June 5, 2009

UC Irvine Honors 184 Scholar-Athletes at Annual Banquet

June 5, 2009

Irvine, Calif. -- UC Irvine Athletics honored 184 student-athletes as 2008-09 Big West Scholar-Athletes at the "Salute To Scholar-Athletes" banquet Thursday night.

This year's list brings UCI's total to 3,266 conference scholar-athletes since 1983.

Requirements for this award include maintaining a 3.0 grade-point average (GPA) over three quarters or a 3.2 GPA over two quarters for freshmen. Student-athletes must also earn letters in their sports.

The Scholar-Athlete award was implemented by the Big West Conference to honor those student-athletes that have maintained a high level of scholastic excellence while participating in intercollegiate athletics. UCI expanded the award to include teams that do not participate in Big West-sponsored sports.

In addition to the 184 scholar-athletes, UCI also recognized several individuals. Men's volleyball player Jon Steller was recognized as the Lauds & Laurels Outstanding Senior Athlete, the most prestigious award given by the UCI Alumni Association. He was a member of UC Irvine's 2009 national championship team, firing a service ace to rally the Anteaters in the fifth game of the championship win over USC at Provo, Utah. The opposite, who averaged 2.05 kills this season, recorded a career-high 32 kills in a match at Pepperdine for the fifth-most kills in the nation this season. He was named Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Player of the Week three times in his career as well as American Volleyball Coaches Association National Player of the Week once. The 2008 All-American ends his career ranked sixth all-time in UCI service aces with 90. Steller, who also played on UCI's 2007 national-championship team, is a three-time conference scholar-athlete as well as a two-time ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District honoree. He will be graduating with degrees in neurobiology and the classics and attending UCI Medical School in the Fall.

Women's track & field athlete Lauren Collins and baseball player Ben Orloff were recognized as UC Irvine's Scholar-Athletes of the Year.

Collins, a junior, has qualified for the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the heptathlon and the high jump next week in Fayetteville, Arkansas. She broke her own school record in the heptathlon with a total of 5,549 points in winning the Northridge Spring Break Open in March. That mark also qualified her for the USA Track & Field Championships at Eugene, Oregon later this month and she was named the Big West Conference Athlete of the Week following that performance for the fourth time in her career. Collins won the high jump at the 2009 Big West Conference Championships with a height of 6 feet, 1 ¼ inches to break her previous record and finished third in the high jump at the NCAA West Regional last weekend. A three-time Big West Scholar-Athlete, Collins ranks second all-time at UCI in the 100-meter hurdles and third in the long jump. She is a sociology major with a minor in education.

Orloff became the first UCI baseball player to be named Big West Conference Player of the Year this season as he helped lead the `Eaters to the program's first conference title. He has been named a 2009 All-American by Collegiate Baseball and he is one of five national finalists for the Brooks Wallace Award that is annually given to the nation's best shortstop, plus he is one of 10 finalists for the Lowe's Senior Class Award. Orloff started 215 straight games for the `Eaters and is the school's career leader in hits, runs scored and at-bats, plus he ranks second all-time in steals. He was named to the 2009 All-Irvine Regional team and his steady leadership helped UCI to the nation's No. 1 ranking for six consecutive weeks. Orloff will graduate with a degree in criminology, law and society.

UCI's Big West Conference Scholar-Athletes of the Year were senior Lauren Kellerman (women's volleyball) and senior Eric Pettis (baseball). Each conference school honors one male and one female athlete each year from Big West sponsored sports.

Kellerman was named an All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association this year to become just the third Anteater women's volleyball player to earn All-America honors. She was named to the All-Big West Conference first team for the third straight season and earned all-conference recognition each of her four years at UCI. She was named Big West Conference Player of the Week this season after recording 21 kills and a team-high 13 digs in a 3-1 victory over Long Beach State. Kellerman was second on the team this season with 349 kills and ranked third with 20 service aces and 259 digs. She ends her UCI career ranking second all-time in career attack attempts, third in kills and sixth in aces. Kellerman is a three-time Big West Scholar-Athlete who will graduate with a degree in sociology.

Pettis was named a Collegiate Baseball All-American this year for the second straight season. He recorded 17 saves in each of the past two years to rank No. 1 in Anteater single-season history. An All-Big West Conference first-team selection the past two years, his 17 saves this season currently ranks fourth in the nation. Pettis was named to the midseason watch list for "Stopper of the Year" by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association and also was voted a preseason All-American by the Writers Association. His 34 saves in the past two years ranks No. 2 in UCI career history. He is a two-time Big West Scholar-Athlete majoring in pyschology.

Women's tennis player Heidi Kaloi and men's track athlete Julian Eison received the University's Academic Achievement Award from the UCI Admissions Office, while track and field athletes Samantha Costantini, Kelley Hall and Vanessa Vaughan received the UCI Athletics Leadership Award.

Women's cross country received the Faculty Athletic Representative Award for highest team grade-point average.

2008-09 UCI Scholar-Athletes

Baseball

Tony Asaro, Dillon Bell, Daniel Bibona, DJ Crumlich, Jeff Cusick, Matt Dufour, Ryan Fisher, Francis Larson, Sean Madigan, Ben Orloff, Eric Pettis, Crosby Slaught