2024-25 Year in Review: Spring

Women's Track & Field
Head Coach: Jeff Perkins, 12th Year
2025 Big West Finish: 1st

UC Irvine women’s track & field made history, winning the program’s first Big West Championship. The Anteaters built a decent lead before holding off a late Cal Poly push to claim the team title at Long Beach State’s Jack Rose Track. The ‘Eaters finished with 150.5 points to edge the Mustangs, who took second with 149 points. 

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.

A school-record 10 ‘Eaters combined for 13 NCAA West First Round qualifying marks. Jazzmine Davis (100H, 400H), Esmeray Demirbas (400H, High Jump) and Kailah McKenzie (High Jump, Long Jump) were all dual-event qualifiers. Zharia Taylor (High Jump), Jolie Robinson (Long Jump), Reyna Johnson (Long Jump), Luz Mercado (800m), Malia Gay (800m), Nyla Baker (Shot Put) and DeAna Davis (Hammer) also competed at the regional meet. Gay ran a personal-record 2:05.72 to advance to the quarterfinals, while Taylor cleared a PR 1.81 meters (5-11.25) to tie for ninth in the high jump and punch her ticket to the NCAA Championships.

Taylor 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. 

Kailah McKenzie, Reyna Johnson and Jolie Robinson all earned Big West Women’s Field Athlete of the Week honors during the season.

Jeff Perkins received his first career Big West Coach of the Year award. He joined Vince O’Boyle (1996) and Danny Williams (1990, 1991) in UC Irvine’s elite group of Big West Women’s Track & Field Coach of the Year honorees.

Men's Tennis
Head Coach: Mike Saunders, 10th Year
2025 Record: 18-6 (5-1, 2nd Big West); Big West Champions

UC Irvine men’s tennis won three matches in three days at the Barnes Tennis Center in San Diego to win their second-straight Big West Championship and third in the last four years.

The second-seeded Anteaters opened the tournament with a 4-0 sweep of No. 7 seed UC Riverside. That put them in the semifinals against No. 3 UC Davis. The ‘Eaters were down 3-0 against the Aggies, but straight-set victories from Sohrob Amiryavari, Noah Zamora, and Max Fardanesh tied it up at 3-3. It boiled down to the second position where Andy Nguyen came up clutch with the decisive 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 triumph. UCI advanced to the championship to face top-seeded and 34th-ranked UC Santa Barbara for the fourth-straight year. The Gauchos went up 2-0 before UC Irvine came charging back with wins from Rithvik Krishna, Fardanesh and Nguyen. UCSB took court six to stay alive, but Zamora answered with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over 63rd-ranked Gianluca Brunkow to secure the title.

UCI made its 14th NCAA Division I Championship appearance, traveling to seventh-ranked San Diego for a first-round match. The Anteaters put up a fight with straight-set singles victories from Amiryavari and Nguyen, but ultimately fell, 4-2.

The ‘Eaters closed the campaign with an 18-6 record, marking their 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. In singles, Zamora went 21-9 overall 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. During the fall, Zamora was the first 'Eater to compete in the NCAA Singles Championships since 2011, and the first to advance in the tournament since 1989 as he upset No. 13 Sebastian Dominko of Notre Dame in the Round of 64. Zamora was 66th in the final ITA Singles Rankings.

Zamora and Andy Nguyen both earned first-team All-Big West honors in singles and doubles. Nguyen, who finished the year on a 16-match win streak, went a team-best 17-2 in dual-match singles while playing primarily at No. 2. Max Fardanesh and Rithvik Krishna also received All-Big West honorable mention distinction in singles. Mike Saunders garnered his third career Big West Coach of the Year award.

UC Irvine was among the top-50 in every ITA Poll since February 20, with a high ranking of No. 36 and 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.

Baseball
Head Coach: Ben Orloff, 7th Year
2025 Record: 43-17 (24-6, 1st Big West)

UC Irvine baseball claimed the Big West title for the third time in program history and second under head coach Ben Orloff. He was named Big West Coach of the Year for it, the second time in his coaching career, as the ‘Eaters had a third 40-win season under his tutelage going 43-17 and earning an 11th trip to an NCAA Regional in the program’s Division I history, third for coach Orloff's bunch while maintaining a top-25 ranking for the entire season in a second straight year beginning and ending as the No. 25 team in the country.

For the first time in UC Irvine baseball history, they earned a spot in the Big West Championship postseason tournament as the conference brought it back for the first time since the late 1990s. UCI entered as the 1-seed, but fell in the championship final to Cal Poly. UCI would earn their postseason berth via at-large resume. UCI headed up the freeway to UCLA as the 2-seed in the Los Angeles Regional. After dropping the opening game to Arizona State, the 'Eaters rallied back to defeat Fresno State and exact revenge against Arizona State to reach the Regional Final against the hosts UCLA falling, 8-5.

The Anteaters put on a show again in the 2025 season on both sides of the ball winning 39 regular season games that consisted of winning streaks of six, eight, and 12 games. UCI finished in the top three nationally in road record going 20-6 on the year and winning 27 games away from home. Their wins included six against ranked teams including over No. 24 Nebraska to open the season on a neutral site, a win over No. 11 Oregon State at their place, and a three-game sweep at No. 21 UC Santa Barbara. UCI got a home win over No. 15 UCLA to top it off, and added Power 4 wins over Texas Tech, twice, and USC along the way.

UCI was rewarded by scoring Big West Field Player of the Year and Big West Pitcher of the Year along with coach Orloff's accolade, the first time one team has swept all three alone since the Anteaters did it in 2009 with Orloff, Daniel Bibona, and head coach Mike Gillespie. Colin Yeaman took home Field Player of the Year with 13 home runs in his first UCI season batting nearly .350 and was in the running for Brooks Wallace Award as he's now the fourth Anteater to win it in the last five years. Ricky Ojeda earned Big West Pitcher of the Year as a sophomore after finishing with 13 wins, second-most in the nation, and became the first reliever to ever win the award. A total of 12 'Eaters were named on the All-Big West Team while also being considered for such awards as Stopper of the Year, National Pitcher of the Year, and Dick Howser Trophy.

Statistically, UCI was a .299-hitting team with a top-20 on-base percentage as a team while scoring 8.1 runs a game. Pitching posted a 4.91 ERA finishing top-60 in ERA and fielding percentage. UCI had five shutouts on the season highlighted by consecutive complete game shutouts thrown by Trevor Hansen and Ryder Brooks against Hawai'i with each recording a career high 10 strikeouts. Hansen finished as the team's leader with a 3.30 ERA, 95 strikeouts, and 95.1 innings pitched while posting a record of 9-3. Brooks brought with him a 7-3 record, and Riley Kelly completed the weekend rotation with a 4-1 record, 3.70 ERA, and 70 strikeouts like the rest. Max Martin locked up 14 saves on his season out of the closer's role finishing fourth nationally.

The offense broke their own season record from a year ago mashing 71 home runs. Chase Call hit 11 including his first two-home run game in the final game of the season to finish with a UC Irvine all-time record of 30 home runs. Jacob McCombs' .352 average led the team along with 13 home runs of his own while being the only Anteater to make all-tournament teams for the Big West Championship and NCAA Regional. Anthony Martinez set the all-time RBI record on the final day of the season leading the ‘Eaters with 58 this year and besting Jeff Malinoff’s all-time record of 189 RBIs that had stood since 1974. The Anteaters were hit by pitch 156 times finishing second in the NCAA including McCombs hit 28 times just on his own setting a program single-season record. UCI's NCAA record of 175 set last year was bested this season by the College World Series runner-up, Coastal Carolina. 

Men's Volleyball
Head Coach: David Kniffin, 13th Year
2025 Record: 21-7 (6-4, 3rd Big West)

UC Irvine men’s volleyball went 21-7 overall, and was just shy of an at-large selection to the NCAA Championships. The Anteaters ended the year ranked fifth nationally, while holding their highest ranking of the season at No. 2 for five weeks. All seven of their losses were to teams in the top-10, including six in the top-five. 

UCI was one of two teams to beat national champion and No. 1 Long Beach State, but the only one to do it in three sets and on the road. The ‘Eaters started the year with a 10-0 record, tying the 2003 squad when head coach David Kniffin was the starting setter, for the best start in program history. UC Irvine finished third in the Big West with a 6-4 record and ended the year falling to Hawai‘i in the Big West semifinals in Honolulu.

Fans were treated to the final season of Hilir Henno, one of the best collegiate players all-time. The outside hitter recorded six aces in the season finale with the last being the 255th of his career to tie the NCAA all-time record. He fired 74 aces this season to rank second behind his 2023 school record. Henno ended his career as the UCI and Big West career and single match leader. He graduates with 1,616 career kills in 3,325 attempts, which rank third and second, respectively all-time at UC Irvine. Henno was a four-time All-Big West first team selection, one of only two players in conference history to be named to the first team all four years. Nolan Flexen and Maxim Grigoriev also made the All-Big West First Team, while William D’Arcy was an honorable mention selection and Micah Goss was named to the All-Freshman team.

The Anteaters had a school record six All-Americans led by Henno who became the third ‘Eater to be named AVCA first team All-America three times. Flexen was named to the second team, while Grigoriev, D’Arcy, Goss and Shane Aitken were honorable mention selections.

The Anteaters racked up 12 Big West Player of the Week honors and two AVCA National Player of the Week awards. Flexen was honored on February 17 after a pair of wins over USC, and Henno on March 31 after taking down The Beach. Setter Joe Karlous set a UCI rally-scoring and Big West record for set assists in a match with 73 against USC. 

Women's Water Polo
Head Coach: Dan Klatt, 21st Year
2025 Record: 15-13 (5-2, 3rd Big West)

UC Irvine women’s water polo recorded their 20th-straight winning season under head coach Dan Klatt. The Anteaters finished third in The Big West and advanced to the semifinals of the conference tournament for the second straight year. 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 on March 12 inside the Anteater Aquatics Complex. 

One of the most exciting games of the year sent the Anteaters to the Big West Semifinals in a nail biting 12-11 win over UC Santa Barbara. Facing a one-goal deficit in the final period, UCI scored five times and came up huge on defense behind Rachel Kirchner’s career-high 13 saves and her penalty shot denial with 50 seconds remaining to prevent overtime.

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.

Brooke Hourigan and Kennedy East garnered recognition as All-Big West Second Team selections. Hourigan finished sixth in the conference with 39 assists, while ranking second on the team in points (80) and steals (33). East finished the season third on the team in goals (41) and fifth in points (58). 

Nioka Thomas and Madi O’Hara were also recognized for their achievements this season as All-Big West honorable mentions. Thomas was second on the team with 48 goals and 43 drawn exclusions. O’Hara led the team in drawn exclusions (60) and had personal bests in both goals (28) and steals (16) in a season.

Pippa Heaver finished off the Anteaters’ postseason awards with an All-Big West Freshman Team selection. Heaver ended the year second on the team with 31 assists to go along with 43 points, 18 drawn exclusions, 15 steals, and 12 goals in her rookie campaign.

Men's Track & Field
Head Coach: Jeff Perkins, 12th Year
2024 Big West Finish: 5th

UC Irvine 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.

Junior Kenechukwu Okonkwo (Triple Jump) and senior Jacob Hawkins (Shot Put) both claimed Big West runner-up honors and qualified for the NCAA regional meet in their respective events. Earlier in the season, Okonkwo established a personal-record 15.83 meters (51-11.25), which ranks second in program history.

Freshman Justin Johnson (200m), senior Joshua Schuld (Steeplechase) and senior Logan Peyton (Javelin) were also conference scorers and NCAA West First Round qualifiers. At the regional meet, Johnson advanced to the quarterfinals where he clocked a wind-legal PR 20.69 to move up to No. 2 among UCI’s all-time leaders.

Men's Golf
Head Coach: Paul Smolinski, 27th Year
2025 Big West Finish: T-3rd

UC Irvine men’s golf opened the season with their first stroke play tournament victory since 2018 as they took home the team title at the Oregon State Invitational at Trysting Tree Golf Club, October 7-8. The Anteaters entered the final round in a tie for second before carding a 285 to erase a five-stroke deficit. They overtook the host Beavers, finishing first at 4-under 848 (288-275-285). Junior JJ Nakao paced UCI at 2-under 211 (70-70-71) for a career-best fourth-place showing. Sophomore Jason Tang (213), freshman Jack Yu (215) and junior Rei Harashima (215) were also among the top-20.

The ‘Eaters kicked off their spring schedule by co-hosting the sixth annual Orange County Collegiate Classic at Coto de Caza South Course. They finished third overall. Freshman Tommy Lin was UCI’s top performer, coming in fourth at 2-under 214 (73-70-71). Junior Yaoting Zou, who was competing as an individual, added a career-best fifth-place showing (215), while Tang tied for ninth (218).

UC Irvine tied for third at the Big West Championships, marking their best conference finish since 2019. Harashima led the way with a 4-under 212 (72-68-72) to tie for eighth. It was his team-leading fourth top-10 showing. Harashima, who closed out the season with a 72.13 average, earned All-Big West honors for the third time in his career.

Lin and Yu both placed among the top-20 at the conference tournament and garnered an All-Big West honorable mention nod. Yu had four top-20 performances and a 72.48 stroke average, while Lin recorded a 73.38 average. Nakao also ended the year ranked third on the team with a 73.25 average.

On the season, four ‘Eaters combined for 21 sub-70 scores, led by 10 from Harashima.

Women's Golf
Head Coach: Margo Dionisio, 3rd Year
2025 Big West Finish: 4th

UC Irvine women’s golf had one of the most successful seasons in program history, capturing two tournament victories, and finishing among the top-five on five other occasions. 

The Anteaters started with a bang, winning the Wolverine Invitational at Talon Coves Golf Course in record-setting fashion. UCI’s 18th all-time tournament win was an 11-under 853 (283-286-284), the lowest 54-hole total in program history. Freshman Alona Avery finished second with a 207 (69-68-70), the third-lowest individual score in UC Irvine history.

The ‘Eaters continued to be impressive in their next tournament, posting the second lowest score in program history at the Golfweek Red Sky Classic at the Red Sky Golf Club with an 870 (289-290-291). Avery placed seventh at five-under par 211 (69-67-75), which was tied for seventh best for 54 holes at UCI, while her 36-hole total of 136 was tied for second. She had a career-low 67 on the second round, which was tied for the sixth-best 18-hole outing in the record book.

In the spring, UC Irvine won the UCR Soboba Classic at the Soboba Golf Course (880--287-291-302). It was the first time since 2008-09 that the Anteaters won a pair of titles in a single season.

UCI finished fourth at the Big West Championship, led by Katherine Gerbing who tied for seventh, firing a career-best 67 on the second round to match Avery for the team low.

Avery was named Big West Freshman of the Year and earned first-team all-conference honors, while Gerbing was a second team selection and Katelyn Kong was recognized as honorable mention.

The Anteaters had 12 individual rounds of 69 or lower during the season.

Women's Tennis
Head Coach: Elizabeth Ferris, 8th Year
2025 Record: 10-13 (1-8, 9th Big West)

UC Irvine women’s tennis finished completed their second double figure win season in three years as they strung together 10 team victories. The season was wrapped up in the first round of the conference tournament as they fell to Long Beach State.

The Anteaters had many highlights throughout the season, one of which was winning against every new opponent they faced this year. For the first time in program history, UCI faced Oakland, Lehigh, and Stanton. They were able to beat Oakland 7-0, Lehigh 6-1, and Stanton 7-0, all of which were at home.

This year's squad has started to fill up the record book as several new feats were accomplished. Junior Haily Huynh moved up to ninth all-time with 13 victories in the fifth spot. She was also the 44th Anteater to accomplish 30 career singles wins. The Anteaters made history in doubles, too, after Carolyna Fowler and Amanda Perez’s seasons. Fowler became the 30th Anteater to accomplish 30 career doubles wins. Perez got her 19th victory at No. 3, which puts her tied for sixth all-time.

Senior Kayla Meraz (singles), junior Carolyna Fowler (doubles), and freshman Yen Nhi Huynh (doubles) were selected to the All-Big West Second Team. Haily Huynh and Kayla Meraz were both selected to the CSC Academic All-District team for the second year in a row.