Trojans Beat-Down in 3

March 29, 2007

JABLONSKY POUNDS 17 KILLS TO LEAD NO. 2 UC IRVINE TO SWEEP OF USC (Box)

Irvine, Calif. -- Jayson Jablonsky recorded 17 kills to lead second-ranked UC Irvine to a 3-0 sweep of No. 12 USC (30-21, 32-30, 30-21) in the Galen Center Thursday.

Jablonsky hit .538 (17-3-26) on the night and had two aces and five digs. Setter Brian Thornton had five total blocks, including two solos, while recording 36 assists. Matt Webber ended the night with nine kills and six total blocks, while middle blockers David Smith and Aaron Harrell each had five kills and six blocks.

UCI took game one 30-21 with Matt Webber recording six kills on six attempts, hitting 1.000 to lead all players in the set. The Trojans hit -.087.

The Trojans led 29-26 in game two, when Jayson Jablonsky recorded a kill then stepped back to the service line and fired an ace. An Anteater block by Harrell and Reinholm then knotted the score at 29-29. USC responded with a kill to put the Trojans up 30-29 before another Jablosnky kill was followed by a triple block by Smith, Reinholm and Webber on Juan Figueroa to give UCI the 32-30 victory. Jablonsky carried the offensive load with seven kills. UCI recorded eight blocks in the set.

Figueroa led USC with 10 kills.

The Antetaers out-blocked the Trojans 17.5 to 3.5.

UCI will travel to No. 1 Pepperdine Saturday at 7:00 p.m.

2 Key Matches for 'Eaters

Family, friends and fans of 'Eater volleyball! After a quiet finals week and start of Spring Break the final weeks of the 2007 regular season are in sight. Currently the boys stand at 2nd place in the MPSF Conference and a #2 ranking in the latest AVCA/Molten poll. Unfortunately the MPSF is not an easy conference and the boys don't have a "cake-walk" for the rest of the season.

On Thursday, they'll take on the USC Trojans in their newly built Galen Center. The Trojans handily beat up the Long Beach St. 49ers last week in thumping them in 3 straight games. The Beach is a talented team and took us to 5 games at The Gold Mine at Long Beach. The Trojans will put up a fight.

Then on Saturday, the boys step into a #1 versus #2 matchup as they take on the Pepperdine Waves. In their last meeting, the Waves swept our boys 3 and out on our home court. Believe me when I say the boys are looking for a little retribution.

If you aren't able to make it up to the USC and/or the Pepperdine matches, they both will be webcasted at http://www.mvball.uci.edu. Be sure to listen in. I'll be doing the play-by-play trying to create the atmosphere of both matches.

Help me root on our boys so that they can ensure the #2 seed in the MPSF tournament!

Rob

UCI Turns Out the Lights on Penn St.

March 14, 2007

WILSON COMES UP BIG OFF THE BENCH TO HELP NO. 2 UC IRVINE TO 3-1 VICTORY OVER
NO. 6 PENN STATE (Boxscore)

Irvine, Calif. – Sophomore outside hitter Taylor Wilson came off the bench to add 16 kills to help No. 2 UC Irvine defeat No. 6 Penn State, 3-1 (30-26, 27-30, 30-21, 30-25) at Crawford Court Wednesday.

Wilson came off the bench in game two and added seven of his 16 kills then had six kills, while hitting .625 in the third set. He also added an ace and three blocks on the night.

UCI’s Matt Webber led all players with 19 kills, hitting .500 (19-4-30). Webber also recorded two aces and a team-high seven digs. Freshman outside hitter Cole Reinholm tied his career-high with 14 kills and hit .667 (14-2-18). Middle blocker Aaron Harrell pitched in seven kills and five total blocks, while David Smith had eight kills and four total blocks. Senior setter Brian Thornton totaled 56 set assists, five digs and two blocks. Libero Brent Asuka recorded six digs.

With the win, UCI extends its winning streak to nine and improves to 21-3 overall, the second most wins in program history following last season’s 27-5 mark. Penn State snaps an 11-match winning streak and goes to 12-3 on the year.

Penn State had a trio of players with double-digit kills with Matt Anderson pacing the Nittany Lions with 17 kills, followed by Max Lipsitz (12) and Alex Gutor (10). Gutor also added seven total blocks and two aces. Middle blocker Max Holt had eight kills and a match-high nine block assists. Libero Ryan Sweitzer tallied a match-high eight digs. Penn State won the battle at the net, out-blocking UCI 17.0 to 10.0.

UCI trailed 10-13 in game one before the Anteaters went on an 11-2 run to take the 21-15 lead which was capped by a Reinholm kill. The Anteaters would go on to the 30-26 victory.

Penn State jumped out to an early 5-1 advantage and never relinquished the lead in game two. UCI closed within 28-26 on three consecutive points, but a Nittany Lion triple block gave Penn State match point 29-26. Game point was delay until Max Holt hammered a kill for the set 30-27.

Game three was all UC Irvine as the Anteaters hit .727 (17-1-22). Reinholm was a perfect 4-4 hitting, while Webber connected on four of five attempts, hitting .800 and firing two service aces.

Game four remained close with the teams tied 20-20. A kill by Wilson was followed by a solo block by Aaron Harrell to give UCI the two-point cushion, 22-20. The Anteaters led 27-24 when David Smith and Brian Thornton each had solo blocks between a PSU kill to give UCI match point 29-25. Reinholm fired a service ace for the game and match winner.

Eater's Crush the Bruins

From the Daily Pilot:
http://www.dailypilot.com/articles/2007/03/10/sports/dpt-ucivolley10.txt
Published Saturday, March 10, 2007 1:06 AM PST
Sports
UC Irvine sweeps UCLA
VOLLEYBALL: Anteaters get 16 kills from Matt Webber for win over Bruins, who include Perrine and Diefenbach.
By Matt Szabo

IRVINE — Before a UC Irvine men's volleyball school record crowd of 3,612, freshman opposite Cole Reinholm got another chance.

Reinholm had just committed consecutive attack errors late in the second game for No. 2-ranked UC Irvine, allowing No. 5 UCLA to pull within 27-24.

Two points later, the lead was down to a single point, and Anteaters Coach John Speraw called timeout.

Then, Reinholm responded, delivering a kill down the line.

"[Speraw] was just telling me to keep the ball in the court," Reinholm said. "It's things I know I need to do. Just be aggressive and go after it."

The Anteaters made sure the defending national champion Bruins never got a similar second chance, cruising in the third game for a 30-26, 30-28, 30-21 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation sweep Friday at Bren Events Center.

UC Irvine (20-3, 14-3 in conference) has now won eight matches in a row since losing to Pacific on Feb. 10.

"I think he needed that, and we needed it," Speraw said of Reinholm's kill, one of three on the night. "He is far from reaching his peak at this point, and he knows that and he's working hard. This team still has so much room to improve.

"I'm excited about that. Our best volleyball's ahead of us."

Matt Webber had a team-high 16 kills and fellow senior David Smith added eight for the Anteaters, who trailed just once in the match against the Bruins (12-9, 9-8), at 1-0 in the second game.

Smith, who came into the match leading the MPSF with a .556 hitting percentage, bettered that against UCLA with his .636 mark. He committed just one attack error in 11 attempts.

"He's gotten over the hump of being a great player," Speraw said. "He's always had the potential to do that, and he's just realized it."

Jayson Jablonsky had seven kills, Aaron Harrell had a team-high seven block assists and Brian Thornton tallied 33 assists for UCI.

But the match also had a strong local feel for the visitors from Westwood. UCLA sophomore middle blocker Jamie Diefenbach, a Newport Harbor High product, had six kills.

Bruins redshirt freshman middle blocker Brett Perrine, also from Newport Harbor High, had seven kills, which was second on UCLA behind Steve Klosterman's 21.

Current Sailors senior Weston Dunlap also committed to UCLA recently.

In high school, Diefenbach said he and Perrine really only played together for about one season due to various injures. But, on the Bruins, they are making up for lost time.

"It's really fun for me and Brett to play together again," Diefenbach said. "It's fun to be on the same team. It was an awesome experience [to win the NCAA title] last year. We still have a ways to go this year, so we still have to get better."

The Bruins faltered with their serves all match long, committing 24 service errors compared to only 11 for UCI.

But Speraw, who played at UCLA and was also an assistant coach there before heading to UCI, and the Anteaters would take the mishaps.

The Anteaters also swept UCLA on Jan. 6, in the championship match of the Elephant Bar tournament at UCSB.

"I expected a five-gamer here," Speraw said. "I just think that UCLA didn't play their best volleyball match. They made a lot of serving errors, and a lot of key guys were not on their game. I think the next time we face them, they'll be a much different team."

And as for the Anteaters' winning streak, what winning streak?

"We're not counting the wins in a row," Webber said. "What we've done so far this season is done. We have to focus on the next match."

UCI plays host to No. 6 Penn State on Wednesday at Crawford Court.

Bruins No Bear

March 9, 2007

RECORD CROWD WATCHES NO. 2 UC IRVINE BLANK NO. 5 UCLA, 3-0 (Boxscore)

Irvine, Calif. – A school record 3,612 fans watched second-ranked UC Irvine beat No. 5 UCLA, 3-0 (30-26, 30-28, 30-21) at the Bren Events Center Friday.

UCI extends its winning streak to eight matches and improves to 20-3 overall and 14-3 in the MPSF. UCLA goes to 12-9 on the year and 9-8 in league play. Tonight’s attendance breaks the old school mark of 3,235 set in 2003 against Hawaii.

Senior opposite Matt Webber led the Anteaters with 16 kills, eight digs and three blocks. Middle blocker David Smith continued his hot-hitting with eight kills and a .636 hitting percentage (8-1-11). Senior Jayson Jablonsky added seven kills, seven digs and five blocks, while junior Aaron Harrell had a match-high seven blocks to go with four kills. Senior setter Brian Thornton totaled 33 set assists and six digs. Libero Brent Asuka tallied nine digs in the win. The Anteaters won the battle at the net, with a 10.5 to 5.0 advantage.

The Bruins were led by Steve Klosterman with a match-high 21 kills. Brett Perrine had seven kills and Jamie Diefenbach added six kills in the loss. Libero Tony Ker led all players with 12 digs. Setter Kevin Ker tallied 38 set assists and five digs on the night.

UCI jumped out to a 9-4 lead in game one on a kill by David Smith then opened up a 24-18 advantage on a triple block by Jayson Jablonsky, Aaron Harrell and Matt Webber. The Anteaters would go on to the 30-26 victory in the first set.

UCI led 27-21 in game two before UCLA scored the next five points to narrow the UCI lead to 27-26. Following a UCI timeout, Cole Reinholm stopped the streak with a kill (28-26). The teams traded points until UCLA had one of its 24 service errors to end the game 30-28 in favor of the Anteaters.

UC Irvine never trailed in game three as the Bruins got as close as 13-11 before the Anteaters reeled off three consecutive to put them ahead 16-11. UCLA would get no closer than four the rest of the way with UC Irvine taking the game 30-21 and the match 3-0.

Irvine Regulates the Net at "The Beach"

March 3, 2007

NO. 2 UC IRVINE TAKES DOWN NO. 14 LONG BEACH STATE, 3-2 (Boxscore)

Long Beach, Calif. -- Second-ranked UC Irvine recorded 5.5 blocks in game five to take down No.14 Long Beach State, 3-2 (23-30, 30-19, 30-25, 28-30, 15-12) in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match Saturday at The Gold Mine.

Long Beach State (7-9, 4-8) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the fifth game on back-to-back service aces, but UC Irvine (19-3, 13-3) took a 4-2 advantage after a Forty-Niner attempt went long and the Anteaters recorded three consecutive blocks in which Aaron Harrell had a hand in each of them. The score was tied 8-8 when David Smith recorded a kill, a block with Brian Thornton and then another kill to put UCI up 11-8. Long Beach State would close to 12-11 before a LBSU attack error was followed by a Harrell kill to give the Anteaters match point, 14-11. A Long Beach kill was followed by another Harrell kill for the game 15-12 and the match 3-2. LBSU hit .069 in the final set.

Matt Webber led all players with 20 kills and nine digs. He also added six total blocks and three service aces. Middle blocker David Smith recorded 11 kills and a match-high 13 total blocks, which included a season-high 11 block assists. Setter Brian Thornton had 53 assists, seven digs and a career-best eight block assists. Junior middle blocker Aaron Harrell added eight kills, two aces and six blocks. Libero Nick Spittle had nine digs in the victory. Jayson Jablonsky recorded 10 kills, Cole Reinholm nine and Taylor Wilson four for UCI.

Long Beach State was paced by Paul Lotman with 16 kills, four aces, six digs and five blocks. Dean Bittner added 11 kills, while Dan Alexander had a team-high seven total blocks.

UCI out-blocked Long Beach State with a season-high 21.5 to 14.5, but the Forty-Niners out-served the Anteaters 17-8.

UC Irvine will host No. 5 UCLA Friday (Mar. 9) at 7:00 p.m. in the Bren Events Center.