MPSF Tournament Begin as UCI Earns No. 1 Seed

4/20/2009 12:00:00 AM

April 20, 2009

UC IRVINE (19-3 MPSF, 24-4 overall) won the MPSF regular season and as a result, is awarded the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. The Anteaters host No. 8 seed UCLA Saturday (Apr. 25) in the quarterfinals, and with a victory, would serve as the host for the semi-finals and championship matches the following week. UCI won all three meeting this year over UCLA, 3-0, 3-1, and 3-2, and is coming off a pair of 3-0 wins at Stanford and Pacific. UCI leads the conference in team blocking (3.62 B/S), while Kevin Wynne owns a top mark of .479 hitting in the middle.

PEPPERDINE (18-4 MPSF, 20-4 overall) enters the tournament as the No. 2 seed and will host No. 7 seed Long Beach State Saturday in the quarterfinals. The Waves won both meetings this year, 3-2 in Long Beach (Mar. 6) and 3-1 in Malibu (Mar. 28). In the five-setter, Pepperdine was down two sets before winning the next three. The Waves ended the regular season with a home split vs. BYU. Paul Carroll is the MPSF leader in kills (6.29) and points per set (7.13).

CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE (16-6 MPSF, 23-6 overall) is the No. 3 seed and hosts No. 6 BYU Saturday for the rights to move on to the conference semi-finals. The Matadors won both meetings in 3-0 fashion at home this year, Mar. 5 & 6. The offense is guided by freshman setter Matt Stork with an MPSF-best 14.12 assists per set, while Eric Vance ranks first in aces (0.54 A/S) and second in kills (5.51 K/S). CSN hits .336 as a team and limits opponents to a .219 clip.

STANFORD (14-8 MPSF, 21-10 overall) takes the No. 4 seed into the postseason and hosts No. 5 seed USC. Stanford is coming off a home split, falling to UC Irvine and defeating UCLA, both in three sets. Evan Romero averages 4.34 kills, while freshman Erik Shoji picks up an MPSF-leading 3.96 digs per set. The 21 wins this year by the Cardinal is the most since the 1997 national championship year, while the 14 MPSF wins is the most since 2003.

USC (13-9 MPSF, 17-10 overall) is the MPSF Tournament's No. 5 seed and heads north to face No. 4 seed Stanford in quarterfinal action Saturday. USC won both meetings in three sets this year. The Trojans are coming off a split at Hawaii in the regular season finales. Murphy Troy leads the attack with 4.94 kills per set, fifth in the conference.

BYU (13-9 MPSF, 17-12 overall) is seeded sixth, and visits No. 3 seed CS Northridge in first-round action. The Cougars finished the regular season by upsetting No. 2 Pepperdine on the road, 3-1. Two of the top four blockers in the conference wear a Cougar uniform, as Futi Tavana ranks second (1.50 B/S) and Russell Lavaja is fourth (1.39 B/S). BYU is also second at the net as a team with 3.43 blocks per set.

LONG BEACH STATE (11-11 MPSF, 14-13 overall) is the No. 7 seed in this year's MPSF Tournament field, and visits No. 2 Pepperdine in the quarterfinals. The 49ers wrapped up the regular season with a four-set comeback win at UC San Diego last Friday. Riding a four-match win streak to Malibu, LBSU is led by Dean Bittner who ranks second in the conference in points (6.37 P/S) and third in kills (5.43 K/S). Dan Alexander averages 1.37 blocks per set.

UCLA (10-12 MPSF, 14-15 overall) takes a No. 8 seed into UC Irvine Saturday to face the top-seeded Anteaters. The Bruins closed the regular season with a split in Northern California, winning in three at Pacific and losing in three at Stanford. Thomas Amberg averages 1.38 blocks, seventh in the MPSF. Nick Vogel hits .404 in the middle.

UC SAN DIEGO (8-14 MPSF, 12-15 overall) ended the year with a 3-1 home loss to Long Beach State. The Tritons came within two MPSF wins of reaching their first-ever postseason appearance. Frank Fritsch averaged 3.81 kills.

HAWAII (6-16 MPSF, 9-18 overall) ended the Mike Wilton era with a thrilling 3-1 upset over No. 5 USC at home Saturday. The Warriors came back from a 32-30 first set loss to win the next two in extra time, 33-31 and 38-36, before a 30-27 fourth set finale. Joe Strotman had a career-high 30 kills, while Josh Walker had eight of his 29 in the final set.

UC SANTA BARBARA (4-18 MPSF, 8-19 overall) ended 2009 with a 3-0 home loss to CS Northridge. Jeff Menzel ranked fourth in the conference in kills (5.25 K/S) while Scott Slaughter was fifth in hitting (.437).

PACIFIC (0-22 MPSF, 3-28 overall) concluded its season with 3-0 losses at home to UCLA and UC Irvine.

STEWART AND STROTMAN MPSF MOLTEN PLAYERS OF WEEK
Woodland, Calif. - BYU junior outside hitter Andrew Stewart (Sandy, UT/Alta HS) recorded a pair of 18-kill outings as the No. 6 Cougars split two matches at No. 2 Pepperdine. In the upset win, he hit .500 (18-4-28), served an ace, while adding four digs and three blocks. Stewart's totals for the two-match series were 36 kills (4.50 K/S) at a .446 hitting attack, and seven blocks, as he averaged 5.06 points per set.

Woodland, Calif. - Hawaii junior outside hitter Joseph Strotman (San Gabriel, CA/Long Beach CC) turned in a career-night with 30 kills (.270), 12 digs, and two blocks as the Warriors upset No. 5 USC in Head Coach Mike Wilton's final match. His kill and dig efforts were both personal bests. Friday, Strotman recorded 13 kills (.310) and three blocks. He totaled 43 kills in the series (6.14 K/S).

Also Nominated: Josh Riley (LBSU)