Eaters Ready For The Cougars!

The guys banding together for battle with BYU

April 23, 2007

UC IRVINE BATTLES BYU IN MPSF SEMIFINAL: Third seed UC Irvine will battle second seeded BYU (23-5) in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation semifinal match Thursday (Apr. 26) at Firestone Fieldhouse at approximately 8:00 p.m. Prior to the match, No. 1 Pepperdine will entertain fourth seeded UC Santa Barbara at 5:30 p.m. (Complete MPSF Tournament Coverage)

VS THE COUGARS: Second ranked BYU holds a 29-8 advantage over UCI in the series records with the teams splitting a pair of matches in Provo this year. In the first match, then No. 1 BYU swept then No. 2 UCI 3-0 with the Anteaters hitting a season low .142 and committing 20 service errors. UC Irvine then handed BYU its first loss of the season with a 3-2 victory the next night. Senior Jayson Jablonsky led a balanced Anteater attack with 21 kills, 10 digs and two service aces, while middle blocker Aaron Harrell had a season-best 13 kills to go with five total blocks. UC Irvine recorded 17.5 blocks to the Cougars' 14.0. UCI's last six victories over the Cougars have come in five games.

POST-SEASON PLAY: UCI’s quarterfinal win over Hawaii was only the second post-season victory in school history. The Anteaters are 2-5 in the MPSF Tournament, picking up their only other win, a 3-2 victory at Stanford, in 2003 with current assistant coach David Kniffin as the Anteaters’ setter. Following the win at Stanford, UCI played its lone MPSF match on the Firestone hardwood, a 3-0 loss to the Waves. UCI is 0-2 versus BYU in the post-season (2001, 2004), both first rounds losses in Provo.

HIGH POWERED OFFENSES COLLIDE: UCI ranks fourth in the country in hitting percentage, while BYU ranks fifth (.350). UCI was third in the league in hitting percentage and second in aces (1.7), while BYU was second in the conference in hitting (.350) and kills (16.05).

ON THE RECORD: UC Irvine is 25-5 on the season and 17-5 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The teams’ 25 victories are the second most in program history behind last year’s 27 wins. The 17 league victories were the second most in program history behind last year’s 20-2 MPSF season. UCI has won 46 of the last 53 matches dating back to Jan. 31, 2006.

HITTING THE ROAD: UCI is 3-0 playing on a neutral court this season and 9-3 away from Irvine. The Anteaters are 13-2 at home this year and are 28-3 dating back to last season.

ANTEATERS STAY NO. 3 IN THE POLLS: UC Irvine stayed at No. 3 in the CSTV/AVCA Coaches Poll. It is the fourth week this year the Anteaters have been ranked third (also Feb. 12, Apr. 9, Apr. 15). Except for those four weeks at No. 3, the Anteaters have been ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 25 times since Feb. 20, 2006. UCI has been ranked No. 1 at some point in three of the last five years, including a school record eight weeks in 2006.