'Eaters Sweep the Trojans in the Regular Season

http://www.ucirvinesports.com/sports/m-volley/recaps/040909aaa.html

Team Effort Lifts No. 2 UC Irvine Over No. 4 USC, 3-1

Jordan DuFault leads UCI with 17 kills


April 8, 2009

Final Stats

Irvine, Calif. - No. 2 UC Irvine used a team effort to defeat No. 4 USC, 3-1 (30-15, 22-30, 30-25, 30-24) at the Bren Events Center in front of a season-high 2,421 fans.

UCI improves to 21-4 overall and 16-3 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. UCI's 21 wins are the third most in program history. It is UCI's 10th consecutive win over the Trojans who go to 16-8 on the year and 12-7 in the MPSF.

Jordan DuFault led the Anteaters with 17 kills while hitting .500 (17-1-32), while senior outside hitter Taylor Wilson recorded 15 kills and a career-high seven block assists. Freshman middle blocker Austin D'Amore had a career and match-best nine total blocks and libero Brent Asuka tallied a match-high 16 digs. Setter Ryan Ammerman had four kills, 49 set assists and 10 digs in the win. Opposite Carson Clark added eight kills and sophomore middle blocker Kevin Wynne totaled seven kills, hitting .636 and five blocks. Senior opposite Jon Steller came off the bench to hit .500 on six kills in 12 attempts without an error. Serving specialist Nick Spittle fired two aces.

USC was led by Tony Ciarelli with a match-high 23 kills. Murphy Troy added 17 kills, four service aces and 10 digs, while Riley McKibbin recorded 52 set assists and a team-high 14 digs.

UCI dominated the net, out-blocking USC 15.5 to 6.0. The Anteaters hit .338 (60-15-133) for the match, while the Trojans hit .240 (63-27-150). UCI committed just nine service errors to USC's 20. Both teams dug 50 balls.

UCI jumped out to a quick 6-1 advantage in the first set and continued to lead 23-11 on consecutive kills by Taylor Wilson, Jordan DuFault, Carson Clark and Kevin Wynne followed by a block by Clark and Wynne. Two Nick Spittle aces were part of UCI's 7-4 run to end the set, 30-15. The Anteaters were on fire in the first set, hitting .593 and totaling three aces and five blocks. Wilson led UCI with five kills, hitting .500 and adding three blocks. USC was limited to a .156 hitting percentage.

Game two belonged to USC as the Trojans took a 4-1 lead and never looked back knotting the match at 1-1 with a 30-22 victory. USC owned a 20-14 advantage, but a Trojan service error was followed by two Anteater blocks and a USC attack that went out to close the margin to 20-18. A kill by Tri Bourne ended the streak and UCI got no closer the rest of the way. USC hit .303 in the second stanza, while the Anteaters hit just .032.

USC led 9-8 in the third set before UCI went on an 8-0 spurt to take a 16-9 lead. The Anteaters would continue to lead as the Trojans tried to rally on a Murphy Troy kill narrowing the margin to 24-21. UCI would out-score USC, 6-4 to end the game 30-25 in favor of the Anteaters. Jordan DuFault paced UCI with eight kills.

UCI held a comfortable 21-15 advantage only to watch USC score five unanswered which included three kills by Tony Ciarelli to close the score to 21-20. A Trojan service error stopped the momentum and after an Austin Zahn kill, UCI scored twice on back-to-back kills by Wilson to go ahead 24-21. A kill by Jon Steller ended the set 30-24 and the match, 3-1.

UCI will host No. 1 Pepperdine Saturday at 7:00 p.m. in the Bren Center in the final regular season home match. UCI will honor its six seniors prior to the match.