Briefs: Wight selects Bruins

Newport Harbor High senior Mary Rose Wight has committed to play women’s water polo at UCLA, she said Monday.

Wight, a defender, scored 24 goals in 2010-11, helping the Sailors finish second in the Sunset League and reach the CIF Southern Section Division I quarterfinals.

Wight was a second-team all-league selection. She will be part of a freshman class in Westwood that also includes Newport Harbor goalie Sarah Wilkey.

“We’re both so excited,” Wight said. “She moved here from Texas in the fifth grade and we’ve been best friends ever since.”

UCLA, which won five straight NCAA titles from 2005 to 2009, is currently ranked No. 4 in the nation.

— Matt Szabo

Anteaters’ Yoder lauded

UC Irvine senior Cory Yoder was named American Volleyball Coaches Assn. National Player of the Week after leading the Anteaters men to a pair of road victories.

For the week, the 6-foot-4 outside hitter hit .491, committing just one attack error over seven sets. He averaged 4.0 kills, 4.86 points, 1.43 digs, 0.57 blocks and 0.57 aces per set.

Against No. 5 Long Beach State on Wednesday, Yoder led UCI with 17 kills without an error in 37 swings. It was the fifth match this season in which Yoder has gone without a hitting error. He also added two aces, seven digs and two blocks.

The Anteaters (17-11, 13-8 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation), went on to defeat host Cal State Northridge on Saturday as Yoder had a team-best 11 kills and a .556 hitting percentage.

It is Yoder’s first career national Player of the Week recognition. It is the second consecutive week a UCI student-athlete has been named Player of the Week with Carson Clark earning the distinction last week.

On the season, Yoder averages 3.34 kills and 3.78 points per set. Over the last five matches, the senior is hitting .492 with 66 kills and just three attack errors.

UCI is ranked No. 3.

— From staff reports

Tars’ Michaelsen Wellesley bound

Newport Harbor High senior girls’ lacrosse player Sierra Michaelsen has committed to Wellesley College in Massachusetts, her mother, Nancy, said in an e-mail.

Michaelsen, a center, led the Sailors (7-9) with 25 goals and 16 assists through 16 games. She was a U.S. Lacrosse Academic All-American and Newport Harbor’s team MVP last year as a junior. The two-year team captain is also a two-time first-team All-Sunset League pick, and she played on the L.A.-Orange County National Team last spring in Baltimore.

Michaelsen, who also plays for the national travel team XTEAM, plans to major in neuroscience.

— From staff reports