Top Four Seeds Advance to MPSF Semifinals
April 23, 2012
MPSF Men's Volleyball Weekly Release - 4/23/12
USC (18-4 MPSF, 23-4 Overall) Tony Ciarelli, the MPSF Player of the Year, had a match-best 12 kills and 6 aces along with 5 blocks to lead an 18th consecutive victory with a 25-13, 25-15, 25-18 win over No. 8 seed Cal State Northridge in a quarterfinal match last Saturday (Apr. 21). The top seeded Trojans are riding their longest win streak since the 1991 season, when winning 30 straight. USC hosts No. 4 seed UC Irvine in MPSF Semifinal action Thursday (Apr. 26).
STANFORD (17-5 MPSF, 21-6 Overall) Brad Lawson had 22 kills in his final home match to lead a 25-23, 25-17, 23-25, 25-17 win over No. 7 seed Pepperdine in quarterfinal action. Lawson, who hit a scorching .514, was among four Stanford players with double-figure kills, along with Brian Cook (12), Steven Irvin (12), and Eric Mochalski (10). The No. 2 seed Cardinal meets No. 3 seed BYU in an MPSF Semifinal Thursday at 5 pm at USC. Stanford won twice in Provo this year.
BYU (17-5 MPSF, 24-6 Overall) Taylor Sander's match-high 22 kills led a 3-2 (25-23, 25-14, 20-25, 21-25, 15-7) victory over No. 6 seed Long Beach State in the MPSF Quarterfinals at the Smith Fieldhouse. The Cougars withstood a furious Long Beach rally when it won sets three and four, though were able to comfortably take the fifth. Sander hit .447, recording seven more kills than any other player. Futi Tavana contributed 15 total blocks, tying the MPSF rally scoring record.
UC IRVINE (17-5 MPSF, 22-5 Overall) Kevin Tillie led all players with 20 kills, five digs and three blocks, in a four-set win over No. 5 seed UCLA to advance the conference semifinals. The Anteaters take on No. 1 USC, splitting two regular season matches. Carson Clark, who became the first four-time, first-team All-MPSF honoree, added 14 kills, three service aces, eight digs and three blocks. Connor Hughes and Dan McDonnell each added eight kills, with McDonnell hitting an errorless .889 (8-0-9).
UCLA (16-6 MPSF, 22-8 Overall) in the most impressive era in the history of college athletics, the 50-year tenure of Head Coach Al Scates came to an end in the Bren Center, as the Bruins were eliminated in four at UC Irvine. Scates retires with 19 NCAA Championships (most recently the improbable run of '06), 21 overall national titles, 24 conference titles, and 1,239 total victories. Kyle Caldwell, Thomas Amberg, and Wes Dunlap were All-MPSF first-team selections this year.
LONG BEACH STATE (10-12 MPSF, 15-15 Overall) fought back hard in the 3-6 quarterfinal match, before its season ended in five sets at BYU. The 49ers rallied from two sets down to force a fifth. Jim Baughman came off the bench to spark the 49ers with 15 kills, four blocks and a .400 hitting percentage. Taylor Crabb finished with 12 kills and eight digs, while Brad Hemmerling also had 12 kills. Ryan Meehan had six blocks and Connor Olbright added nine digs.
PEPPERDINE(9-13 MPSF, 14-15 Overall) ended the year with a four-set loss at No. 2 seed Stanford in the quarterfinals. Josh Taylor led the seventh-seeded Waves with 16 kills (.323), and six digs. All-MPSF first teamer Maurice Torres turned in 11 kills, seven digs and five blocks. Matt Pollock reached double-digits with 10 kills on a .400 clip. The senior ends his tenure at Pepperdine with a .436 hitting percentage and 448 kills.
CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE (8-14 MPSF, 12-18 Overall) ended its season at No. 1 seed USC in the quarterfinals. Brandon Lebrock and Julius Hoefer, honored as an all-conference and all-freshman performer respectively, posted team-highs of six kills apiece. Kyle Stevenson picked up five digs in the season finale.
UC SAN DIEGO (6-16 MPSF, 9-19 Overall) was defeated at home by UC Irvine to end the season Apr. 14. All-MPSF selection Chase Frishman currently is tied for third in the MPSF with 2.28 digs per set. Highlights from 2012 included winning five straight matches (Mar. 9-31) for the first time since 1990, and Vaun Lennon being named the MPSF Player of the Week on Apr. 2, just the third such award in Triton history.
PACIFIC (5-17 MPSF, 8-20 Overall) came back from two sets down at home to defeat UC Santa Barbara in five sets to close the season (Apr. 14), also snapping a six-match losing streak. The Tigers had a strong block in 2012, totaling 310 on the year, second most in the conference. Sean Daley led that charge with 156, (1.51 B/S), tied for second. All-MPSF selection Javier Caceres also ranks second in digs (2.56 D/S).
UC SANTA BARBARA (5-17 MPSF, 7-19 Overall) finished its season at Stanford and Pacific (Apr. 13-14), coming up short in three and five sets, respectively. Miles Evans led the Gauchos offensively in 2012 with 325 kills (3.46 K/S), while Chad Kingi placed in the conference top-five in digs (2.27 D/S).
HAWAII (4-18 MPSF, 7-20 Overall) dropped 3-0 and 3-1 outcomes at UC Santa Barbara to end the 2012 season (Apr. 6-7). The Warriors were led offensively this year by All-MPSF Steven Hunt, with 4.15 kills per set, currently ranking second in the MPSF. Hunt also ranks fourth in the conference with 4.78 points per set, while All-MPSF libero Nick Castello is tied for third with a 2.28 dig average.