Alumni Report: UC Irvine Tennis Is a Family Affair for These Smiths

A group of wolves is a pack. Crows are a murder. Anteaters are…Smiths? OK, so that might not be an accepted nomenclature, but sophomore tennis standout Kristina Smith is the latest in a long family line of Anteaters -- a very long line.

“My mom [Maria Smith] was one of 10 kids, and they all went to [UC Irvine],” she said.

With a family tree so firmly rooted in UCI, it’s small wonder Smith was No. 11 coming out of Dana Hills High.  She said the decision to become an Anteater wasn’t as simple as following family tradition, though.

“UCI was definitely near the top of my list, but I looked at colleges all over California: Cal Poly, UC Davis, Santa Clara, St. Mary’s. UCI was just a great fit,” she said. “It’s a great school academically and the tennis [program] is strong.”

Like her mother before her, Smith said proximity was another factor. Maria was a Laguna Beach resident when she opted for UCI.

The tennis tradition Kristina credits for attracting her features her mother as a building block. Maria reached the NCAA Championships in 1983.

A rich family tennis tradition such as hers could have been added pressure for Smith. But in a sport in which athletes are pushed to focus on professional careers at increasingly younger ages, she said her parents were her most positive supporters.

“I started playing when I was small, about 7. And. yeah, in juniors tournaments you’re playing almost every weekend,” she said. “But tennis is something that, for me, has always just been fun. It’s something I really love. And college, that’s something that I always knew I wanted to do.”

Kristina was a star at Dana Hills, winning one of three consecutive appearances in the CIF Southern Section individual tennis doubles finals and earning All-South Coast League honors each of her four years. She led the Dolphins to Southern Section titles in 2006 and 2008.

Smith is finding similar success in college. She has started the 2011 season with two impressive outings, winning her individual matches at San Diego State on Jan. 29 and against Pepperdine on Thursday. Smith’s defeat of Pepperdine’s Anamika Bhargava 6-4, 3-6, 1-0 (10-6) was the Anteaters’ lone point in a 6-1 loss to the Waves. UCI fell to the Aztecs, 5-2.

During her freshman season, Smith finished 29-5 in singles and 14-9 in doubles. She was an All-Big West honorable mention in doubles with teammate Courtney Byron

Tennis has always and continues to take Smith places. An English major, she said she is considering giving back to the sport when her career ends.

“I would love to coach if I do [go into education after graduating], or even working as an assistant at the college level,” she said.

The family tree doesn't end with Kristina. Her sister, Joanna, is a senior at Dana Hills and will play at Arizona State next year. Youngest sister Alyssa, a sophomore, is the last of the line but a phenomenal tennis player as well.

Will Kristina try to persuade Alyssa to keep the UCI tradition alive?

“We’ll see. It’s definitely possible,” she said with a laugh. “She may want to go further from home, but you never know.”

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For future Alumni Reports, I'll be keeping my eye on the latest crop of South Orange County senior athletes who finalizied their college decisions during Wednesday’s National Signing Day. The region’s tradition of producing great prep football players also held true to form.

Mission Viejo linebacker Tre Madden signed with USC, whose coach, Lane Kiffin, continued to prosper from the Mater Dei pipeline. Monarchs quarterback Max Wittek and wide receiver Victor Blackwell join a Trojans roster that features fellow alums Matt Barkley , Robbie Boyer, Conrad Tavarez. They are joined in cardinal and gold by linebacker Ross Cumming of Santa Margarita.

USC will see another local talent in Pacific 12 Conference play next season. Tesoro’s Sean O’Grady will be lining up against those Trojans as a defensive lineman for Arizona State, where he will join former Titan teammates Sil Ajawara and Evan Finkenberg.

The Ivy League received a pair of local commitments, with Mater Dei’s Will O’Keefe choosing Brown, and Mission Viejo’s Ethan DeSilva choosing Yale. Another MVHS product, Mitch Melugin, signed with Northern Arizona, whose coach, Jerome Sauer, had previously signed El Toro’s Jesse Bueno, Aliso Niguel’s Daivon Dumas and San Clemente’s Taylor Patton.

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JSerra alum Chris Gabriel scored a college-career high 21 points to lead San Diego to its first West Coast Conference victory. The Toreros downed Loyola Marymount, 66-63, Thursday. Gabriel, the team's center, is averaging 7.3 points and is shooting a team-leading 50.8 percent from the field.

Gabriel scored 11 points Saturday night in USD's 70-63 loss to Pepperdine, who were led by Santa Margarita graduate Mychel Thompson's game-high 25 points. The son of former Laker Mychal Thompson, Mychel came into the game averaging 12.8 points and a team-high 5.9 rebounds. His brother, Klay, who is also a former Eagle, plays for Washington State.

On the women’s hardwood, BYU leads the Mountain West race with a 7-1 conference record. Aiding the cause is San Clemente's Kristen Riley. The sophomore center is averaging 9.2 points on 53 percent shooting, and 5.3 rebounds per game for the Cougars (15-7 overall).

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Is there a local alum we should know about? Contact Kyle Kensing at kkensing@gmail.com