Hawaii Comes Up Big At Home

1/28/2013 12:00:00 AM

Jan. 28, 2013

HAWAII (2-4 MPSF, 3-6 Overall) shocked second-ranked Pepperdine twice in Honolulu this past weekend, 3-2 on Friday and 3-0 in Sunday. The unranked Warriors were down 2-1 in sets in the first match, and never looked back the rest of the weekend. UH hit .500 through the fourth and fifth set comeback (24-3-42), as Brook Sedore delivered a .419 attack (17-4-31) with four aces, and Sinisa Zarkovic recorded a .441 clip (19-4-34). Each player then posted 15 kills apiece in Sunday's sweep. Hawaii hosts Stanford Friday and Saturday (Feb. 1 & 2).

UC IRVINE (3-3 MPSF, 6-3 Overall) evened up its conference record with wins at CS Northridge, 3-1, last Wednesday and at home over Long Beach State Friday in five sets. The Anteaters were down a set in each match. Kevin Tillie was dominant all week, beginning with a match-high 17 kills on a .542 clip and eight digs vs. CSN. He then added a season-high 21 kills against the 49ers, on a .450 attack. Back from injury, Zack La Cavera had a 14-kill, three-ace match off the bench against LBSU. UCI visits UCLA Tuesday (Jan. 29) and UCSB Wednesday (Jan. 30).

STANFORD (3-2 MPSF, 6-2 Overall) won two at home, 3-1 over UCLA and 3-0 over UC Santa Barbara. The Cardinal allowed just 26 points over the third and fourth sets against the Bruins. Steven Irvin and Brian Cook each had 14 kills, with the former hitting .480, serving four aces, and picking up eight digs. Cook added 11 kills against the Gauchos. Stanford travels to Hawaii for two matches this weekend.

LONG BEACH STATE (4-2 MPSF, 6-3 Overall) split on the road, coming back from a narrow loss at UC Irvine to beat UC San Diego in four. Dalton Ammerman recorded 16 kills and nine digs in the win, while setter Connor Olbright dished 50 assists, leading to a .364 team attack. Long Beach State remains on the road this week, visiting Cal Baptist and BYU.

UCLA (3-2 MPSF, 7-4 Overall) Robart Page had 18 kills (.325) in Friday's loss at Stanford. Sunday, Connor Bannan tallied 40 assists in leading a .402 team attack in a straight-set win at Pacific, the first 3-0 outcome for the Bruins this year. Gonzalo Quiroga put away 14 kills with a .550 hitting percentage. UCLA returns home for a Pac-12 Network contest against UC Irvine Tuesday (Jan. 29), before a visit by UC San Diego Saturday (Feb. 2).

PACIFIC (2-3 MPSF, 3-3 Overall) Taylor Hughes delivered 25 kills and nine digs as the Tigers came back from a 2-1 set deficit last Friday at home to edge UCSB in five. His 30-point match is a 2013 MPSF-High. Javier Caceres dug 20 balls in the win. Sunday, Hughes came back for 15 kills on 25 errorless swings (.600) vs. UCLA. Pacific hosts UC Santa Cruz Friday.

CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE (3-3 MPSF, 5-3 Overall) recovered from its loss to UC Irvine with a 3-0 victory at UC San Diego last Friday. John Baker led with 14 kills (.379), while Jared Moore was eight for an errorless 12 (.667) in La Jolla. Brandon Lebrock had 15 kills vs. UCI. The Matadors travel to Cal Baptist and BYU this week.

UC SANTA BARBARA (1-4 MPSF, 3-5 Overall) came up short in Northern California, 3-2 at Pacific and 3-0 at Stanford. Dylan Davis knocked down 14 blocks in Stockton, and was seven for an errorless 16 swinging (.438). His 14 blocks and the Gauchos' 22 as a team are both conference-highs this year. Meanwhile, setter Jonah Seif collected a rare triple-double on 54 assists, 11 blocks, and 10 digs, a feat the MPSF has not seen since March 13, 2010 (Maurice Torres-Pepperdine).

UC SAN DIEGO (2-4 MPSF, 3-6 Overall) Vaun Lennon had 11 kills (.360) against Long Beach State and Sebastian Brady hit an errorless .800 (8-0-10) against CS Northridge. The Tritons host Princeton, then visit UCSB and UCLA this week.

PEPPERDINE (3-3 MPSF, 3-3 Overall) dropped two at Hawaii in five and three sets. Maurice Torres led the Waves each night with 20 kills on night one and 11 on night two. Parker Kalmbach hit .647 (12-1-17) in the five-set match.

USC (2-2 MPSF, 2-2 Overall) was off last week and now heads for a three-match road swing, beginning Friday at Pepperdine. On Jan. 18, Tanner Jansen had 15 kills while hitting .478 and Alex Slaught added 12 kills with a .429 hitting percentage, as the Trojans hit .402 overall in handing No. 2 Stanford its first loss in straight sets.

CAL BAPTIST (1-1 MPSF, 4-3 Overall) is coming off a bye week, and hosts Long Beach State and CS Northridge this week. The Lancers split their first two MPSF contests in five sets, beating then No. 1 UC Irvine and edged by UC San Diego.

BYU (4-0 MPSF, 5-1 Overall) was off last week, and continues its 10-match homestand against Long Beach State Friday and CS Northridge Saturday. Taylor Sander recorded 16 kills and eight digs before a crowd of 5,038 as the Cougars defeated then No. 1 UC Irvine in four sets on Jan. 25. He became the rally-scoring ace leader at BYU in the win over UC San Diego.

SINISA ZARKOVIC MPSF MOLTEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Hawaii freshman outside hitter Sinisa Zarkovic (Belgrade, Serbia/Sports Grammar School) led UH to a two-match sweep of No. 2 Pepperdine, averaging 4.25 kills per set while hitting .393 during the series. He had a career-high 19 kills on .441 hitting in the five-set win, along with two aces. Zarkovic served the final four points of set five, including an ace at 13-11 which gave UH match point. He also totaled six blocks and averaged five points per set through the series. Also Nominated: Brian Cook (STAN); Kevin Tillie (UCI); Taylor Hughes (PAC); Taylor Crabb (LBSU)...