Daily Pilot Article: UC Irvine Wears Bull's Eye

Published Tuesday, January 2, 2007 2:44 PM PST
(see the original article at:
http://www.dailypilot.com/articles/2007/01/02/sports/dpt-ucivbpre02.txt)

Sports
COLLEGE MEN'S VOLLEYBALL PREVIEW:UC Irvine wears bull's eye
VOLLEYBALL: Anteaters, coming off breakthrough 2006 season that ended in Final Four, open as No. 1 team in nation.
By Barry Faulkner

The 2006 NCAA Final Four trophy is nowhere to be found and UC Irvine men's volleyball coach John Speraw has lobbied against the display of a Final Four banner to be hung in the Bren Events Center.

But the traces of last season's five-game NCAA semifinal loss to host Penn State still linger ominously for Speraw, his staff and his players.

The remnants of an unprecedented 2006 campaign, however, are not all negative. Six starters, including four All-Americans, return from an Anteater squad that went 27-5 and won the program's first Mountain Pacific Sports Federation regular-season title.

Another carryover is the No. 1 preseason ranking, a tribute to the team that held the top national ranking for eight straight weeks last season and finished No. 2 in the final poll.

It is this No. 1 designation that Speraw believes will provide a tangible challenge to this year's team, which opens the season Wednesday at Cal Baptist.

"We're going to be a target, which this team is going to have to get used to," Speraw said. "We're used to being the underdog. We have some experienced returners who are competent, which is good. But they need to realize that the success we've had previously is not just going to occur to us because we walk onto the court.

"Speraw believes that message may have been driven home when the Anteaters swept two preseason matches recently at Ohio State, the site of this year's four-team NCAA Championships.

"I think that trip was good for us, because we didn't play very well," Speraw said. "We went out and took care of business the first couple games, but then we lost our focus a little bit. I told them if they lose focus against MPSF teams like that, we have a good chance of losing. I hope they learned from that, so we don't have to learn that lesson the hard way.

"Speraw, the American Volleyball Coaches Assn. Coach of the Year in 2006, said last year's disappointing finish should also provide some motivation. UCI lost its final two matches after winning 21 straight. In addition to the setback at Penn State, UCI was swept by Long Beach State in the semifinals of the MPSF Tournament, forcing the 'Eaters to earn an at-large bid for their first appearance in the NCAA Championships.

"Penn State played a phenomenal match," said Speraw, who won two NCAA titles as a player at UCLA and three more as a Bruins assistant coach before taking over at UCI for the 2003 season. "We were OK, but not great. We have some guys who felt we were a couple points away from going to the final and having a really good shot at winning it all.

It would be wrong to say that the end to last season wasn't a motivating factor for us this season. I hope it helps our guys work harder to get back. But we're going to have to be better to get back.

"To get back, the 'Eaters will need to navigate what Speraw believes is an improved MPSF. BYU opens the season ranked No. 2, while fellow MPSF members Hawaii, Pepperdine, reigning NCAA champion UCLA (all tied for No. 3), No. 6 UC Santa Barbara, Cal State Northridge and Long Beach State (tied for No. 7), No. 9 USC, No. 10 University of the Pacific and No. 11 Stanford also comprise the top 11."It's not going to be like last year," said Speraw, who enters his fifth season with a 70-54 career record at UCI. "We're going to have more battles. We might have a few more losses [than last year], but hopefully we'll learn and be better by the end.

"Helping UCI's national title hopes are a strong senior class led by reigning NCAA and MPSF Player of the Year Jayson Jablonsky.

Seniors Matt Webber and Brian Thornton, as well as sophomore Brent Asuka, the NCAA and MPSF Newcomer of the Year in 2006, also return with All-American laurels.

Senior David Smith and junior Matt Harrell retain their roles as starting middle blockers.

Jablonsky, a 6-foot-5 outside hitter, averaged 4.17 kills per game, had a .359 hitting percentage and led the team with 40 ace serves last season. He also had 175 digs, third best on the team, and 71 blocks.

Webber, a 6-7 opposite, was second-team All-American last season after leading the team with 4.66 kills per game and chipping in 88 blocks and 161 digs. He hit .296.Thornton, a 6-3 setter, led the nation with 13.7 assists per game en route to second-team All-American honors. His 181 digs were second on the team and he had 22 aces.

Asuka, a 5-11 libero, led the team with 336 digs and his per-game average (3.03) ranked third in the nation.

The 6-5 Harrell averaged 2.38 kills per game and his school-record .463 hitting percentage ranked fifth nationally. He was in on 147 blocks.

The 6-7 Smith averaged 2.19 kills per game and his 143 blocks were second only to Harrell.

Paul Spittle and Steffan Rangel were the only seniors on last year's team and Speraw said replacing Spittle, the captain and unrivaled inspirational leader, poses this year's biggest challenge.

"Jablonsky and Webber are going to be good, Thornton is stronger and our middles are improved," Speraw said. "There are some technical things that we're going to do better. But Spittle brought those intangibles of leadership and drive and focus. Replacing his dynamic leadership is a key to our success this year. I don't think it has to be one guy who fills that role, but we need to get those intangibles from someone.

"Jablonsky and Thornton take over for Spittle as co-captains, while Taylor Wilson, a 6-7 sophomore, is among the candidates vying to fill Spittle's spot in the rotation. Wilson had 36 kills in 35 games last season.Others who could emerge are senior Brandon Mel as well as freshmen Cole Reinholm, Cory Yoder and Jordan DuFault.

Another change this season is the nine scheduled home matches at the Bren Events Center. UCI played three matches there last year, but Speraw has long advocated shifting matches from Crawford Court, with a capacity of fewer than 800, to the 5,000-seat Bren Center."I think this is a year we can take a big step forward with our program to get big crowds in the Bren," Speraw said.

UC opens its home season Jan. 12 and Jan. 13 when it plays host to Hawaii at 7 p.m. Both matches are at the Bren Center.