Published Thursday, May 3, 2007 12:32 AM PDT
Sports
Wilson's turn has come
VOLLEYBALL: Outside hitter, a sophomore, gives UC Irvine another threat heading into Final Four.
By Barry Faulkner
When the UC Irvine men's volleyball team takes the court, Taylor Wilson has come to realize he can count on a nervous stomach and a surge of adrenaline.
Playing time, however, has been somewhat less predictable for the 6-foot-7 sophomore outside hitter out of Capistrano Valley High.
Fortunately for the Anteaters (27-5), who take on Penn State (22-7) today at 4 p.m. in the semifinals of the NCAA Championship at Ohio State University, Taylor has shown the ability to handle all these situations with poise.
"He has done a nice job of hanging in there," UCI Coach John Speraw said of Wilson, who is a big reason the Anteaters were able to upset No. 1-ranked Pepperdine Saturday to claim the program's first Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament title.
Wilson, who was benched for ineffective play in the Anteaters' MPSF semifinal win over BYU April 26 at Pepperdine, bounced back to record a career-high 21 kills in a thrilling 27-30, 24-30, 30-28, 30-28, 16-14 triumph over the host Waves.
The victory enabled UCI to earn the automatic MPSF bid into the Final Four.
Last season, UCI, which won its first MPSF regular-season crown, was beaten by Long Beach State in the MPSF tournament semifinals and had to settle for an at-large bid to the NCAA Championship.
UCI, then the No. 1 seed at Penn State, fell to the host Nittany Lions in a five-game NCAA semifinal to finish 27-5.
This season, Wilson — as one who can truly appreciate second chances — is among the Anteaters looking forward to an opportunity to exact revenge against Penn State today in Columbus.
UCI defeated Penn State, 30-26, 27-30, 30-21, 30-25, in a nonconference home match March 14.
Wilson has learned to look forward and not dwell on the past, particularly during a midseason stretch in which freshman Cole Reinholm had replaced him in the starting lineup.
"He wasn't starting in the middle of the season," Speraw said of Wilson, who has played in 74 of the team's 119 games this season (62.2%). "But Cole started to struggle a little, offensively, so we went back to Taylor and Taylor has had some pretty good matches. Taylor is a bigger blocker, his serving has been consistent and he can hit the bic [a back-row spike from the center of the court that allows the hitter a better chance to avoid opposing blockers] really well. He gives us a little bit of a different look and that look has worked real well for us."
UCI senior setter Brian Thornton agreed.
"When [Wilson] is in there, he makes our offense way more dynamic," Thornton said. "He brings a bic threat and he spreads out our offense pretty well. I'm definitely not afraid to give him the ball when it really matters. In Game 4 [against Pepperdine], he just absolutely crushed that ball to win that game and help us win the match."
Wilson had kills to produce the last two points of a Game 4 victory. He added a kill in Game 5 to pull UCI even, 13-13.
Wilson has 203 kills and is hitting .274 in his first season as a collegiate outside hitter. He was a backup at opposite as a freshman last season after redshirting the 2005 campaign.
He said he feels comfortable in big matches, so he is looking forward to playing in the Final Four as a starter.
"I know the nerves will come, but I've noticed that the more nervous I am, the better I play," he said. "I actually feed off my nerves before a match. I harness them.
"But to have a big match like the one I did Saturday definitely boosts my confidence," he said. "Hopefully, I can do the same thing in the semifinal and final and do whatever I can to help this team win."
Wilson said it was often difficult to remain positive when he wasn't playing, but he believed his chance to help the team would, eventually, come again.
"My parents talked to me a lot about always being ready when the call came," Wilson said. "And every once in a while, Speraw would tell me I wasn't going to be on the bench the whole year. I knew I had to wait my turn, but I just knew my time would come again. When I got the call, I wanted to just go in and play and not think too much. I knew my role was not to try to take over the match, because we have so many older guys who can take over. I just wanted to pass the ball well and hit the ball in when I swing. If I'm doing that, I know good things will happen."
Should UCI prevail today, it would meet either No. 1-seeded Pepperdine (26-2) or Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne (22-7) in Saturday's 4 p.m. final.
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BARRY FAULKNER can be reached at (714) 966-4615 or at barry.faulkner@latimes.com.
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