First of all, if you went to the USC link for video and audio for tonight's match, you were not imagining that I was on the broadcast link with Mark Shore of USC! The funny thing is the SID for USC Tim said that his color/game analyst was not showing up for his play-by-play broadcaster. He approached me and asked me if I wanted to jump into the broadcast and I figured, "Why not?". In any case, when USC Coach Bill Ferguson saw me next to him he smiled and reminded me that we were on USC's radio/video as we shared a laugh! There were quite a few 'Eater fans there tonight-- even the alumni parents like Rick & Nancy Smith and the Jablonsky clan. It's always good to see old faces (no-- not their age).
SC came out to play tonight-- that's for sure. Murphy Troy and Tony Ciarelli a pretty powerful 1-2 combo for the Trojans. McKibben ran a pretty good offense and the best hitting team in the MPSF backed it up with the stats out-hitting Irvine 82K for .314 vs. 64K for .301. The MHs, Current and Zahn seemed unstoppable in the 1st and 2nd sets opening it up at the outside for Ciarelli. Troy couldn't get it going on until late in the 2nd-- he was subbed out in the 1st with Stevens. Luke Morris (L) stepped in and tooks some BBs in the back from from OPPs Clark & Steller throughout the entire match.
SC came up short due to service errors (29 vs. 22 for Irvine), some inconsistent and untimely passing by Troy and an extremely determined trio of Steller (who came off the bench in the 3rd for Clark), Wilson and Cole Reinholm (who also came off the bench). Austin D'Amore came in for Simmons and was integral to fortifying the 'Eater block. It seemed like Troy was going to have a hay day at the outside until he came in.
In the 4th, Irvine had at least 3 match points but couldn't seal the deal. There was a crucial call that would have tied it at 38-38 that Steller hit from the right side that was hit wide, but the officials called it wide. From the video replay it looked like Steller got the block, but I don't blame them-- it was a tough one to see.
In the 5th it was all about Wilson, Steller and Reinholm. Reinholm was particularly impressive tonight because of his passing AND his ability to get timely kill for point to keep the cushion for the rest of the 5th.
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The Smith's loved every second of the game. It was good to see the eater fans there and we were impressed with play of both teams. Keep up the great work and we'll try to catch another match when UCI travels north again.
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