AVCA Press Release

UCLA, Juniata Set to Defend Their Titles
by Rick Capone
Editor, Coaching Volleyball
(Original Release @ http://www.avca.org/collegiate/MenDIpoll/07preseasonprev.pdf)

When the dust settled on last year's championship matches, UCLA and Juniata emerged as the 2006 NCAA Champions. For the Bruins, it was their 19th Division I-II title, while for the Eagles, it was their third Division III title in a row and their fourth overall.

This year, UCLA Head Coach Al Scates will have his team aiming for its 20th title, while Juniata Head Coach Jeremy Price, who is entering his first season at the helm of the Eagles, will be trying to do something no other Division III team has done before -- win their fourth-consecutive title.

With the 2007 season about ready to get underway, here are just a few of the men's teams to watch this year. Please note that these are only a few teams "to watch" this season and are not based on any official ranking.

Division I-II
UCLA Bruins
The question coming into the 2007 season is – can the Bruins repeat as National Champions and win their 20th title?
The answer is – as long as Al Scates is coaching the team, the Bruins will always be in the championship picture. This is especially true after last season, when Scates did one of his masterful coaching jobs, pushing and challenging his team after a miserable 12-12 start. By the time it was all over, UCLA won 14 matches in a row, and defeated Penn State 3-0 in the championship game to take home their 19th title.

Coming into this season, UCLA loses a few top players, including outside hitter Damaien Scott, middle blockers Nick Scheftic and David Russell, and setter Dennis Gonzalez. However, they return some top talent in outside hitters, Steve Klosterman and Paul George, libero and team leader, Tony Ker, and setter, Matt Wade, who had a lot of key playing time last season in helping UCLA win nine in a row.

UCLA also boasts a host of newcomers, including outside hitters Kent Kraushaar and Teddy Goetz, middle blocker Garrett Muagututia, and two-redshirt outside hitters, Brett Perrine and Nate Bosza.

With a good mix of youth and experience, don't be surprised to see Scates and the Bruins holding up trophy number 20 in May at the NCAA Championships at the St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

UC Irvine
UC Irvine comes into the 2007 season looking to make up for last year's heartbreaking 2-3 loss to Penn State in the NCAA Championship semifinals. After taking over the # 1 ranking on March 13 and holding on to it for the rest of the 2006 season, the Anteaters were arguably the best team in the country last year. That is until they ran into the Nittany Lions in the tournament, who ended their championship dreams.

John Speraw, the 2006 Tachikara/AVCA Division I Men's National Coach of the YearSM, is entering his fifth year as UC Irvine's head coach and will have his team focused and ready to challenge for the top spot again.

While UC Irvine loses outside hitter, Steffin Rangel and Paul Spittle, who Speraw calls "the glue that provided us so much leadership (last year)," the Anteaters return most of their powerful 2006 squad.

At the top of the list of returners for UC Irvine is AVCA Division I-II Men’s National Player of the Year, outside hitter Jayson Jablonsky. Add to that AVCA Division I-II Second Team All Americans, opposite, Matt Webber and setter, Brian Thronton, and AVCA Division I-II First Team All-American and AVCA National Newcomer of the Year in libero, Brent Asuka, and the Anteaters have the makings of being one of the top teams to beat this year. The key, according to Speraw, will be finding team leadership.

"We might be OK," Speraw said in a recent email interview. "I am concerned about the loss of Paul Spittle. Looking at the stats, you would think he would be the easiest starter to replace off last year's team. But, he was the glue that provided us so much leadership. If we can get good leadership and continue to emphasize our team style of play, we could get back to the final four."

Penn State
After upsetting UC Irvine in the National Championship semifinals last season, the Nittany Lions dream season came to an end at the hands of the UCLA Bruins. However, Head Coach Mark Pavlik believes that with a lot of hard work, Penn State could go a long way again this year.

"We're going to be a completely different type of team than we were the last couple of years," Pavlik said. "… I think we're going to have to rely on some speed and put some different responsibilities on our setter, (Luke Murray). I think we've got three pretty good players in (Max) Holt, (Matt) Anderson and (Alex) Gutor in the mix that, offensively, should get some pretty good swings on the ball. We just have to look at our offense and say – how can we maximize our strengths. Early on in the season, we're going to be trying to search a little bit for our competitive personality, and we'll see who emerges as a leader. … I like where
we are right now. We've got a long way to go."

The Nittany Lions should be favored to come out of the east and represent the EIVA in the tournament. While they lose AVCA All-Americans, setter Dan O'Dell, and opposite Matt Proper, they return some top talent as well.

As Pavlik said, it will all start with setter Luke Murray and how he develops the offense with his hitters, middle hitter Holt, and outside hiiters, Gutor and Anderson. Libero Ryan Walthall will also need to contribute as well.

Three other teams to watch in Division I-II:
BYU returns AVCA Second-Team All-AmericanSM middle blocker Russell Holmes, third team All-MPSF outside hitter Yosleyder, and MPSF Honorable Mention setter, Ivan Perez. They have a solid core of players to build their team around.

Hawai'i returns AVCA First Team All Americans, setter Brian Beckwith and outside hitter Lauri Hakala, along with MSPF third-team middle blocker Dio Dante. While they lost some talented players, they should still be in the mix at the end of the season.

Ohio State lost AVCA Second Team All AmericanSM outside hitter Mark Greaves, but returns most of their top players from a year ago, including middle hitter Layne Dreven, libero Conor Martin, setter Daniel Mathews, and MIVA Freshman of the Year, middle hitter John Albertson. Look for Ohio State to make a run at the MIVA title and earn a trip to the NCAA championships.