USC Clinches MPSF Quarterfinal Home Court

3/28/2011 12:00:00 AM

March 28, 2011

USC (15-1 MPSF, 16-1 Overall) avenged its lone defeat this year in a 3-0 home win over Pepperdine last Friday, tying a school record 19 consecutive home wins. Riley McKibbin set the Trojans to a .382 attack, also recording match-highs of 45 assists and 10 digs for the double-double. Tri Bourne (.483) and Murphy Troy (.394) each tallied 16 kills, and Austin Zahn had seven blocks. Winners of their last 10, USC has clinched home court for the MPSF Quarterfinals on Apr. 23.

BYU (12-6 MPSF, 16-7 Overall) stayed unbeaten at home with 3-0 and 3-2 decisions over Hawaii last Thursday and Friday. Robb Stowell totaled 40 kills over the eight sets (5.00 K/S) while hitting .433 (40-11-67). Taylor Sander hit a collective .471 (28-4-51) for the series, and Futi Tavana registered a .545 middle attack (23-5-33) with nine total blocks. The Cougars have sealed a quarterfinal bid and look to run the table in Provo as Long Beach State visits for two.

LONG BEACH STATE (10-7 MPSF, 12-10 Overall) middle blocker Antwain Aguillard turned in a dominating weekend in Northern California, as the 49ers won 3-1 at Pacific and 3-2 at No. 2 Stanford. He hit a collective .695 without an error the entire weekend (41-0-59). In Palo Alto, Long Beach did not commit a single hitting error over sets four and five on a .659 attack (27-0-41). The 49ers are headed to the MPSF Tournament with the two wins.

UCLA (8-8 MPSF, 15-9 Overall) extended its win streak to seven with 3-0 outcomes over UC Irvine at home and UC San Diego on the road. Jeremy Casebeer hit .364 vs. UCI (10-2-22). Alex Scattareggia set a .346 offense in La Jolla, with Gonzalo Quiroga hitting an errorless .571 (12-0-21) and Wes Dunlap at .533 (10-2-15). Thomas Amberg and Kyle Caldwell combined for 15 blocks. One-half match behind the Anteaters, the Bruins visit UC Irvine Wednesday (Mar. 30).

STANFORD (12-5 MPSF, 15-6 Overall) Spencer McLachlin posted 24 kills (.302), nine digs, and five blocks, as the Cardinal came back from 2-1 down to defeat Northridge in five sets. Brad Lawson delivered 23 kills and 15 digs for the double-double. Erik Shoji picked up 21 digs, one shy of the 2011 MPSF single-match high. Lawson and McLachlin each registered 21 kills in the loss to Long Beach State. The Cardinal host UC Santa Cruz, USC, and Pepperdine this week.

UC IRVINE (9-8 MPSF, 13-11 Overall) took down No. 3 Ohio State in straight sets at home Saturday. Cory Yoder led all players with 14 kills on 25 errorless swings, hitting .560. Carson Clark was next in line with 11 kills, along with four aces and four blocks. Dan McDonnell tallied a career-high six blocks. The home finale is Wednesday (Mar. 30) against UCLA, where a UCI victory would clinch an MPSF Quarterfinal appearance.

UC SAN DIEGO (4-13 MPSF, 8-16 Overall) split two at home last week, upsetting No. 3 Ohio State in four sets. The Tritons used 11 service aces and 16.5 blocks against the Buckeyes to ignite the shocker. Carl Eberts delivered 14 kills and six blocks, and repeated a 14-kill outing in the loss to UCLA. Phil Bannan served four aces vs. the Bruins, and is within eight of the single season Triton record. UCSD visits UC Santa Barbara and UCLA this week.

PACIFIC (4-13 MPSF, 10-15 Overall) received a 19-kill (.308) and 11-dig double-double from Taylor Hughes in a 3-1 win over CS Northridge this past Saturday. The Tigers registered 21 blocks in the win, as Sean Daley led with 11. Chaz Hindsley and Patrick Tunnell had seven stuffs apiece. Hughes and Florian Gornik tallied 18 kills each, with the latter adding 10 digs, in the loss to Long Beach State. Pacific hosts Pepperdine and USC this weekend.

HAWAII (10-8 MPSF, 12-11 Overall) dropped a 3-0 and 3-2 outcome at BYU last week. Jonas Umlauft accumulated 46 kills (5.75 K/S) in the series, while hitting .312, and Josh Walker hit a combined .333 (25-8-51). Despite the losses, the Warriors sealed an MPSF Tournament appearance and are still within one-half match of being in the top-four and in the race to serve as a quarterfinal host. UH returns home for two matches with CS Northridge this weekend.

CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE (4-13 MPSF, 6-18 Overall) Matt Stork recorded 18 kills and Danny Rodrick had 54 assists, nine blocks, and seven digs in a near upset at No. 2 Stanford. Brandon LeBrock (14-2-27) and Drew Staker (10-2-18) both hit .444 in Palo Alto. Stork tallied a double-double the next night at Pacific on 24 kills (.367) and 11 digs. The Matadors travel to Hawaii this weekend for two.

PEPPERDINE (4-12 MPSF, 8-12 Overall) fell 3-0 at top-ranked USC last Friday. Maurice Torres registered a match-high 18 kills (.290) as well as a team-high eight digs. Cory Riecks had 14 kills while hitting .367. The Waves travel north this week to Pacific Friday and Stanford Saturday.

UC SANTA BARBARA (9-7 MPSF, 12-10 Overall) dropped a three set match at Cal Baptist last Thursday, and resumes MPSF action at home against UC San Diego and UC Irvine this week. Jeff Menzel hit .500 (10-3-14) at CBU. The Gauchos look to seal an MPSF Quarterfinal berth this week.

ANTWAIN AGUILLARD MPSF MOLTEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Long Beach State senior middle blocker Antwain Aguillard (Las Vegas, NV/Long Beach CC) compiled 41 kills with no errors on 59 attempts for a .695 hitting percentage as the 49ers won at Pacific and No. 2 Stanford. He had a career-high 17 kills and hit .708 (17-0-24) against the Tigers, adding four digs and two solo blocks. Aguillard then topped that career effort with 24 kills against the Cardinal, as again he did not have an error on 35 swings for a .686 percentage. He added four digs and two blocks that night to help clinch an MPSF Tournament bid. Also Nominated: Carl Eberts (UCSD); Wes Dunlap (UCLA); Tri Bourne (USC); Spencer McLachlin (STAN); Robb Stowell (BYU).