Top-Four Seeds Host MPSF Quarterfinals
April 14, 2014
MPSF Volleyball Release 15
BYU (18-6 MPSF/18-8 Overall) locked up this year's MPSF Championship Tournament's No. 1 seed On March 29, beating last year's Cougar team by all of 24 hours in becoming the quickest all-time to secure it. The Cougars finished tied with Pepperdine for first-place, but win the tiebreaker for the top seed based on head-to-head sets. The share of the regular season crown marked just the second such occurrence in the MPSF rally-scoring era (2008, BYU and Long Beach State). BYU hosts No. 8 seed USC in Saturday's quarterfinals, and with a win, would remain home for the semifinals on April 24. The Cougars won both regular season meetings with the Trojans, 3-2 on the road and 3-0 at home. Taylor Sander averages 4.53 kills and has served 44 aces, both ranking second in the MPSF, while 1.34 blocks per set from Michael Hatch also is second.
PEPPERDINE (18-6 MPSF/18-6 Overall) earned the two seed with a pair of home wins over Hawaii to finish the regular season, 3-0 and 3-1. The Waves were four matches out of first-place with four to play, and managed to share the regular season title. Pepperdine hosts No. 7 seed Long Beach State in Saturday's quarterfinals. The two teams split the regular season, with the 49ers winning in five in the Walter pyramid, before the Waves later avenged that in Firestone Fieldhouse in three. Josh Taylor averages 4.12 kills per set to rank third in the conference through the regular season.
STANFORD (17-7 MPSF/20-7 Overall) enters the MPSF Tournament with a conference season-high 11-match win streak. The Cardinal topped UC Irvine and UCSD on the road to last week to solidify the three seed. Stanford is hitting a conference-best .334, holds its opponents to a second-best .240, and serves a top average of 1.44 aces per set. Conrad Kaminski owns the best hitting clip in the league at .502. Stanford won both meetings this year over quarterfinal opponent UCI, 3-0 and 3-2.
UC SANTA BARBARA (16-8 MPSF/17-8 Overall) is hosting an MPSF playoff match for the first time since 2007, and for the second time since 1996. Fifth-seeded UCLA visits fourth-seeded UCSB Saturday, which was the exact seeding and matchup in '07. Each regular season meeting this year resulted in a 3-0 sweep for the home team. Jake Staahl hits .417 and records 1.24 blocks per set. The Gauchos have the top defensive hitting percentage in the MPSF at .230.
UCLA (15-9 MPSF/18-10 Overall) was the final team in the conference to punch a postseason ticket. The Bruins served a school record 14 aces against BYU, six each by Mitch Stahl and Gonzalo Quiroga in the regular season finale to help earn a postseason appearance. UCLA has served a conference-high 151 aces in 2014, led by Quiroga's individual high of 56. UCLA finished in a three-way tie for fifth, and won the tiebreaker for the five seed by going a collective 3-1 against UCI and LBSU.
UC IRVINE (15-9 MPSF/18-10 Overall) is seeded sixth as it begins the postseason on the road for the first time since 2010, in defense of its last two NCAA Championships. The Anteaters received the six seed by virtue of head-to-head points over LBSU (+ 2). Michael Brinkley (2.54 digs/set) and Scott Kevorken (.445 hitting) rank third in the MPSF in their categories.
LONG BEACH STATE (15-9 MPSF/18-9 Overall) is the seven seed, visiting No. 2 seed Pepperdine. The 49ers are led by 2013 national player of the year Taylor Crabb, averaging a conference-high 4.79 kills per set with a .375 attack percentage. Andrew Sato picks up 2.74 digs per set, while Jeff Ornee leads up front with 1.34 blocks per set.
USC (14-10 MPSF/16-10 Overall) has been idle since finishing the regular season at Pepperdine on April 5, and clinched a postseason bid when Hawaii fell on night one at Pepperdine. The Trojans are the eight seed in this year's field, traveling to top-seed BYU in the quarters. Micah Christensen tosses up an MPSF-High 11.69 assists per set, while Henry Cassiday is at the top with 3.04 digs per set.
HAWAII (13-11 MPSF/15-12 Overall) concluded its season at Pepperdine this past weekend. Taylor Averill hit .477 and averaged 1.22 blocks per set in 2014, ranking second and fifth in the MPSF, respectively.
CS NORTHRIDGE (9-15 MPSF/10-17 Overall) ended the year in a home-and-home with Long Beach State this past week, after posting two exciting home wins the week prior over UCLA and UCSB. Sam Holt posted 3.89 kills per set this year, while Greg Faulkner hit .430.
PACIFIC (2-22 MPSF/3-24 Overall) recorded 3.05 team blocks per set this year, sitting on top of the MPSF in that category in its final season. Tommy Carmody led the individual MPSF blocking numbers with 1.60 per set. On April 5, the Tigers won the program's final match played in Stockton.
UC SAN DIEGO (2-22 MPSF/4-23 Overall) Johl Awerkamp finished the regular season with 0.37 aces per set, which is a top-five ranking through the regular season. The Tritons earned a 3-0 win over Pacific in the final weekend.
CAL BAPTIST (2-22 MPSF/4-24 Overall) Johannes Brink averaged 3.98 kills and Kris Johnson hit .416 to lead the Lancers this year.