Hawaii and Stanford Split Entertaining Weekend

1/24/2011 12:00:00 AM

Jan. 24, 2011

HAWAII (1-1 MPSF, 1-4 overall) defeated Stanford for the first time since 2008 in a 3-0 home upset last Friday. The Warriors hit .459 in the win, led by Jonas Umlauft's 22 kills (.500) and two aces, on his way to 51 kills (6.38 K/S) throughout eight sets over the weekend (.350). He had 29 kills in Sunday's 3-2 loss while Josh Walker added 20. The 36-34 set four win on Sunday is the longest in the conference this year. Hawaii travels to UCSD for two this weekend.

STANFORD (3-1 MPSF, 4-1 overall) split two conference matches at Hawaii, losing 3-0 and winning 3-2. In Sunday's 17-15 fifth set win, the Cardinal fought off two different match points, down 13-14 and 14-15. Spencer McLachlin slammed 29 kills (.375) and Brad Lawson posted a double-double on 18 kills and 12 digs. Erik Shoji picked up a 2011 MPSF-high 16 digs (3.20 D/S). Stanford heads to Northridge Friday (Jan. 28) and Long Beach State Saturday (Jan. 29).

USC (4-0 MPSF, 4-0 overall) won two on the road, 3-1 at UC Irvine and 3-0 at UC San Diego, and is now the lone unbeaten in the MPSF. The No. 1 Trojans have dropped just one set over their first four conference wins. Senior Murphy Troy combined for a .417 hitting attack (34-9-60), and recorded 19 kills and 11 digs at UCI for a double-double. USC remains on the road this week, taking on UC Santa Barbara Wednesday (Jan. 26) and UCLA Friday (Jan. 28).

BYU (2-2 MPSF, 5-2 overall) won 3-1 and 3-0 at Pacific for its first two conference wins of the year. The Cougars held night two advantages of .412-.108 hitting and 14-4 blocking, and came back from a first set loss on night one. Robb Stowell combined for a .483 hitting attack (34-6-58) on 4.86 kills per set. Futi Tavana hit .447 (19-2-38) and totaled 17 blocks in seven sets (2.43 B/S). The Cougars host UC Irvine for two on Friday and Saturday (Jan. 28-29).

LONG BEACH STATE (3-1 MPSF, 4-3 overall) won a pair of MPSF home matches, 3-0 over No. 5 UC Santa Barbara and 3-2 over No. 3 UCLA. The 49ers erased a two-set deficit in last Friday's comeback over UCLA, hitting .483 over the final three sets (33-5-58). Jim Baughman had 15 kills (.367) and Antwain Aguillard added nine kills and nine blocks. Long Beach State, also led by Baughman's 13 kills (.611) vs. UCSB, hosts Pacific Friday and Stanford Saturday.

UC IRVINE (2-2 MPSF, 4-4 overall) Cory Yoder registered a .500 hitting clip against No. 1 USC (18-2-32) and No. 6 Pepperdine (21-3-36), as the Anteaters split two outcomes last week. UCI claimed the final two sets over the Waves to win in five, 21-19 in the fifth. Carson Clark slammed a 2011 MPSF-high 35 kills in the win while hitting .566. The Anteaters face BYU in Provo, UT, for two this week, Friday and Saturday.

UCLA (1-1 MPSF, 6-2 overall) Thomas Amberg and Jeremy Casebeer recorded 10 kills apiece, with the former swinging an errorless .667 attack, as the Bruins won their conference and home opener over CS Northridge in four sets. UCLA recorded 17 team blocks as Weston Dunlap led with a career-high eight. Gonzalo Quiroga tallied a career-high 20 kills (.485) in the 3-2 loss at Long Beach State. The Bruins return home for Pepperdine and No. 1 USC this week.

UC SANTA BARBARA (2-2 MPSF, 4-3 overall) attacked at a percentage of .667 (48-4-66) in a 3-0 win at CS Northridge last Friday. Jeff Menzel put away 14 of his 18 swings without an error (.778), and served a pair of aces. Cullen Irons added a .714 clip (16-1-21) and Trey Valbuena hit .692 (10-1-13). The Gauchos host top-ranked USC Wednesday and Pepperdine Friday.

CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE (1-3 MPSF, 2-5 overall) came up short in a pair of conference matches, 3-1 at UCLA and 3-0 at home to UC Santa Barbara. Brandon Lebrock had 12 kills (.308) in Westwood and Greg Faulkner recorded a team-best .467 hitting percentage (10-3-15) as well as five blocks. The Matadors host Stanford and Pacific this weekend.

UC SAN DIEGO (1-1 MPSF, 2-3 overall) Sebastian Brady hit .500 (7-1-12) along with six blocks and Calvin Ross hit .462 (7-1-13) and served two aces in a 3-1 loss at Cal Baptist Saturday. The Tritons host three matches this week, as Princeton visits in non-conference Wednesday before MPSF resumes with Hawaii for two Friday and Saturday.

PACIFIC (0-2 MPSF, 3-3 overall) dropped a pair at home to BYU in its conference openers, as Taylor Hughes collected Friday numbers of 16 kills, nine digs, and five blocks. The Tigers travel to Long Beach State Friday and CS Northridge Saturday.

PEPPERDINE (0-3 MPSF, 2-3 overall) Chase Ross hit .630 (20-3-27) in the loss at UCI, one of four Waves' in double-figure kills. Maurice Torres had a team-high 22 kills at .348, while Matt Pollock and Cory Riecks followed with 13 and 11 kills, respectively, with Pollock hitting .458 (13-2-24). Pepperdine visits UCLA Wednesday and UCSB Friday.

MURPHY TROY MPSF MOLTEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
USC senior opposite Murphy Troy (St. Louis, MO/University HS) combined for 34 kills in seven sets (4.86 K/S) while hitting .417 to lead a pair of conference road wins at UC Irvine and UC San Diego. He also totaled 16 digs for the week, one of which a rare kick save following a late five-point deficit that allowed the Trojans to get to set point in set two in the Bren Center. Also Nominated: Jonas Umlauft (UH); Chase Ross (PEP); Jim Baughman (LBSU); Cory Yoder (UCI); Robb Stowell (BYU); Spencer McLachlin (STAN)