MPSF Tournament Begins on Saturday

4/18/2011 12:00:00 AM

April 18, 2011

USC (20-2 MPSF, 21-2 Overall) is the No. 1 seed in this year's MPSF Championship Tournament, hosting No. 8 seed UCLA in a quarterfinal Saturday (Apr. 23). The Trojans won each regular season meeting, 3-1 in Westwood (Jan. 28) and 3-0 at home (Apr. 14). Murphy Troy is amongst the conference leaders in kills (4.01 K/S, 7th), aces (0.43 A/S, 3rd), and points (4.89 P/S, 3rd). Riley McKibbin leads the MPSF with 12.04 assists per set, guiding a conference-best .355 offense.

BYU (16-6 MPSF, 20-7 Overall) solidified the No. 2 tournament seed for the second straight year, following a pair of wins two weeks ago at Pepperdine. The Cougars await No. 7 seed UC Santa Barbara in Provo for the quarters. BYU won two of three in the season series, all played in Santa Barbara. Robb Stowell leads the team with 4.05 kills per set, while Futi Tavana leads the conference with 1.50 blocks per set. Taylor Sander averages 0.45 aces, second best in the MPSF.

STANFORD (15-7 MPSF, 19-8 Overall) is seeded third, hosting No. 6 Long Beach State in Saturday's quarterfinals. The defending MPSF and NCAA Champions attempt to avenge a pair of regular season losses to the 49ers. Brad Lawson ranks third in the conference with 4.28 kills per set and fifth with 4.72 points. Eric Mochalski is second in hitting (.455). Evan Barry dishes 11.54 assists and Erik Shoji is second in the MPSF with 2.60 digs.

UC IRVINE (14-8 MPSF, 18-11 Overall) hosts Hawaii in the quarterfinals in a 4-5 match-up. The Anteaters won both regular season meetings at home in four sets (Feb. 21-22). Carson Clark ranks second in the conference in points (5.24 P/S), and kills (4.55 K/S), and fourth in aces (0.42 A/S). Cory Yoder is the only non-middle man in the MPSF to be ranked amongst the top-10 hitters (.414, 6th). The Anteaters are also second as a team in hitting at .342.

HAWAII (13-9 MPSF, 15-12 Overall) is seeded fifth, visiting No. 4 seed UC Irvine Saturday. The Warriors were also involved in the 4-5 match-up a year ago, in which they prevailed as the four seed at home en route to the semifinals. Jonas Umlauft is the top killer (5.55 K/S) and scorer (6.07 P/S) in the conference. Nejc Zemljak has guided a .326 team attack this year and Shane Welch is in the top-five in blocking (1.11 B/S).

LONG BEACH STATE (12-10 MPSF, 14-13 Overall) looks for a third victory over the defending MPSF and NCAA Champions, taking the six seed to Palo Alto for the quarterfinals. The 49ers have two of the top-four blockers in the conference in Antwain Aguillard (1.19 B/S, 3rd) and Ryan Meehan (1.18 B/S, 4th). Long Beach State has also limited their opponents to a .253 attack, ranking second.

UC SANTA BARBARA (11-11 MPSF, 14-14 Overall) is the seven seed in the tournament, traveling to No. 2 BYU for the quarterfinals. The Gauchos claimed one of the three meetings at home, 3-0 on Feb. 18. Scott Slaughter is the MPSF leading hitter with a middle attack of .505. Vince Devany is second in the conference with 11.80 assists per set. Jeff Menzel ranks fourth in kills (4.07 K/S) and seventh in points (4.60 P/S).

UCLA (9-13 MPSF, 16-14 Overall) was the final team to punch a postseason ticket two weeks ago, and is seeded eighth, visiting No. 1 USC Saturday. Wes Dunlap ranks third in the MPSF hitting percentage category at .451. Gonzalo Quiroga has served 39 aces on the year, fourth most in the conference. Thomas Amberg averages 1.04 blocks per set, also a top-10 statistic.

PEPPERDINE (7-15 MPSF, 11-15 Overall) sent its seniors out in style with a pair of home wins over UC Santa Barbara (3-0) and UCLA (3-1). In his final two matches, Kasey Crider set the Waves to .438 and .396 attacks, two of their top-three MPSF clips this year. Maurice Torres ranks fourth through the regular season in points (4.75 P/S), and sixth in kills (4.04 K/S) and in aces (0.38 A/S). Middle Matt Pollock is fifth in hitting (.423) and sixth in blocking (1.09 B/S).

PACIFIC (5-17 MPSF, 11-19 Overall) ended its season with a 3-1 defeat at Stanford this past Saturday, as Taylor Hughes contributed 18 kills (.385) and five blocks and Christian Ahlin recorded a match-high nine blocks. Through the regular season, the Tigers own the top block in the conference with 2.92 per set. Sean Daley (1.27, 2nd) and Chaz Hindsley (1.05, 8th) rank in the top-10 individually, while Javier Caceres picked up an MPSF-best 2.65 digs per set.

CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE (5-17 MPSF, 7-22 Overall) dropped a 3-0 season finale match at Long Beach State this past Saturday, as Matt Stork recorded 10 kills and three aces. Drew Staker completed the regular season with a .405 hitting clip, eighth in the conference.

UC SAN DIEGO (5-17 MPSF, 9-20 Overall) fell 3-0 at home to UC Irvine to wrap up the 2011 season. Senior setter Phil Bannan, who earlier this year became the all-time assist leader in Triton history, also served a conference-high 47 aces in the regular season (0.51 A/S). Calvin Ross ranks ninth in hitting, .398 in the middle.

TONY CIARELLI MPSF MOLTEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
USC junior outside hitter Tony Ciarelli (Huntington Beach, CA/Huntington Beach HS) had a team-best 16 kills while hitting .433, along with three aces to help No. 1 USC sweep crosstown rival No. 8 UCLA. In the Trojans' regular season finale sweep over No. 6 UC Santa Barbara, Ciarelli recorded a team-best 13 kills while hitting .550 and added eight digs, four blocks, and one ace. He hit .480 (29-5-50) for the week with 4.83 kills per set. Also Nominated: Josh Riley (LBSU); Carson Clark (UCI); Evan Barry (STAN)