz scored his third Big West Coach of the Year honor with seven players joining him on the All-Big West squad led by Big West Championship MVP and team captain Nolan DiCenzo

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
UC Irvine is currently on a program-record 10-game win streak. Eight of those 10 victories were by double digits, and six came by a 20-plus point margin. Overall, the Anteaters are 11-2 on the season, matching their best record through 13 games as they also went 11-2 in 2018-19. 

Hunter Hernandez became the first individual to win three-straight Big West Women's Basketball Player of the Week awards since February 2017 as she earned the honor on Dec. 8, 15, and 22, 2025. She became the 16th member of UCI women's basketball's 1,000-point club on Dec. 13. Hernandez, who needed 21 points to reach the milestone, finished with a game-high 27 in a win over California Baptist. She has since moved up to No. 13 in program history with 1,055 career points.

In March, UCI recorded its fourth consecutive 20-win campaign with four of those victories coming against schools that made the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Head coach Tamara Inoue became the all-time winningest head coach in program history, while Nikki Tom broke the career steals record and Déja Lee joined the 1,000-point club. Statistically, UCI was once again one of the top defensive squads in the nation, ending fifth in field goal percentage defense (35.4%) and 10th in scoring defense (54.3 ppg).

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Men’s volleyball player Hilir Henno tied the NCAA all-time ace record with 255 in his career. The four-time All-American and 2024 AVCA National Player of the Year. He is the career and match ace leader at UCI and the Big West, firing nine aces twice in his career. The outside hitter graduated with 1,616 career kills in 3,325 attempts, which rank third and second, respectively all-time at UCI.

The team ended the year 21-7 overall and ranked No. 5 nationally with a school record six All-American selections. The Anteaters started the year with 10-0 record, tying the school record set in 2003 when head coach David Kniffin was the starting setter.

WOMEN’S WATER POLO
UC Irvine women’s water polo recorded their 20th-straight winning season under head coach Dan Klatt. 

UCI set a program record for goals in a season with 413, topping the previous high of 366 in 2014. Additionally, the team averaged 14.8 goals per game, also a single-season best, and set the record for goals in a single game with 28 versus Concordia inside the Anteater Aquatics Complex. 

Lauren Hett was a third-team All-American, earned All-Big West First Team honors and was named to the Peter J. Cutino Award Watch List. She led the team with 67 goals and 97 points with a .489 conversion rate at the cage. Her 67 goals were fifth in the conference and tied for fourth in single-season school history. Hett was a two-time Big West Player of the Week.

MEN’S TRACK & FIELD
Men’s track & field had one All-American, seven NCAA West First Round qualifiers, four All-Big West performers and boasted the Big West Men’s Freshman of the Year.

Senior Liam Miksic led the way as he defended his Big West title in the javelin to become the conference’s third three-peat champion in the event, and first since 1989. He broke his own school record on his final throw at the Big West Championships, hitting 71.06 meters (233-1). Miksic then finished 12th at the NCAA West First Round to qualify for the NCAA Championships. He had another 70-meter throw at nationals where he placed 12th (70.13m) to earn second-team All-America honors. In addition, Miksic was tabbed the Big West Men’s Field Athlete of the Week on April 8.

Angel Cordero was named the Big West Men’s Freshman of the Year after finishing second in the 800m at the conference championships. He clocked a freshman school-record 1:48.10 in the final. His time also ranked fourth in program history and was the fastest among Big West freshmen this season. Cordero, who had four individual victories on the year, was the first Anteater to advance to NCAA regionals in the 800m since 2017.

WOMEN’S GOLF
Last spring, UC Irvine won the UCR Soboba Classic at the Soboba Golf Course (880-287-291-302). The second title under head coach Margo Dionisio.

Alona Avery was named Big West Freshman of the Year and earned first-team all-conference honors, while Katherine Gerbing was a second team selection and Katelyn Kong was recognized as honorable mention. Kong would go on to play at the U.S. Women’s Amateur over the summer.

This Fall, UCI shot a school record 279 on the second round of the Golf Iconic Classic at the New Mexico State Golf Course. The round of 279 betters the former mark of 282 set in 2021 on the first round of the Big West Championship. The Anteaters had 16 birdies on the day to move into the top spot in the  record book.

WOMEN’S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
In four meets, UC Irvine women’s indoor track & field broke five school records and produced a total of 37 marks that ranked among the program’s all-time top-10.

Jazzmine Davis, Lauren Aquino, Ihe Okoh and Amelia Trautman set the tone as they combined to take down the Anteaters’ five-year-old record in the 4x400 relay with a time of 3:47.41 at the season-opening Silver & Blue Invitational.

At the Riverfront Invitational, Malia Gay broke two school records in a 24-hour span. She opened the meet by winning the 800m in a program-best 2:09.52. The next day, she beat UCI’s standard in the 600m at 1:32.23 for her second victory of the weekend.

The ‘Eaters closed out the season at the MPSF Championships where they set two more program records. Gay, Trautman, Kaia Schmidt and Anna Vogtmann made their way onto the podium with a third-place finish in the distance medley relay. The quartet topped the previous school record by over 10 seconds at 11:36.11.

MORE HIGHLIGHTS
Women’s soccer’s defense boasted the nation's 8th-lowest GAA allowing a total of 11 goals and wrapping up 10 shutouts this year. Mia Colombini was named Big West Midfielder of the Year, the second Anteater to do so, after leading all players with five goals in Big West play and seven overall goals to tie for the scoring title.

Juan Chantaca ran the seventh-fastest 10K in program history to lead UC Irvine men's cross country at the NCAA West Regional at Haggin Oaks Golf Complex. He cut over one minute off his 10K personal best, crossing the finish line in 30:09.4 to place 32nd out of 203 runners. It was the best individual regional finish by an Anteater since 1999. Earlier in the season, Chantaca also broke the 8K school record with a time of 23:38.4 at the UC Riverside Invitational. Chantaca led the Anteaters in all five of his races and was twice named the Big West Men's Cross Country Athlete of the Week.

Women’s cross country was second at the Big West Championships behind Kaia Schmidt’s fourth-place individual finish, which earned her All-Big West honors. The Anteaters also won the Vanguard Invitational (Sept. 5) and were third at the UC Riverside Invitational where Schmidt (20:38.4) and Emma Hadley (20:47.6) both ran top-10 6K times in program history. Schmidt was named the Big West Athlete of the Week on Sept. 30 and Oct. 14.

Women’s Volleyball toppled second place Cal Poly, 3-0 in the season finale to qualify for the Big West Championship. Libero Campbell Jensen ended her career second all-time with 1,901 digs.

Men's golf tied for third at the Big West Championships, marking their best conference finish in six years. Rei Harashima led the way at 4-under 212 (72-68-72) to tie for eighth. Harashima earned All-Big West honors for the third time in his career. Jack Yu and Tommy Lin also garnered All-Big West honorable mention recognition in their first collegiate season.

Men’s water polo recorded 364 goals in 27 games played, the second highest scoring total in the program's single season history, only falling short of the 400 mark set in the 2024 season. The Anteaters recorded 10+ goals in 22 of their 27 outings. Sophomore Johann Thrall led the team with 60 goals.

Women's tennis finished with double figure wins for the second year in a row. Kayla Meraz (singles), Carolyna Fowler (doubles), and Yen Nhi Huynh (doubles) were selected to the All-Big West Second Team.