UC Irvine Volleyball Coach Quits

Merja Connolly-Freund, the UC Irvine women’s volleyball coach the last four years, resigned Tuesday.

Connolly-Freund, who was the captain on UCLA’s 1984 national championship team, had a 30-87 record at Irvine. The Anteaters were 8-20 this season and won only one of 16 Big West Conference games.

TENNIS

Will Marino, former assistant women’s coach at UC Irvine, has been hired to coach men’s and women’s tennis at Chapman, Athletic Director Dave Currey announced.

Marino has been an assistant to former Chapman coach Mike Edles for 2 1/2 years at Irvine.

Marino, 34, has been the assistant pro at Ridgeline Country Club in Orange the last eight years. He graduated from Cal State Bakersfield, where he was an All-American in doubles and ranked 25th in the nation.

Chapman’s women’s team finished 10-3 last season, and the men were 10-6.

BASEBALL

Ryan Cheo, a left-handed pitcher at Saddleback College, has signed to play baseball at UCLA this spring.

Cheo was 1-2 with a 4.87 earned-run average in 16 appearances during his freshman year. He is a graduate of Capistrano Valley High.