Stanford Finally Returns Home
Feb. 20, 2012
View the complete MPSF men's volleyball weekly release
STANFORD (8-1 MPSF, 11-2 Overall) fought off a total of eight set points in the first frame at No. 2 UC Irvine en route to a 3-0 win. Eric Mochalski posted five blocks in the later points of the 32-30 first set. Brian Cook recorded a match-high 15 kills. Coming off a four-set win at UCSD, and a 7-1 MPSF road trip, the Cardinal plays their first conference home matches this weekend (Feb. 24-25) against Pepperdine and USC. Stanford is at home for 11 of its final 13 matches.
LONG BEACH STATE (3-5 MPSF, 7-6 Overall) earned two big home wins last week, handing top-ranked UCLA its first conference loss, before defeating UC Santa Barbara in four sets. It wasn't until the third set against the Bruins that the 49ers trailed, eventually holding the opponent to a season-low .204. John La Rusch pounded a career-high 21 kills (.325) in just his second start of the year. Taylor Crabb had 16 kills and 11 digs. LBSU visits UCI and UCSD this week.
UCLA (9-1 MPSF, 14-2 Overall) Jeremy Casebeer hit a collective .449 (35-10-64) as the Bruins went 2-1 on the road last week, which completed a 5-1 road swing. UCLA bounced back with a pair of sweeps in Hawaii, after having its 10-match win streak snapped at Long Beach State. The lone match this week is at home vs. Cal Baptist Friday (Feb. 24)
UC IRVINE (6-3 MPSF, 10-3 Overall) hit a season-high .474 in a home sweep over Pacific last Saturday. The Anteaters also served seven aces, three by Dan McDonnell. Carson Clark and Jeremy Dejno recorded 12 kills apiece. CS Northridge and Long Beach State visit the Bren Center this week.
PACIFIC (3-6 MPSF, 5-9 Overall) split a pair of three-set road matches, winning at UC San Diego and losing at UC Irvine. The Tigers controlled the block (14-6) and attack (.289-.066) in La Jolla. Florian Gornik had a match-high 12 kills and Sean Daley a high of eight stuffs in the win. Pacific hosts USC and Pepperdine this week.
UC SANTA BARBARA (2-6 MPSF, 4-8 Overall) split a pair of conference matches, defeating Northridge at home in three and falling at Long Beach State in four. Miles Evans put away 16 kills (5.33 K/S), while Kevin Donohue added 11 in the win. Chad Kingi picked up 14 digs in the three-setter. UCSB travels to BYU for two this week.
BYU (6-2 MPSF, 10-3 Overall) claimed 3-2 and 3-1 home victories over future MPSF member Cal Baptist, coming from behind in each match. The Cougars were down two sets the first night and one set on the second night. Josue Rivera was the kill-leader in the series with 29 (3.22 K/S). BYU returns to conference play this week, hosting UC Santa Barbara.
PEPPERDINE (5-4 MPSF, 7-5 Overall) came back from a 2-1 set deficit last Wednesday at home to defeat Cal Baptist in five. Maurice Torres completed a double-double on a season-high 26 kills (.465) along with 12 digs. He also served a career-high tying four aces. The Waves head north to Stanford and Pacific this weekend.
USC (5-4 MPSF, 7-4 Overall) Maddison McKibbin had 11 kills (.348) and Steven Mochalski added 10 in a home sweep over Hope International last Thursday. McKibbin made his first start after missing the first nine matches. The Trojans travel to Pacific Friday and Stanford Saturday. Freshman Robert Feathers leads the MPSF in blocking (1.77 B/S).
CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE (2-6 MPSF, 4-8 Overall) Julius Hoefer and Drew Staker posted five blocks apiece in the loss at UC Santa Barbara. Jared Moore hit .353 (8-2-17), and still leads the conference in hitting entering the week at .526 (69-9-114). The Matadors visit UC Irvine Wednesday and UC San Diego Friday.
HAWAII (3-7 MPSF, 6-9 Overall) dropped a pair of 3-0 conference home matches vs. top-ranked UCLA. Steven Hunt combined for 21 kills in the six sets (3.50 K/S), also totaling 24 points in the series, just one-half point off the series leader. Hawaii is off this week.
UC SAN DIEGO (1-8 MPSF, 3-11 Overall) dropped home matches to Pacific and Stanford this past weekend, though managed to take a deuce set from the Cardinal. Carl Eberts served a total of four aces and Fred Stahl recorded nine total blocks (1.29 B/S) for the weekend. UC San Diego hosts CS Northridge and Long Beach State this weekend.
EVAN BARRY MPSF MOLTEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Stanford senior setter Evan Barry (San Diego, CA/Torrey Pines HS) set the Cardinal to a combined .459 hitting percentage in a 3-0 win at No. 2 UC Irvine and 3-1 win at UC San Diego. With Barry quarterbacking the Stanford attack, the team hit at least .400 in six of the seven sets during the week. In Irvine, he set three players to double-digit kills, with five players hitting well over .300. Barry totaled 92 assists (13.14 A/S), 10 digs, and five blocks as the Cardinal completed a 7-1 MPSF road swing.
Also Nominated: Jeremy Casebeer (UCLA); John La Rusch (LBSU)