Pepperdine visits BYU to Begin Second-Half
Feb. 24, 2014
MPSF Volleyball Release 8
STANFORD (6-5 MPSF/9-5 Overall) posted a 3-0 home win over UC Santa Barbara last Friday, with Eric Mochalski hitting .667 (13-1-18), along with seven digs and five blocks. James Shaw led a .373 team offense, and collected seven blocks. Stanford held its opponent to .011 hitting, second best in program history, while recording a rally-scoring era team record 21.5 blocks. The Cardinal have three matches this week, hosting UCLA Monday, before traveling to Long Beach State and Northridge.
PEPPERDINE (8-3 MPSF, 8-3 Overall) Matt Tarantino recorded a career-high 14 kills with a solid .400 hitting clip, as the Waves defeated Cal Baptist in four sets last Friday in Malibu. Pepperdine sits in third-place, two back, and faces the Lancers again on Thursday. The Waves then head to first-place BYU Saturday, handing the Cougars their only MPSF loss on the year.
LONG BEACH STATE (8-4 MPSF/9-4 Overall) swept both its matches this past week, defeating UC Irvine and UC San Diego at home. Yet again, Taylor Crabb did not leave much behind. In just three sets against UCI, he posted 19 kills with a .485 attack, and went on for a .510 hitting percentage for the week (29-4-49) along with 12 digs. The 49ers are 2.5 matches out of first at the midpoint, and host Stanford and Pacific this week.
USC (8-5 MPSF/9-5 Overall) Tanner Jansen totaled 33 kills with a .377 attack through 3-1 and 3-0 wins over Hawaii. Micah Christianson dished 81 assists over seven sets (11.57 A/S) in leading a .348 cumulative team attack, and added series-bests on defense with 10 blocks (1.43 B/S), and 24 digs (3.43 D/S). Andy Benesh collected an errorless .619 clip (13-0-21) and Tommy Leonard was .500 (15-4-22) in his second week of action. The Trojans take three straight wins to Cal Baptist Wednesday, followed by BYU Friday, televised live on BYUtv.
UCLA (9-2 MPSF/12-3 Overall) won in straight sets at Pacific on Sunday, and visits Stanford Monday (Feb. 24) on Pac-12 Networks. Gonzalo Quiroga went for his 13th double-figure kill match this year in Stockton, posting a .552 clip (15-3-23), and served three aces. The Bruins are one match out of first entering Palo Alto, and continuing on to Honolulu for two this week.
UC SANTA BARBARA (8-4 MPSF, 9-4 Overall) Evan Licht (.542) and Matt Hanley (.407) put away 15 kills apiece as the Gauchos won at Pacific in straight sets. Austin Kingi added 13 kills at .385. Jonah Seif served three aces and guided a .378 team offense. UCSB is tied for fourth entering the week, 2.5 matches out, and heads to UC Irvine Friday.
UC IRVINE (7-7 MPSF/10-8 Overall) split a pair of road matches, losing in three at Long Beach State and winning in four at CS Northridge. Zack La Cavera put away a match-high 18 kills in the win, and Jeremy Dejno added 14. UCI hit .536 as a team in set four to close the match. The Anteaters host UCSB Friday.
CS NORTHRIDGE (4-8 MPSF/4-9 Overall) Sam Holt hit .500 (13-1-24) with two aces in a home win over UC San Diego. Greg Faulkner was .643 in the middle (10-1-14), and Travis Magorien set the Matadors to .410 hitting (45-11-83).
HAWAII (7-5 MPSF/9-6 Overall) Taylor Averill hit .500 in the series at USC (15-3-24), while Nick West was an errorless .471 (8-0-17) with six blocks. The Warriors return home to host UCLA for two this weekend.
CAL BAPTIST (2-9 MPSF/3-10 Overall) Johannes Brink recorded a .525 clip at Pepperdine, with a match-high 24 kills, as the Lancers hit .400 as a team. CBU gets a quick rematch with the Waves Thursday at home.
PACIFIC (1-11 MPSF/2-13 Overall) Christian Franceschi had nine kills at .350 vs. UCLA, with nine digs. He also had a 10-kill match vs. UCSB. UC SAN DIEGO (0-14 MPSF/0-15 Overall) Eric Barber hit .533 (10-2-15) with three aces at CS Northridge last week. Michael Brunsting had 12 kills and seven digs, and Griffin Galvin had a match-high 10 digs.
BYU (10-1 MPSF/10-3 Overall) hosts USC and Pepperdine this week. The Cougars posted two victories in Northern California (Feb. 14-15), 3-1 at Pacific and 3-2 at Stanford, and remains atop the MPSF standings by one match halfway through. Taylor Sander slammed a season-high 27 kills at Stanford, hitting .417, to go along with two aces, four blocks, and six digs. Josue Rivera led the Cougars in Stockton, on a career-high .579 attack (13-2-19), along with three of his six aces for the week.