Hawaii Visits Long Beach; BYU at CSUN

3/15/2011 12:00:00 AM

March 15, 2011

USC (14-1 MPSF, 14-1 Overall) improved to 14-1 with two more home wins, 3 straight deuce sets over UC San Diego and 3-1 over UC Irvine. This is the best 15-match conference record for the Trojans since the inception of the MPSF. Murphy Troy had 16 kills and Tony Ciarelli added 12 against the Anteaters. The Trojans held a .339-.240 hitting advantage. Troy hit .417 with 11 kills vs. the Tritons. In a break from MPSF play, Harvard visits Wednesday (Mar. 16).

HAWAII (8-6 MPSF, 10-9 Overall) claimed 3-1 and 3-0 home victories over Pacific, as Jonas Umlauft totaled 41 kills in the seven sets (5.86 K/S) while hitting .302. He also blocked 10 balls in the series (1.43 B/S). The Warriors came back from a first set loss in Friday's four-setter. Night two saw Josh Walker hit .375 (12-3-24) as UH controlled the overall attack (.325-.186) and block (18-11). One-half match behind the 49ers, UH travels to Long Beach State this week.

UCLA (6-8 MPSF, 13-9 Overall) made it five straight wins, taking its second and third straight five-set evening, in edging Penn State and Loyola last week. Connor Bannan set four Bruins' to double figures against the Lions, with a .319 team attack. Thomas Amberg tallied 16 kills (.367) back from injury and Kyle Caldwell chipped in a double-double on 16 kills and 11 digs. UCLA then erased a 2-1 deficit to the Ramblers, with Gonzalo Quiroga hitting an errorless .667 (18-0-27).

LONG BEACH STATE (8-5 MPSF, 10-8 Overall) bounced back from a 3-2 loss to Lewis with a 3-1 win over Penn State in the annual Active Ankle Classic at the Pyramid. Jim Baughman hit .478 (13-2-23) in the win, while Antwain Aguillard delivered a double-double on 11 kills and a career-high tying 11 blocks. The 49ers matched their season-high with eight service aces and won the blocking battle, 18.5-10.0. MPSF resumes with Hawaii visiting this weekend.

UC IRVINE (9-7 MPSF, 12-10 Overall) won 3-0 at Pepperdine last Thursday, as Cory Yoder delivered an errorless .550 attack (11-0-20). The Anteaters posted a .381 team attack, while holding the Waves to .138. Carson Clark tallied a match-high 12 kills (.308), and would follow up with 27 two nights later at No. 1 USC. Jeremy Dejno added 12 kills (.280) in the defeat. UC Irvine is off this week.

UC SANTA BARBARA (9-7 MPSF, 12-9 Overall) dropped a 3-1 neutral site match to Penn State, before sweeping Lewis in this year's Long Beach State Active Ankle Classic. Jeff Menzel posted a match-high 12 kills (.391), the lone double-digit man for either team in the victory. Cullen Irons hit .545 (15-3-22) in the loss, with Menzel following with 14 (.357). The Gauchos take a break this week.

UC SAN DIEGO (4-12 MPSF, 7-15 overall) took No. 1 USC to deuce in all three sets, and would then take a thrilling five-set outcome at Pepperdine Saturday. A 38-36 set two win in Malibu was the longest frame in the conference this year. The Tritons later had three consecutive set points against them in set five and four total, before the 17-15 comeback win. Carl Eberts recorded a career-high 22 kills, adding 10 digs for the double-double. UCSD is idle this week.

CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE (3-10 MPSF, 5-15 Overall) split a pair of non-conference matches at home, falling 3-1 to Loyola before defeating Harvard 3-0. Matt Stork played as a hitter and combined for 26 kills for the week, earning a double-double in the loss on 18 kills and 12 digs. Drew Staker was 10 for 11 errorless attacks and Brandon Lebrock served four aces in the win (.909). The Matadors bring in BYU this weekend for two (Mar. 18-19).

PEPPERDINE (4-11 MPSF, 6-11 Overall) dropped two at home, 3-0 to UC Irvine and 3-2 to UC San Diego. Feb. 14 MPSF Player of the Week Beau Vandeweghe tallied career-highs of eight digs and 19 kills, while attacking at .500, as the Waves nearly came back from a two-set deficit against the Tritons. Pepperdine hosts a pair of non-conference matches this week, as Harvard visits Tuesday (Mar. 15) and Rutgers Saturday (Mar. 19).

PACIFIC (3-12 MPSF, 7-14 Overall) fell 3-1 and 3-0 at Hawaii. Florian Gornik hit .429 with a match-high in kills (16-4-28) in the second match. Taylor Hughes put away 21 kills (5.25 K/S) with a .318 clip in the first match. The Tigers step away from the MPSF this week, as New York University and UC Santa Cruz visit Stockton Friday and Saturday, respectively.

STANFORD (11-4 MPSF, 14-4 Overall) was off last week and hosts Cal Baptist Saturday (Mar. 19). Two weeks ago, Brad Lawson recorded 23 kills at UC Irvine and 17 (.353) at UC San Diego as the Cardinal won 3-1 each night. Brian Cook hit .591 at UCI (14-1-22). Evan Barry accumulated 55 assists in leading a .369 team attack and Spencer McLachlin had 21 kills (.436) in La Jolla in avenging an earlier loss to the Tritons.

BYU (9-5 MPSF, 13-6 Overall) was idle last week, resuming action at CS Northridge this weekend. The Cougars came up short at No. 1 USC two weeks ago in a pair of 3-2 matches. Taylor Sander totaled 46 kills over the series, including 29 (.480) in the first match in addition to serving three aces. Robb Stowell recorded a night two high of 22 kills along with 10 digs, while Futi Tavana hit .611. Alex DaPron tallied 14 kills (.435) the first night.

GONZALO QUIROGA MPSF MOLTEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
UCLA freshman outside hitter Gonzalo Quiroga (San Juan, Argentina) led a pair of thrilling five-set wins over Penn State and Loyola last week. Against the Lions, he hit .444 (15-3-27), had no reception errors, and recorded two aces and four blocks. Quiroga followed up with an errorless and match-high .667 attack against the Ramblers (18-0-27) with a team-high 18 kills. For the week, he hit .556 (33-3-54), posted seven blocks and served four aces. Also Nominated: Jonas Umlauft (UH); Carl Eberts (UCSD); Antwain Aguillard (LB)