’Eaters surprise 49ers

Published Friday, March 28, 2008 12:00 AM PDT
Sports

’Eaters surprise 49ers
VOLLEYBALL: No. 9-ranked UCI rallies for five-game upset of No. 3 Long Beach State, now tied for the MPSF lead.
By Barry Faulkner

IRVINE — In accordance with finals week, the UC Irvine men’s volleyball team was presented with multiple choices during its 12-day layoff that ended Thursday against Mountain Pacific Sports Federation-leading Long Beach State.

The Anteaters could either pursue the promise Coach John Speraw has proclaimed for them all season — as a team that could ultimately beat any team in the nation — or merely continue its inconsistent path along the precipice of earning one of eight berths into the upcoming conference tournament.

After the first two games Thursday, it appeared the latter was in order as the visiting 49ers (19-4, 14-3 in conference), ranked No. 3 in the nation, posted a pair of impressive wins.

But No. 9-ranked UCI (12-12, 8-9) had another option in mind as it rallied for a 22-30, 22-30, 30-26, 30-27, 15-12 triumph that, as much as anything this season, shows them that in the proper time and place, they can defend their NCAA championship with purpose and poise.

“Long Beach is one of the top teams in the country and it’s playing well right now,” said UCI junior opposite Jon Steller, who led the winners with 26 kills and hit .500 for the match. “I think this gives us a huge confidence boost and, hopefully, we can carry that into this next week when we play [Cal State] Northridge, which is now No. 1.”

Steller was a consistent force at the net all night, but a lineup adjustment in which Speraw inserted Anthony Spittle at setter and Taylor Wilson at outside hitter after the first two games, seemed to help the Anteaters find their rhythm.

“I thought Anthony gave us some nice consistency,” Speraw said of the freshman who finished with a team-best 30 assists. “I thought he set a very nice match. And it wasn’t even that [junior Ryan Ammerman, who started and produced 25 assists] set a poor match. I don’t think we were passing very well [in the first two games]. It’s just that when you’re down, 0-2, you want to change things up.”

Speraw also wanted to see Wilson — a 6-foot-7 junior who started as a sophomore, but has battled ankle problems that have sidelined him for much of this season — in the lineup at the same time as the 6-7 Steller.

“We practiced that lineup this week, but we’d never seen it in a match, so I was glad to get a look at it,” Speraw said.

With Wilson’s passing (10 digs, bettered only by junior libero Brent Asuka’s 12) and his veteran hitting savvy (seven kills and a .278 percentage), the Anteaters finally asserted themselves.

UCI had led only once in the first game (3-2) and the second game (2-1), as the 49ers looked every bit the team that had already swept the ’Eaters twice this season.

But the hosts played the visitors virtually even in Game 3, before pulling away from a 20-20 deadlock on its way to a four-point triumph.

In Game 4, UCI pulled away after being deadlocked at 12, setting up a Game 5 that had not been kind to the ’Eaters all season.

“We’ve had four five-game matches before tonight and we’d lost all of them,” Steller said.

But this time, something was different.

“We had some poise and that was nice to see,” Speraw said. “I’ve always felt we have the potential to be a good volleyball team, we just need to put it together. That’s one of the better teams in the MPSF, and if we play good volleyball, we’re capable of beating anyone in the MPSF. We just need to play consistently high-level volleyball for long periods of time and we haven’t been able to do that very often this season.”

UCI freshman middle Kevin Wynne posted a kill to set up match point and, after a UCI serving error, freshman Cory Yoder (14 kills) caromed a kill off a blocker to give UCI its first five-game win this season.

“I sure hope this is a turning point for us,” said Speraw, whose team entered the match in seventh place in the MPSF. “I think finals week gave us a chance to take a breath and regroup and reevaluate where we are and where we need to go. We committed ourselves to these next [now five] matches [to conclude the regular season].”

49ers Upset by the Eaters!

No. 9 UC Irvine Rallies To Upset No. 3 Long Beach State, 3-2
Anteaters win in five after losing first two games

March 27, 2008

Final Stats


Irvine, Calif. - No. 9 UC Irvine rallied from a two game deficit to upset No. 3 Long Beach State, 3-2 (22-30, 22-30, 30-26, 30-27, 15-12) at the Bren Events Center Thursday.



The Anteaters win their first five-gamer (1-4) of the year and improve to 12-12 overall and 8-9 in the MPSF. Long Beach State goes to 19-4 and 14-3 in league play. Three of Long Beach's four losses this year have come in five games.



Junior opposite Jon Steller led UCI with 26 kills, hitting .500 for the match (26-5-42). Freshman outside hitter Cory Yoder totaled 14 kills and four blocks, while Taylor Wilson came off the bench to add seven kills and 10 digs. Libero Brent Asuka tallied 11 digs, while middle blocker Kevin Wynne had a match-high five block assists. Senior middle blocker Aaron Harrell recorded five kills and four blocks. Setter Anthony Spittle sparked UCI in the final three games with 30 set assists.



Long Beach State was paced by Paul Lotman with 27 kills, 11 digs and four service aces. Dean Bittner recorded 26 kills followed by Josh Riley with 11 kills and Dan Alexander with 10 kills. Alexander also had a team-high four blocks. Libero Dustin Watten had a match-high 13 digs.

In game one, Long Beach State jumped out to a 10-4 lead on the strength of its serving which included three aces. The Forty-Niners went on to a 30-22 win behind Dean Bittner's eight kills.

Long Beach led 7-6 in game two before going on a 3-1 run to extend the lead to 10-7. UCI would pull within 23-21 on a Jordan DuFault kill but another Bittner kill was followed by an Anteater attack error to give LBSU the 25-21 cushion. The Anteaters would get no closer than three the rest of the way as Long Beach took the second game 30-22 with the Forty-Niners ending the game with three consecutive blocks.

UCI led 16-13 in game three before Long Beach rallied on a 6-3 spurt to knot the score at 19-19. UCI used a Forty-Niner service and attack error followed by a Cory Yoder kill to go up 24-21. UCI would go on to win the game 30-26. Long Beach would record seven service errors in the set.

Game four saw the teams tied at 12-12 before UCI went on a 6-2 run to take a 18-14 lead. Long Beach would score three unanswered, the last a Paul Lotman service ace, to narrow the UCI advantage to 25-23 but Lotman would serve into the net on the next possession to end the Forty-Niner run. UCI would win 30-27 to force a fifth game.

A kill by Lotman gave Long Beach a 6-4 lead in game five but a pair of Yoder kills helped UCI take back the lead at 8-7. The Anteaters never trailed again with Yoder putting away the match winner, 15-12.

The win increases UCI's lead in the Black & Blue Rivalry Series presented by Duke's of Huntington Beach to 21-14.

UCI will travel to UC San Diego Saturday (Mar. 29) for a 7:00 p.m. first serve.

Eaters Blank the Buckeyes

Mac Waite Sealing the Deal in Game 1


Steller Enters UCI Record Book in 3-0 Victory Over Ohio State

The opposite fires a match record six service aces
Final Stats

Irvine, Calif. - Junior Jon Steller tied the UC Irvine match record with six aces as the 10th-ranked Anteaters defeated No. 10 Ohio State 3-0 (30-23, 30-25, 30-13) in a non-conference match at the Bren Center Friday.

Steller shares the top spot in the UCI match record book with Matt Webber (2004), Mike Rupp (1999) and Jarrett Jensen who recorded six aces twice in 2002. The opposite fired four of his career-high six aces in game three.

Steller led the Anteaters with 14 kills along with freshman Cory Yoder who also posted 14 kills in the win. Yoder hit .545 (14-2-22) for the match. Senior Aaron Harrell and sophomore Cole Reinholm each added seven kills with Reinholm totaling a match-high seven digs. Setter Ryan Ammerman tallied three kills and 41 set assists. Junior Mac Waite hit .600 adding three kills on five attempts without an error.

Ohio State was led by Brett Versen and Robbie Klein with 10 kills a piece. Kevin Heine recorded a match-high six block assists as the Buckeyes out-blocked UCI, 9.0-2.0.

UCI's offense ran at a .455 (51-11-88) clip for the match, while Ohio State hit just .188 (32-17-80).

UCI jumped out to a 10-3 lead in game one and never looked back as they took the set, 30-23 behind eight kills from Cory Yoder.

The Anteaters opened an 8-4 advantage in game two and continued to lead at 28-21. The Buckeyes then scored four unanswered to narrow the deficit to 28-24, but out of a UCI timeout Yoder put away a kill to set up game point. Following a UCI service error, Cole Reinholm pounded a kill to end the game, 30-25. Steller had eight kills and two aces in the frame.

Steller's serving was ignited in game three, rocketing four aces in a 6-0 run to give UCI a 26-12 lead. The Anteaters would out-score the Buckeyes 4-1 to end the game, 30-13 and the match, 3-0. The 17-point win is the largest margin of victory by an MPSF team this season.

The two teams will meet again tomorrow (Mar. 1) at 2:00 p.m. in the Bren Events Center.