Men's Volleyball Weekly Release
March 17, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
BYU (12-2 MPSF/17-2 overall) won 3-0 at No. 9 UCLA this past Thursday, as five Cougars contributed between nine and 11 kills. Senior Russell Holmes hit .846 (11-0-13) and senior Ivan Perez picked up his sixth double-double on 10 kills and 10 digs. The Cougars are coming off a four-game loss from the following night in Westwood, and currently share the top spot in the MPSF Standings with their opponent this week, Long Beach State.
LONG BEACH STATE (12-2 MPSF/17-3 overall) senior Paul Lotman took 25 swings and recorded 18 kills without an error (.720) as the 49ers won 3-0 at UC San Diego. Sophomore Dean Bittner added 14 kills (.423) as Long Beach hit .562 on the night (52-7-80). The 49ers then hosted IPFW and No. 4 Penn State in the annual Active Ankle Tournament, winning in four and losing in five respectively. Lotman had 29 kills (.420) against the Lions and 22 vs. the Mastadons (.348) and was named tourney MVP. With each team tied for first in the MPSF at 12-2, BYU visits the Pyramid for two on Friday and Saturday (Mar. 21-22).
UCLA shocked top-ranked BYU Friday night in Westwood, 3-1. The entire match featured just six ties and two lead changes. Four Bruins were in double-figure kills, led by junior Sean O'Malley's 17. He also had 15 in a 3-0 loss the night before. Junior Ryan Ratelle tallied 14 kills (.400) and a career-high 10 digs. BYU was held to a .211 hitting clip. UCLA is next in action Mar. 28-29, visiting Long Beach State and UC San Diego.
CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE extended its win streak to 11 matches in a two-hour, thirty-three minute battle at the Matadome over No. 5 Pepperdine. The Matadors once again had a big serve in the five-set win, as senior Mike Gaudino nailed six of the 12 team aces. Junior Eric Vance slammed a career-high 27 kills (.383) and completed his third straight double-double with 13 digs. Freshman Cody Loe added 13 kills (.440) and four blocks. CSUN is next in action March 25-26 as Hawaii visits for two.
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).
HAWAII split two home matches with No. 8 UC Irvine this past weekend, losing 3-1 and winning 3-0. Junior Jim Clar had 13 kills and seven blocks in the win. The Warriors travel to USC this weekend (Mar. 21-22).
UC IRVINE split at No. 14 Hawaii, a 3-1 win and a 3-0 loss. Junior Jon Steller slammed 29 kills (.350) with four blocks in the victory. Freshman Cory Yoder added 20 kills and freshman Kevin Wynne hit .706 on night one (12-0-17). UCI is idle this week.
UC SANTA BARBARA freshman Jeff Menzel pounded 21 kills (7 K/G) with a .529 hitting attack in a three-game home win over No. 10 USC. The Gauchos controlled the blocking (12.0-3.0) and hitting (.366-.178), and did not trail in the first two games. Coming off a 3-0 loss to Pepperdine, UCSB is off this week.
UC SAN DIEGO fell 3-0 to No. 3 Long Beach State, as sophomore Frank Fritsch had 11 kills (.333). The Tritons also swept Hope International at home, and are now off until March 28-29 when UCLA and UC Irvine visit RIMAC Arena.
USC lost 3-0 at No. 13 UC Santa Barbara. Sophomore C.J. Schellenberg had 14 kills. Hawaii visits Fri and Sat. (Mar. 21-22).
STANFORD is in the midst of a three-week layoff. Trips to Pepperdine and USC are next, Mar. 28-29.
PACIFIC did not play this past week and now takes on three non-conference matches, at UC Santa Cruz Thursday (Mar. 20) and New Jersey Tech Friday and Saturday (Mar. 21-22).
LOTMAN AND VANCE NAMED MPSF MOLTEN PLAYERS OF THE WEEK Woodland, Calif. - Long Beach State senior Paul Lotman (Lakewood, CA/Los Alamitos HS) was named Active Ankle Tournament MVP as he combined for 51 kills in two matches. He had 29 kills (.420) against Penn State and 22 (.348) vs. IPFW, along with five blocks. In an MPSF win at UC San Diego, Lotman put away 18 kills in 25 swings, without an error (.720). For the week, he averaged 5.75 kills per game with a .455 hitting attack....CS Northridge junior Eric Vance (Camarillo, CA/Camarillo HS) lifted the Matadors to their first-ever No. 1 national ranking in division I. He slammed a career-high 27 kills in five games (5.40 K/G), with three aces, two blocks, and 13 digs in a win over No. 5 Pepperdine. He hit .383 in the Matadors' 11th straight win.