Men's Volleyball Weekly Release
March 10, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
BYU (11-1 MPSF/16-1 overall) defeated No. 5 Pepperdine twice in Provo, 3-1 and 3-0. Senior Russell Holmes had nine kills (.583) and five blocks on night two. He had 13 kills (.545) and eight blocks in the first win. Senior Ivan Perez totaled 32 kills between the two wins, leading the Cougars within .348 and .379 team hitting attacks. First-place and top-ranked BYU heads to fourth-place UCLA for two matches Thursday (Mar. 13) and Friday (Mar. 14).
UCLA (8-6 MPSF/13-9 overall) knocked off a pair of non-conference teams at home, 3-1 over Lewis and UC Santa Cruz, followed by a five-game win at No. 6 UC Irvine last Friday. Against the Flyers, senior libero Tony Ker became the all-time dig leader in Bruin volleyball history. His current career total stands at 1,125, breaking the mark on his 1,090th dig last Tuesday. Junior Sean O'Malley had a career-high 23 kills that night, 19 (.484) vs. the Slugs, and 20 (.378) vs. the Anteaters. The Bruins jumped to fourth in this week's standings, as conference-leading and No. 1 BYU visits Westwood Thurs. and Fri. (Mar. 13-14).
CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE defeated UC Santa Barbara for the third time this year, 3-1 last Wednesday at the Matadome. The Matadors shined with their serve, totaling 11 aces, four each by Mike Gaudino and junior Eric Vance. Senior Isaac Kneubuhl led the attack with 22 kills (.450). CSUN also topped No. 8 USC 3-1 to remain just one-half match out of first place. The Matadors served 12 aces in this match, thus totaling 23 in eight games for the week (2.88 A/G). Three players chipped in double-doubles, led by Kneubuhl's 16 kills (.321) and 10 digs. Pepperdine visits on Wed. (Mar. 12), one of three MPSF losses for CSUN this year.
HAWAII had little trouble with No. 12 Loyola-Chicago in two wins this past week, 3-0 and 3-1. Junior Jim Clar recorded 17 kills (.343) in the sweep, while Warriors had 15 blocks and held the Ramblers to .025 hitting (32-29-120). The block party continued Friday, as Hawaii totaled 18.5, led by sophomore Steven Grgas with 10. Clar nailed 20 kills. No. 8 UC Irvine travels to Honolulu this weekend (Mar. 14-15).
LONG BEACH STATE senior Paul Lotman delivered 12 kills, four aces, and four blocks in a 3-0 sweep over Pacific in the Pyramid last Wednesday. The Tigers were held to an .034 team hitting clip (29-26-88). Friday, the 49ers took a 3-1 win over No. 7 Stanford. Lotman tallied 18 more kills (.419) and four blocks. Long Beach State heads south to UC San Diego Wed. (Mar. 12), followed by hosting IPFW Friday (Mar. 14). The top team from the EIVA, No. 4 Penn State also visits Saturday (Mar. 15).
STANFORD split an MPSF road trip, winning 3-1 at UC San Diego and losing 3-0 at No. 4 Long Beach State. Sophomore Evan Romero tallied 18 kills each night. Senior Matt Ceran also had 18 kills (.353) in the win. The Cardinal is now off for three weeks.
UC SAN DIEGO earned its first-ever win over Pacific in 30 tries, 3-2 at home Friday. This comes one week after UCSD picked up a first-ever 3-0 win over an MPSF opponent. The Tritons were on fire offensively, turning in a .400 attack, led by sophomore Jason Spangler's 25 kills (.438). Sophomore Frank Fritsch added 21 (.471). Long Beach State enters RIMAC on Wed. (Mar. 12).
PEPPERDINE received 28 kills (.423) from junior Paul Carroll on night one and 29 kills (.468) on night two in a pair of losses at No. 2 BYU this past weekend. Carroll contributed 57 of the Waves' 100 total kills on the weekend (8.14 K/G). He also combined for seven blocks. The Waves are at No. 2 CS Northridge Wednesday (Mar. 12) and UC Santa Barbara Saturday (Mar. 15).
PACIFIC senior Pekka Seppanen surpassed the 1,000 career-kill mark, posting a career-high 36 kills (.438) at UC San Diego. His current total of 1,029 ranks third in Tiger history. The 36 kills is an MPSF-best this year. Pacific does not play this week.
UC IRVINE fell 3-2 to No. 10 UCLA in the Bren Center Friday. Junior Jon Steller had a match-high 25 kills (.488) along with six blocks. Senior Aaron Harrell collected 11 kills (.588) and eight blocks. The Anteaters travel to Hawaii this weekend (Mar. 14-15).
USC lost 3-0 to Lewis and 3-1 at No. 3 CS Northridge. Hunter Current had 10 kills (.333) and eight blocks at the Matadome. The Trojans travel to No. 13 UC Santa Barbara Wednesday (Mar. 12).
UC SANTA BARBARA senior Theo Brunner registered a team-high 14 kills with an effective .650 attack in a 3-1 loss at No. 3 CS Northridge Wednesday. Freshman Jeff Menzel added 13 kills. UCSB returns home for USC and Pepperdine (Mar. 12 & 15).
LIBERO TONY KER NAMED MPSF MOLTEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK Woodland, Calif. - Three-time UCLA All-American and senior libero Tony Ker (Valencia, CA/ Valencia HS) became the all-time leading digger in Bruin volleyball history last Tuesday in a four-game win over Lewis. His ninth dig that night became his 1,090th in his career, passing Adam Shrader's 1,089 from 2001-2004. Ker totaled 44 digs in 13 games for the week (3.38 D/G), now owning 1,125, as the Bruins topped Lewis, UC Santa Cruz, and No. 6 UC Irvine. In addition to his 11th, 12th, and 13th double-digit dig efforts in 2008, he had 89 reception attempts without an error within the three matches.