Three-Way Tie for First; Irvine Visits Northridge
March 10, 2009
Complete Release in PDF Format 
CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE (11-2 MPSF, 15-2 overall) defeated No. 8 BYU 3-0 twice at home over the weekend. Eric Vance had 13 kills (.345) and five aces the second night and 15 kills (.448) and two aces in the first. The Cougars were held to .089 hitting in the first match. The Matadors host UCLA Wednesday (Mar. 11) and, in a battle for the MPSF lead, UC Irvine Friday (Mar. 13). CSUN defeated both teams on the road earlier this year.
UC IRVINE (11-2 MPSF, 16-3 overall) won two more matches this past week, 3-0 at home over Loyola-Chicago and 3-2 at No. 11 UCLA. In the conference win over the Bruins, Carson Clark and Jordan DuFault (.500) each tallied 21 kills. Clark added three aces and 10 digs. The `Eaters hit .336 on the night and totaled 16 blocks. In a three-way tie for first, UCI has one crucial match this week, at top-ranked CS Northridge Friday (Mar. 13) in a battle at the top.
PEPPERDINE (11-2 MPSF, 12-2 overall) pulled out a pair of five-set come-from-behind road wins, edging No. 6 Long Beach State and No. 10 UC San Diego. Paul Carroll tallied a 31-kill (.467), 13-dig, and eight-block night as the Waves came back from 2-0 in the Pyramid. In La Jolla, Carroll added 26 kills, 16 digs, and eight blocks as Pepp bounced back after losing the first set. Tied for first, the Waves host George Mason Saturday (Mar. 14) in non-league.
STANFORD (7-6 MPSF, 14-7 overall) won its fifth and sixth straight matches over the weekend with two wins over No. 9 Lewis, 3-0 and 3-1. Evan Romero had 19 kills (.438) and three aces in the first win, and put away 20 kills (.300) and seven blocks in the second. Erik Shoji dug up 24 balls (6.00 D/S) in the four-setter. Stanford is off this week.
UC SAN DIEGO (4-9 MPSF, 8-10 overall) picked up an upset this past Friday in four sets over No. 5 USC, after losing the first set. Will Ehrman had 18 kills (.333) and Calvin Ross led a strong team effort at the net with 12 blocks (3 B/S). Jason Spangler totaled 37 weekend kills, including 24 in a 3-2 loss to Pepperdine. Hawaii visits for two this week.
USC (9-4 MPSF, 12-5 overall) split two road matches, edging No. 6 Long Beach State in five, before coming up short at No. 10 UC San Diego in four. Murphy Troy nailed 29 kills (.463) to go along with 13 digs and two aces in the Pyramid. USC hit .373 and had19 blocks to lead the comeback from a 2-1 set deficit. Next is New Jersey Tech at home Saturday.
UCLA (4-8 MPSF, 8-11 overall) split two home matches, winning 3-0 over Grand Canyon, before coming up short in five to No. 2 UC Irvine in a near upset. Thomas Amberg hit an MPSF-high .773 in the win (18-1-22) and Jack Polales tallied a career-best 22 kills in the loss. The Bruins are at top-ranked CS Northridge and UC Santa Barbara this week.
UC SANTA BARBARA (3-11 MPSF, 5-12 overall) split a pair of matches at No. 12 Hawaii, winning in four and losing in three. The first night, the Gauchos won the third set 41-39, the fourth longest set in MPSF history. Jeff Menzel recorded 23 kills, 10 digs, and two aces in the win. Vince Devaney had a career-high 79 assists in the win. UCSB hosts George Mason Wed. (Mar. 11), before returning to conference action against UCLA Friday (Mar. 13).
HAWAII (3-9 MPSF, 4-11 overall) split two home matches with No. 14 UC Santa Barbara, as Josh Walker totaled 47 kills (6.71 K/S) at .343 over the two matches, including a career-high 30 kills in the loss. UH collected14.5 blocks (4.83 B/S) in the win. The Warriors travel to UC San Diego for two on Friday and Saturday (Mar. 13-14).
LONG BEACH STATE (7-6 MPSF, 8-8 overall) dropped a pair of five-set home matches against No. 5 USC and No. 3 Pepperdine. Dean Bittner registered a career-night vs. the Waves, knocking down 33 kills (.349), two nights after a 21-kill effort vs. the Trojans. The 49ers host the Active Ankle Tournament this weekend, facing Indiana-Purdue Ft. Wayne Friday (Mar. 13) and '08 NCAA Champion Penn State Saturday (Mar. 14).
BYU (7-5 MPSF, 9-8 overall) lost at No. 1 CS Northridge 3-0 twice last weekend. Alex Da Pron tallied 10 kills (.471) with five blocks on night two. The Cougars partake in the Active Ankle Tournament this weekend in Long Beach, playing defending NCAA Champion Penn State Friday (Mar. 13) and Indiana-Purdue Ft. Wayne Saturday (Mar. 14).
PACIFIC (0-13 MPSF, 2-18 overall) dropped two matches at IPFW, 3-1 each night. Joe Forbes registered 15 kills in the first match. The Tigers return to Stockton with a non-conference home match Tuesday (Mar. 10) against Juniata.
CARROLL AND AMMERMAN MPSF MOLTEN PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Woodland, Calif. - Pepperdine senior opposite Paul Carroll (Forster, Australia) totaled 57 kills in 10 sets, leading the Waves to a pair of five-set comeback MPSF road wins. At No. 6 Long Beach State, he had 26 kills, a career-high 16 digs, and eight blocks. The Waves were down 2-0 in sets that night. At No. 10 UC San Diego, Carroll slammed 31 kills (.467), along with 13 digs, eight blocks, and two aces. Pepperdine came back from a first set loss. For the week, Carroll hit .393 (57-13-112), while averaging 5.70 kills, 2.90 digs, and 1.60 blocks.
Woodland, Calif. - UC Irvine senior setter Ryan Ammerman (Parker, CO/Chapparel HS) dished out a career-high 66 assists, eighth-most in UCI single-match rally scoring history, in guiding the Anteaters to a five-set win at No. 11 UCLA. He added 11 digs for the double-double and led the team to a .336 hitting attack. In a 3-0 home win over Loyola-Chicago earlier in the week, Ammerman had a career-high eight blocks.