Sander Breaks All-Time BYU Ace Record
March 11, 2013
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BYU (14-2 MPSF, 15-3 Overall) Taylor Sander became the all-time BYU ace leader with 114, after he served up four last Saturday against Cal Baptist. Sander also hit .439 for the series (33-8-57), as the Cougars claimed 3-1 and 3-0 home wins over the Lancers to remain at the top. BYU is off this week, next competing at CS Northridge and Long Beach State, Mar. 22-23.
UC IRVINE (13-4 MPSF, 16-4 Overall) Kevin Tillie posted a season-high 23 kills, while Jeremy Dejno matched his best of 21, in leading a 3-1 win at Long Beach State last Saturday. The regular season sweep of the 49ers leaped the Anteaters back into second-place with seven to play in the conference, beginning at Pepperdine Tuesday (Mar. 12) and USC Friday (Mar. 15).
UCLA (9-7 MPSF, 13-9 Overall) won all six of its sets last week against Pacific and Stanford, pulling to within one-half match of the top-four in the standings with eight to play. UCLA hit a collective .470 against the Cardinal, led by Robart Page's outside attack of .583 (15-1-24). The Bruins are on the road this week at Long Beach State and CS Northridge.
UC SANTA BARBARA (7-10 MPSF, 9-12 Overall) Evan Licht tied career-highs of 18 kills and nine digs in a 3-0 home win over Pacific. He also served a career-high three aces in the Gauchos' 3-0 win over Stanford. Jake Staahl added four of the 10 team aces vs. the Cardinal. With seven remaining in the MPSF, UCSB currently holds the eighth and final playoff spot, and hosts CS Northridge Wednesday.
HAWAII (6-10 MPSF, 7-12 Overall) Taylor Averill combined for series'-highs of .440 hitting (14-3-25) and 10 blocks (1.00 B/S) in a pair of five-set home wins over USC. Sinisa Zarkovic had a 16-kill (.452), 10-dig night one double-double, along with four of 12 team aces (a 2013 MPSF conference match team-high). UH travels to Cal Baptist for two this week (Mar. 15 & 16).
LONG BEACH STATE (12-4 MPSF, 14-5 Overall) Taylor Crabb had a match and career-high 24 kills (.316) along with 15 digs against UC Irvine, his fifth 20-kill performance and third double-double of the season. The 49ers defeated UC San Diego in three last week, as Crabb was 16 for an errorless 23 and a career-high .696 clip. LBSU continues its homestand with UCLA Wednesday (Mar. 13), followed by George Mason and IPFW in the Active Ankle Classic (Mar. 15-16).
CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE (8-6 MPSF, 10-6 Overall) John Baker hit .500 (17-3-28) in a 3-0 home win over UC San Diego last Friday. One-half match from the top-four with 10 to play, CSUN visits UCSB and hosts UCLA this week.
CAL BAPTIST (5-9 MPSF, 8-11 Overall) Aaron McCalmont hit .647 (12-1-17) in leading last week's three-set home win over Pacific. Levi Cabral had 21 kills (.308), seven digs, four aces, and four blocks in the second match at BYU. Hawaii visits for two.
PEPPERDINE (9-6 MPSF, 10-6 Overall) hit a collective .542 (46-7-72) in its first non-conference match of the year, hosting and sweeping NAIA Hope International last Friday. The team clip is a 2013 MPSF-High, also the best for any MPSF team since Hawaii hit .543 on April 2, 2011, and fourth best in Waves' history. Matt West set 43 assists (14.33 A/S) and served a career-high four aces. UC Irvine and UC San Diego visit Malibu this week.
STANFORD (9-8 MPSF, 12-8 Overall) dropped 3-0 road matches at UC Santa Barbara and UCLA. Steven Irvin had a match-high 18 kills with a .593 attack in Westwood. The Cardinal takes a 19-day break from competition.
USC (4-11 MPSF, 4-11 Overall) Joey Booth combined for a series-high 38 kills (3.80 K/S), as did Cristian Rivera with five aces, in the two matches at Hawaii. The Trojans host UC Irvine and UC San Diego this weekend.
UC SAN DIEGO (3-13 MPSF, 6-15 Overall) dropped straight set matches at Long Beach State and CS Northridge, and remains on the road at Pepperdine and USC this week. The Tritons have played eight straight three-set matches.
PACIFIC (3-12 MPSF, 5-12 Overall) lost road matches at Cal Baptist, UCLA, and UC Santa Barbara, and returns home for a non-conference, two-match series against Grand Canyon this weekend. Taylor Hughes had 17 kills (.412) at UCSB.
SINISA ZARKOVIC MPSF MOLTEN PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Hawaii freshman outside hitter Sinisa Zarkovic (Belgrade, Serbia/Sports Grammar School) accumulated a two-match hitting clip of .429 (28-4-56) in the Warriors' five-set wins over USC. In the first match, he served four of the team's 12 aces, which was an MPSF team-high for a conference match this year. Two of the four aces were in set five, helping UH come back for a 3-2 win after a two-set deficit. That same night, he collected a double-double on 16 kills and 10 digs, while hitting .452. Zarkovic is a repeat winner of this award in 2013, also earning it on Jan. 28. Nominated: Taylor Crabb (LBSU); Kevin Tillie (UCI); Evan Licht (UCSB); Matt West (PEP); Taylor Sander (BYU)...