Steller an All-American

Jon Steller Named Second Team All-America
Steller becomes UCI's 10th All-American

April 28, 2008

Irvine, Calif. - UC Irvine men's volleyball player Jon Steller has been named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-America Second Team.

This is Steller's first All-American distinction and is the 10th UC Irvine player garner the award.

Steller will be honored along with the other All-Americans and the four NCAA Championship teams at a banquet Wednesday at the UCI Student Center. The Player of the Year will also be announced at the banquet.

This season, Steller averaged 3.35 kills and 1.04 digs overall. After becoming a starter, 12 matches into the season, the opposite averaged 4.56 kills, 1.41 digs and 5.15 points per game. He fired a team-high 38 service aces this year which ranks fifth in the UCI season record books. Steller had the third most service aces by an MPSF player and is ranked 18th nationally with a 0.34 ace average.

The junior pounded 20 or more kills six times this year, including a career-high 29 kills against Hawaii which was the seventh most by an Anteater in the rally scoring era. He was named Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week as well as MPSF Co-Player of the Week on Apr. 7 and MPSF Co-Player of the Week Feb. 11, 2008.

UC Irvine ended the season 16-15 overall and seventh in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation with an 11-11 record. The Anteaters are ranked eighth in the country.

UC Irvine will host the 2008 NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship May 1 and 3 at the Bren Events Center.

AVCA All-America First Team
Dan Alexander, Long Beach State, So., MB
Matt Anderson, Penn State, Jr., OH
Paul Carroll, Pepperdine, Jr., OPP
Russell Holmes, BYU, Sr., MB
Max Holt, Penn State, Jr., MB
Tony Ker, UCLA, Sr., L
Paul Lotman, Long Beach State, Sr., OH
Daniel Mathews, Ohio State, Sr., S
Eric Vance, Cal State Northridge, Jr., OH
Jonathan Winder, Pepperdine, Sr., S

AVCA All-America Second Team
Dean Bittner, Long Beach State, So., OPP
Dennis Del Valle, Penn State, Fr., L
Kyle Gramit, George Mason, Jr., OPP
Isaac Kneubuhl, Cal State Northridge, Sr., OH
Max Lipsitz, Penn State, So., MB
Cody Loe, Cal State Northridge, Fr., MB
Luke Murray, Penn State, Sr., S
Ivan Perez, BYU, Sr., OH
Kawika Shoji, Stanford, So., S
Jon Steller, UC Irvine, Jr., OPP

Webber's Finnish Team Takes Game 1 of Championships

Matt Webber, the former Anteater OPP is still banging cannon balls out in Finland. Here's a link to his video interview after taking Game 1 of the Finnish Championships!

http://www.yle.fi/media/asxgene.php?file=tvurheilu/Lentopallo_-_Santasport_nappasi_finaalien_kotiedun.wmv

Steller Sweeps POTW Honors!

Jon Steller Sweeps Player of the Week Honors
Steller named Sports Imports/AVCA Player of the Week for the first time

April 7, 2008

Irvine, Calif. - UC Irvine men's volleyball player Jon Steller has been named Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week as well as Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Co-Player of the Week after averaging 6.00 kills, 1.29 digs, 1.43 blocks and 6.86 points per game in two wins last week. He shared the MPSF honor this week with USC's Juan Figueroa.

Steller, a junior opposite, posted 27 kills and a career-high seven block assists in an upset of No. 2 Cal State Northridge at home then led the Anteaters with 15 kills versus UC Santa Barbara on the road.

The junior fired an ace against Northridge giving him 36 on the year. His 36 aces ranks fifth in the UCI season record books, 11 shy of Matt Webber's record of 47 set in 2007.

It is Steller's first national award, becoming the 11th Anteater player to earn the AVCA distinction. It is his second MPSF honor, earning the accolade Feb. 11, 2008.

The Anteaters, who are currently ranked seventh nationally, travel to Pacific Friday and No. 11 Stanford Saturday to close out the regular season. UCI is tied for sixth place in the MPSF heading into the final week.

9th Ranked Eaters Upset 2nd Ranked CSUN

UCI dominated the net with 21 blocks

No. 9 UC Irvine Upsets No. 2 Cal State Northridge, 3-1
Anteaters play third longest game in MPSF history, 42-40

April 1, 2008

Final Stats

Irvine, Calif. - The ninth-ranked UC Irvine men's volleyball team upset No. 2 Cal State Northridge, 3-1 (28-30, 30-24, 42-40, 30-18) in the regular season home finale at the Bren Center Tuesday.

The Anteaters snap Northridge's 14-match winning streak and even their record to 13-13 overall and go to 9-10 in the MPSF, while the league-leading Matadors go to 20-5 overall and 15-4 in the MPSF.

Opposite Jon Steller led all players with 27 kills and a career-high seven block assists. Freshman outsie hitter Jordan DuFault added 16 kills, his second highest career kill total, a career-high 12 digs and a career-best seven block assists. Middle blockers Aaron Harrell and Kevin Wynne each recorded seven kills and a team-high eight block assists with Harrell adding a solo for a match-high nine total blocks. Libero Brent Asuka tied his season-high with 18 digs, while outside hitter Kevin Carroll came off the bench to play solid defense with seven digs to go with four kills and a .500 hitting percentage. Setter Anthony Spittle recorded 55 set assists and a career-high six blocks.

The Anteaters dominated the net, out-blocking Northridge 21-7.5. The 21 blocks was the second most for UCI this season.

Northridge had a balanced attack led by Isaac Knewubuhl and Eric Vance with 17 kills apiece. Kevin McKniff added 15 kills and Mike Gaudino recorded 11 kills. Libero Ali'i Keohohou led the team with 11 digs.

UCI led 10-8 early in game one, but Northridge battled back to take their first lead at 12-11. The Matadors would continue to lead opening up a 24-19 advantage on a kill by Mike Gaudino. The Anteaters rallied to close with 28-27 on a Jon Steller kill, but the teams would trade points until Northridge's Isaac Knewubuhl ended the game with a kill 30-28. The two teams combined for 19 service errors in the first game.

UCI used a 7-1 run to take control of game two, leading 27-20. The Anteaters would go on to take the game 30-24 on a Steller kill.

Cal State Northridge had a 15-11 advantage in game three and continued to lead at 23-21. UCI would score three unanswered to take the 24-23 lead. UCI would go ahead 28-26 on a pair of Steller kills and led 29-27 before the Matadors used kills by Kevin McKniff and Eric Vance to knot the score at 29-29. The marathon would begin with each team trading points until 40-40 when Aaron Harrell put away a kill in the middle was followed by a Matador attack that sailed wide to give UCI the game, 42-40, the longest game in UCI history and the third highest score in MPSF history. The top two (45-43, 43-41) also involved Northridge.

Game four was all UCI as they jumped out to a 5-1 lead and never looked back taking the set 30-18 and the match, 3-1. UCI hit .480 in the game compared to Northridge's .083.

UCI travels to No. 14 UC Santa Barbara Saturday for a 7:00 p.m. match at Robertson Gym.

No. 9 UC Irvine Hosts No. 2 Cal State Northridge In Regular Season Home Finale Tuesday

Senior, Aaron Harrell

No. 9 UC Irvine Hosts No. 2 Cal State Northridge In Regular Season Home Finale Tuesday
Seniors honored before the match

March 31, 2008


UC IRVINE HOSTS NORTHRIDGE; TRAVELS TO UC SANTA BARABRA: No. 9 UC Irvine (12-13, 8-10) will take on No. 2 Cal State Northridge Tuesday (Apr. 1) at 7:00 p.m. in the Bren Events Center before traveling to UC Santa Barbara Saturday (Apr. 5) at 7:00 p.m. in Robertson Gym.

Tuesday's match versus Northridge is the regular season home finale as UCI will play its last three matches on the road.

A senior ceremony will be held prior to the match.

VS THE OPPONENTS: Cal State Northridge leads the series with UCI, 24-15 all-time. The Matadors won the first meeting of the year, 3-0 in Northridge. Cal State Northridge leads the MPSF with a 15-3 record and are 20-4 overall this year.

UCSB holds a 29-14 advantage over the Anteaters all-time, but UCI has won the last two meetings of the year. UCI has won the last six meetings and nine of the last 10 outings. The Gauchos are 9-14 overall and 6-12 in the MPSF.

IN THE RANKINGS: UC Irvine stayed at No. 9 in the AVCA Coaches poll. The Anteaters have been ranked in the nation's top 10 for 48 consecutive weeks.

HARRELL SETS HITTING PERCENTAGE RECORD: Aaron Harrell set a new UCI match record for hitting percentage with a perfect 1.000 performance against UC San Diego. The middle blocker was 13 of 13 with no errors. Harrell takes the top spot from David Smith who hit .938 against UC Santa Barbara in 2007. The mark also ties the NCAA and MPSF records. This is the second match record Harrell has set this season, breaking the ace record with seven in the first match agianst Hawaii.

ASUKA MOVES UP SEASON RECORDS: Libero Brent Asuka has 245 digs this year which ranks third in the UCI season record book. Asuka holds the school mark with 336 set in 2006. He is 30 digs shy of Greg Ford's second place of 275 set in 2004. The junior has recorded 15 or more digs five times this year.

STELLER SWINGS AWAY: Opposite Jon Steller has averaged 22.40 kills over the last five matches. The junior has put-away double-digit kills in 13 of the last 14 matches, including hitting 20 or more kills five times. On the year, Steller averages 3.09 kills, 0.39 aces and 0.99 digs per game.

ANTEATERS GO 1-1 LAST WEEK: UCI upset No. 3 Long Beach State last week, 3-2 then was upset by UC San Diego, 3-2.

The win against Long Beach was only the ninth all-time and gave UCI a 21-14 lead in the Black & Blue Rivalry Series presented by Duke's of Huntington Beach.

Jon Steller led UCI in both matches with 26 kills versus Long Beach State and 22 against UC San Diego.