UC Santa Barbara Tops USC for MPSF Crown
May 1, 2011
Box Score
Jeff Menzel had 28 kills to lead the No. 5-ranked UC Santa Barbara men's volleyball team to a dramatic 20-25, 25-23, 21-25, 25-18, 16-14 upset over top-ranked USC in the championship match of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament on Saturday (April 30) before 1,575 fans in USC's Galen Center.
With the victory, the Gauchos (17-14)--the seventh seed in the MPSF tourney--become the MPSF's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Championships on May 5 and 7 in State College, Pa.
USC (23-3) now must hope to earn the at-large selection into the NCAA Final Four, which will be announced on Sunday (May 1).
UCSB's victory snapped USC's 17-match home winning streak and was the Gauchos first over the Trojans after 6 consecutive losses.
It was the third straight upset victory in the MPSF Tournament for UC Santa Barbara, which finished seventh in the MPSF standings and concluded their regular season 2 weeks ago with a 3-0 loss to USC in the Galen Center. Last week, the Gauchos upset No. 2-seeded BYU in the MPSF tourney quarterfinals and then on Thursday they beat sixth-seeded Long Beach State in the semis.
In the match, UCSB outhit USC, .395 to .315, while the Trojans had more blocks (9.0 to 6.5) and aces (5 to 3).
Menzel, named the tourney's MVP, hit .396. Cullen Irons added 15 kills and 12 digs, Scott Slaughter had 10 kills (hitting .500), Dylan Davis had 9 kills (hitting .462) and 4 blocks, Trey Valbuena hit .455 with 6 kills and 7 digs and Andy McGuire had 14 digs. Slaughter and Valbuena joined Menzel on the MPSF All-Tournament team.
For USC, Tony Ciarelli had 23 kills (hitting .419) and 7 digs, Murphy Troy added 20 kills and 3 aces, Tri Bourne had 10 kills and 5 blocks, Austin Zahn had 8 kills (hitting .357), Steven Shandrick had 8 kills and 5 blocks, Henry Cassiday had 13 digs and Riley McKibbin had 9 digs. Ciarelli and Troy were named to the MPSF All-Tournament team.
USC ran off 4 consecutive points to open up a 9-5 lead in the first set and was never threatened the rest of the way (the Trojans served 3 aces in the set). In the second set, UCSB scored 3 straight points to go up 7-4 and although the Trojans pulled within a point several times, they couldn't catch up as the Gauchos hit .533. The third set see-sawed until USC tallied 4 unanswered points with Brad Keenan serving to make it 22-18, giving the Trojans all the cushion they needed. The fourth set was tied at 8-8 before the Gauchos steadily pulled away while hitting .588 and getting 3.5 blocks. USC held an 8-6 lead in the fifth set, but UCSB scored the next 3 points to move ahead 9-8 and then went up 13-11 before the Trojans tied it at 13-13. But a Trojan serving error followed by a Slaughter kill on an overpass ended the match.
"We're a whole different team than we were two weeks ago," said UCSB head coach Rick McLaughlin. "Our desire has never stopped and it is all coming together at the right time. We are excited to head back to Pennsylvania."
Said Menzel: "We get up for big games. Once there was something on the line and we had to win, we did."
Said Slaughter: "We don't quit no matter what the score is. We earned every point and tonight we made them earn every point."
"My hat's off to UCSB," said USC head coach Bill Ferguson. "They did an unbelievable job and are clearly still flying high. They were playing with nothing to lose. The fourth set was an aberration and we didn't do a good job in it. If we did, it would've been a different story."
Said Troy: "When you have a team playing for their life and you give them a chance, they're going to take it. And tonight UCSB did."
Also on the MPSF All-Tournament team were Taylor Crabb from Long Beach State and Jordan DuFault of UC Irvine.