Eaters Awarded 6 ALL-MPSF Honors

April 19, 2007

SIX UC IRVINE MEN’S VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS GARNER ALL-MPSF HONORS

Irvine, Calif. – Six UC Irvine men’s volleyball players earned All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation honors, including middle blocker David Smith who was named to the first team.

Smith earned first-team honors after leading the league with a .573 hitting percentage. He also ranked third in blocking at a 1.44 clip. The 6-7 senior is currently second in the country in hitting percentage overall (.556) and is sixth in blocking (1.42). Smith has hit .500 or better in 20 of 29 matches this year and set the school record for hitting percentage in a match with a .938 performance (15-0-16) at UC Santa Barbara. Smith was a third team All-MPSF honoree last season.

Seniors Jayson Jablonsky and Matt Webber garnered second team All-MPSF accolades. Jablonsky led the team against MPSF opponents with a 3.80 kill and 4.57 point average. He is second all-time in UCI career kills (1,429) and is the school record holder for career aces with 121. The outside hitter ranked fourth among MPSF players in aces with a 0.38 mark. Jablonsky grabbed MPSF Player of the Year and first team All-MPSF honors last season as well as being named AVCA National Player of the Year.

Webber averaged 3.61 kills in league play and tops the squad with a 3.85 kill average overall. He has fired 41 service aces this season, five shy of the current season mark. The opposite shared the fourth spot in aces (0.38) with Jablonsky. Webber was also awarded second-team all-conference honors in 2006.

Senior setter Brian Thornton, junior middle blocker Aaron Harrell and sophomore libero Brent Asuka were named to the All-MPSF third team.

Thornton was fourth in the MPSF (12.65) and is fourth nationally in set assists with a 13.09 average. The setter has guided the Anteaters to .353 team hitting percentage this year which ranks fourth nationally. Thornton is third all-time in UCI assists (4,339), the most in the rally score era. He earned second-team All-MPSF honors last season.

Harrell hit .456 against MPSF opponents this season, which ranked fourth and was 10th in service aces (0.27). The middle blocker ranks ninth nationally in hitting percentage (.456) and is averaging 2.17 kills and 1.12 blocks per game overall. The junior also earned third-team recognition in 2006.

Asuka averaged 1.91 digs against league opponents and 2.26 overall, which ranks 15th nationally. He had 21 digs against Cal State Northridge which is the fourth most in the country this year and ranks second in the UCI match record books. Asuka was a first team honoree and MPSF Newcomer of the Year, a year ago.

It is the second consecutive year UC Irvine has had six athletes earning All-MPSF honors.

The third-ranked Anteaters will host No. 9 Hawaii in a MPSF Quarterfinal match Saturday (Apr. 21) at Crawford Court beginning at 7:00 p.m.