RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Our next installment of our Year in Review series rounds out fall sports with a look back on Highlander volleyball and cross country, two programs that, while young, stood out.
Volleyball
Youth was the going theme for UC Riverside volleyball in 2021, with a pair of sophomores and a pair of freshmen -
Amarachi Osuji,
Deja Bickers,
Isabella Scarlett and
Anya Green - leading the Highlander offense at the net. Osuji was named UCR's female Big West Scholar Athlete of the Year after getting it done in the classroom with a 3.91 GPA. The sophomore led the Highlanders team in kills and service aces, was the team leader in points per set and her .32 aces per set average was fifth best in the Big West in 2021. All four earned Big West All-Academic honors alongside
Mia Christensen and
Zoey Seput.
On the court, the Highlanders went 2-1 in the UCR/CBU Volleyball Classic and pulled out five-set wins over Long Beach State and UC Irvine. The program entered a new era earlier this spring with the
announcement of Nicky Cannon as the Highlanders' next head coach.
Cross Country
Fall 2021 was a big year for UC Riverside cross country, as the Highlanders built on each subsequent performance beginning with the Stump Invitational in Davis, followed by two home meets at the Ag/Ops Course. A big proponent of UCR's success was the
arrival of new distance coach, Zach Newsom.
UCR's top five all ran in their collegiate debuts at Stump before the program's two home meets showing a significant amount of promise for head coach
Nate Browne's Highlanders. Four freshmen entered the program record book with top-25 times at the 40th annual UCR Invitational, with the women finishing fifth out of 22 and the men placing ninth out of 24. Freshmen crossed the finish line first in both the men's and women's races, with
Linda Perez and Josh Mendoza leading their respective teams.
Perez and Mendoza led the way in UCR's second home meet as well, as the women finished fourth at the Highlander Invitational a month later, and Perez capped off her season with an All-Big West honor by virtue of her fourth-place finish at conference.
Stay tuned to GoHighlanders.com and @UCR_Athletics on Twitter and Instagram for more Year in Review content all week long.
